Usha's wonderful post, Notes of a Native Daughter, really got me thinking about how my parents shaped my path to academia. (See also Althouse.) My father is an English professor, and my mother was an English professor before she became a lawyer.
It's pretty clear to me that class is irrelevant to the conversation. My parents' status as academics usually meant that I was surrounded by peers with more money than me, not less. I worked part-time in college and law school (who doesn't?), with no serious ill-effects on my studies.
It's no surprise that profs beget profs. Part of it, as noted in the comments to Usha's post, is knowing how to talk the talk. I may not be Larry Solum's platonic ideal of a legal academic, and he could probably take me to task for misusing Plato in that allusion. But growing up in a household where literary criticism was a proper topic for dinner table conversation means that I have a better command of the Intentional Fallacy than your average deal lawyer, which brings a whole new perspective to something like the parol evidence rule. Cultural literacy eases the transition from lawyer to law prof. After all, to get the job you have to first make it through a job talk, which means being able to make profs who know nothing about your field understand why your research is interesting. It helps to speak the lingua franca. And even better to have actually read Lingua Franca at the kitchen table.
But there is something even more important, I think, that explains why profs beget profs. Having seen the academic life, I went into law school keeping a steady gaze on the academic path. This made the law school experience much more rewarding. Law school wasn't preparation for Wall Street, but the gateway to a life of exploring ideas. I very much doubt that without academic parents, I would have taken, in addition to the usual corporate and tax classes, Vince Blasi's Ideas of the First Amendment or Kendall Thomas' seminar in Critical Race Theory.
I work harder than most lawyers I know, for half of what I used to make as an associate. But the trade-off is worth it, to me. Most of my Columbia classmates just don't get what it is professors do -- I still get asked what I do with all my "time off." If my parents were investment bankers, I probably wouldn't get it either.
Thanks, Mom and Dad, for showing me the way.
| Bookmark
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8345157d569e200d83462fac969e2
Links to weblogs that reference Lingua Franca:
1. Posted by anon on October 8, 2006 @ 16:51 | Permalink
Yes, academic parents may make less money, but they do transmit the ability to "talk the talk."
I am considering a run at the teaching market. I have the appropriate resume. But I lack confidence in my ability to "pass," given my lower class background. I flinch during conversations that clearly assume knowledge of books I've never heard of. I slink away from comparisons of favorite cities in Italy, or debates over the superiority of wines from particular regions of France.
I adore law; I love the world of ideas. But I was not born to it and am deeply aware of my foreign status. I am sure that this lack of confidence, along with stumbling over the lingua franca, would impact my success on the teaching market. And while others who are more confident (or who have never been outsiders) may dismiss these concerns, I find them to be significant obstacles to a teaching career.
2. Posted by Vic on October 8, 2006 @ 19:06 | Permalink
Fair point, anon. I noticed that at some point in every single interview dinner I had, the conversation turned to either wine or opera, two things I happen to know little about. I grew up in Buffalo, so notwithstanding my academic roots there are parts of me that are more blue collar than tweed. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat and waited for a chance to change the topic. Asking people about their research is always a safe haven when you feel lost at sea.
While ignorance of wine, opera, or Tuscany is excusable, stumbling over the true lingua franca -- the common language of ideas -- is a more serious offense. The uncomfortable fact is that your potential as a scholar and a colleague is limited if you don't know at least a little about lots of different ideas.
Knowing the lingua franca is used as a proxy for having respect for scholars who came before you. Perhaps it's an imperfect proxy, but I do not think it's used intentionally to exclude anyone.
My advice is that before going on the market, you try to find yourself a fellowship or legal writing position, preferably one where you will have a chance to sit in on a lot of colloquia and soak up the ideas. If you indeed love the world of ideas, I don't think it will take you long to feel comfortable.
Lastly, I should add that I know a lot more law profs from lower class background than you might expect. If you write in a specialized or semi-specialized area, and your scholarship is solid on the merits and you don't overlook important ideas in the existing literature, people will forgive a little confusion when the conversation turns to the Sokal affair and whether Derrida was an intellectual fraud (or whatever).
3. Posted by lawprof on October 9, 2006 @ 0:39 | Permalink
Just another data point: I'm a recently tenured law prof at a good school, and I don't recall any extended discussions over interview dinners about wine or opera, or any particular esoteric books.
I think wine came up, and I just said, "I don't know anything about wine," and I didn't feel remotely self-concious about it. I assumed that they were looking to hire a law professor, not a, um, whatever that snooty word is for wine guys.
4. Posted by anona on October 9, 2006 @ 6:52 | Permalink
Yes, all you profspring, go ahead and give yourselves a healthy pat on the back for the triple that you hit while being born on third base. Think about it - you have reached the exact same position in society as your parents.
Indeed, "class is irrelevant" - Of course, you and I had exactly the same chances and opportunities to achieve an academic career, yeah right.
Just remember to keep repeating the mantra, "there's no class bias in academia, there's no class bias in academia, all is well, unless your donald trump's kid there's no class bias, all is well... etc. ad nauseum"
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
