Not a fan of universities spending $20,000+ for celebrity speaker to give 1.5 hour book talk.
Instead, uni could fund:
* a course
* ≈100 hrs of paid research experience for undergraduates
* $1000 in conference travel for 20 grad students
* 1-2 yrs of a dept's speakers
etc.
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Problem is, speaker fees are not set by anything resembling a "market," and people who invite in celebrity speakers don't realize (or perhaps care) how far that money could go toward supporting core activities of research, teaching, and mentoring, esp. in a small unit.
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@WeedenKim
Sure, there's a lot of 'waste' in the world. Not sure intellectuals should be first on chopping block given excesses in other sectors, but I guess we have to tend to our own garden. Either way, I think it's good to reimagine what university communities look like in 21st century.
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@rahsaanmax
Seems to me that funds for celebrity speakers and for basic academic activities come from - that is, compete for - the same general pot of money on the "academic side." Monies in non-academic units on other side of what is basically an impermeable membrane, to mere mortals.
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@WeedenKim
I vividly remember getting haggled by the booking agent for a famous POVERTY scholar who was asking for >$20k for a lecture at my low-resourced publicly funded campus that is >50% first-gen.
I was happy to say: "Even if I could, I wouldn't spend that money on the speaker."
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@campbell_kang
Then again, this is precisely why there are pictures floating around the internet of Steven P*nker hanging out with Jeffrey E*stein.
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@WeedenKim
I don't disagree Kim but when I was at Queens College
@CUNY
in 1980s, Elie Wiesel spoke. I don't know what they paid him but I remember every word, drew great inspiration, and never forgot how he looked me in the eye/holding my hand, and told me I had a duty to change the world.
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@WeedenKim
@pardoguerra
What about the argument that a celebrity speaker can draw an audience of 1,000 people? That’s $20 a head. A department seminar might have 20 people and the dept paid $2,000 in travel & food so $100 a head.
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@WeedenKim
If you want to spend $20k on an author then give the money to your local university press!
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@WeedenKim
That would have to be some celebrity. If we’re talking living history like Nelson Mandela (RIP) level, I can respect that.
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@WeedenKim
And people wonder why tuition is so outrageous and our next generation of leaders leave college saddled with mountains of debt?
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