the paper | stanford fires creative writing lecturer; america’s african affairs
2024-09-09
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stanford university plans to fire creative writing lecturer
on august 24, stanford university announced on its official website that it was reorganizing its creative writing course team - 23 lecturers in the college will be converted to short-term employment. the school said that these lecturers will be on a one-year term basis and can be renewed for a maximum of five years. when describing lecturer positions and recent changes, stanford emphasized that the jones chair has always been temporary, describing it as a "limited-term, fixed-term teaching position" designed to help people transition to other places and obtain long-term teaching careers. in this context, the school sees the dismissal and reorganization as "restoring the original intention of the jones chair." the school plans that in five years, the number of lecturers in the program will be the same as it is now, and the number of courses offered will be more than now.
june 12, 2024, local time, stanford university campus in california, usa.
founded by wallace stegner in 1946, stanford university's creative writing program is one of the most prominent creative writing institutions in the united states. in the 1940s, eh jones established the wallace stegner scholarship, which is considered the most prestigious creative writing scholarship in the united states to support emerging writers. dr. jones also established the jones chair to ensure that outstanding stegner scholars receive sufficient time and support to prepare manuscripts for publication, improve their teaching skills, and transition to other long-term teaching positions. recipients receive a certain amount of time and financial support to complete their creations. in addition, they are usually required to teach several undergraduate courses each year and are encouraged to produce their own unique creative writing expressions. the school said in a statement that the major decision to adjust the program was made after consultation with the institution's academic committee.
the decision has sparked a strong reaction from students and lecturers, many of whom have signed public petitions and expressed their disappointment and dissatisfaction online. the sudden change shocked lecturers, who were also surprised by the cold, corporate terms used by colleagues and humanities scholars. lecturer tom kealey said that current jones lecturers have served at stanford for as little as one year and as much as twenty years, and now everyone is being asked to switch to short-term contracts with the university. kealey said: "the whole situation is not only tragic, but also bizarre. it really doesn't make any sense. frankly, i feel that the deans don't understand why the professors voted to fire us."
the change also coincides with the death of poet eavan boland, director of the creative writing program. boland served as director of the program for 20 years until her death in 2020. she promoted the expansion of the program, using lecturers to promote student interest and broaden the course offerings. lecturer edward porter noted that lecturers "continue to be renewed [on one-year contracts], and although boland's approach is certainly inconsistent with the original intention of the jones chair, it is beneficial to students, teaching, and the program."
in a pointed open letter, christopher kempf, an assistant professor at the university of illinois at urbana-champaign, expressed his frustration with stanford and the instability that the short-term appointments will bring to the program: “you are of course aware of the impact of the university’s decision: these lecturers supervise more than 90% of creative writing students, teach more than 50% of english courses, and two-thirds of english majors choose the creative writing track. current and past jones lecturers are among the most closely connected and longest-serving faculty in the english department. it is because of the work of these lecturers that thousands of stanford undergraduates experience real attention as writers and as individuals.”
additionally, it’s worth noting that this major change comes after several jones lecturers petitioned the department in 2023 for fair compensation, benefits, and attempts to explore pathways to permanent teaching positions. keeley also writes that many lecturers felt betrayed: “the deans clarified that this was not their decision, but that of the senior professors of creative writing, who have been our teaching colleagues for the past five to 15 years. they had decided in a prior secret meeting to fire all 23 junior colleagues.” porter said the university was trying to create “artificial scarcity,” suggesting there was no room for new, young stegner scholarship recipients to advance by becoming jones lecturers “because these old guys are taking up all the resources.”
many lecturers accepted salary cuts to continue teaching at stanford until 2023, and their salaries are classified as "very low income" by california standards. considering that the lecturers fought for and received a pay raise in september 2023, but were collectively fired a year later, keeley said, "it seems to me that senior professors don't like this situation - they don't like the voice of the common people." porter talked about the problem of "balancing one value with another." he said, "tenured or tenure-track creative writing teachers don't teach many courses, and many of them are not involved in teaching. they don't care about undergraduates. this is not their job; their job is to write books, become famous and raise funds, and this is very necessary." but if we go back to the original intention of establishing the jones chair, caring about undergraduates and providing opportunities for promotion for emerging writers are equally important.
writer joyce carol oates posted on social media, questioning whether stanford's decision was motivated by cost-savings or influenced by sexism. oates wrote: why would senior faculty vote to fire colleagues who do the bulk of the teaching? what puzzles me most is the lack of simple collegiality and generosity at one of the richest universities in the world. stanford receives an endowment that is enough to support a country. and those highly admired writing faculty were fired after requesting a modest raise. even with the raise, their salaries were far lower than those of senior faculty. oates also pointed out that only male senior professors participated in the vote to fire, which was confirmed by keeley.
stanford officials said their decision to replace these teachers, some of whom have been teaching at the school for many years, was not due to the above reasons. debra satz, dean of the school of humanities and sciences at stanford, said, "the adjustments to the program are based on the values and original intentions of the program, not on financial considerations." writer james folta pointed out that the decision seemed to be more driven by money and power: temporary lecturers with high mobility and lower salaries are cheaper and easier to manipulate than community members who are hired for a long time and deeply tied to the project. whatever the reason, many people believe that this series of moves "fundamentally threatens the core of stanford's creative writing program - providing meticulous, professional teaching and building long-term and stable relationships.
when talking about the characteristics of the program, many teachers and students talked about how the process of learning and teaching creative writing can inspire a deep connection between students and teachers. porter said that the program has many interpersonal components, and it is difficult for teachers and students to establish a deep connection in just one year. the lecturers are willing to communicate with students outside the classroom, and if the students are willing, the lecturers will provide continuous guidance. according to past students, students learn how to go deep into their hearts and convey their inner feelings to readers in the creative writing program, and teachers are like clergy who guide them to enlightenment.
“undergraduate writing seminars are places where students, away from their families and hometowns, can for the first time tell stories never told before and make art out of those stories,” peter lessler, a 2017 stanford math graduate, wrote to the school. he emphasized that the study of writing is “serious and necessary,” involving what john keats called “soul-making.”
regarding future adjustments, annabelle wang, who will be majoring in english, said that the current situation has even made her reconsider her course of study. "this will definitely make the english major less popular, and i think it will be a huge loss for students and the student experience. a lot of the community will disappear." in addition, the loss of teachers may also reduce the variety of creative writing courses.
nina schloesser, who became jones’ lecturer in 2012, was told she would need to leave after this year. “i am very sad because i love my job very much. it is a privilege to see so many young people grow,” she said, adding that lecturers and students form “lasting relationships that are based on our love of the craft of writing and literature. it has been a very profound experience for me.” her colleague sarah frisch, a former stegner scholar who became jones’ lecturer in 2009, said, “i am heartbroken. not just for myself. i am heartbroken for future generations of students who will lose the benefit of building long-term relationships.”
us think tank focuses on how the us can effectively participate in african affairs
africa is a dynamic and rapidly changing continent, and how to respond to it is a complex challenge. historically, from colonialism to the cold war, western powers have viewed africa as a tool for profit and a pawn in geopolitical struggles. however, as africa develops and the world shifts to a multipolar era, the united states finds that its policies and engagement with africa have become out of touch with local realities and interests. africa is often called the "continent of the future" due to its rich resources and rapidly growing population. a key question is: how can the united states effectively engage in african affairs?
"into africa", a podcast focusing on african issues produced by the us think tank csis
into africa, a podcast produced by the us think tank csis focusing on african issues, aired two episodes in august: rethinking us-africa strategy and building africa's digital future. the program invited judd devermont, former special assistant to president biden and senior director for african affairs at the national security council, and francine katsoudas, vice president of cisco, to share their views on the us presence in africa. the interview was hosted by mvemba phezo dizolele, current director of csis's africa program.
rethinking us-africa strategy
when asked about his views on africa, judd devermont, who previously served as director of the africa program at csis and worked at the white house, said his views on the importance of africa have remained consistent, whether he worked in government or at a think tank: "africa is critical to our shared future. period."
devermont believes that the united states has maintained a positive bilateral relationship with the african continent and its people for the past 30 years. during his work at the think tank, through his contact with a large number of african private sectors, he clearly realized that africa and the world are undergoing tremendous changes. therefore, the set of approaches and policies developed in the late 1990s no longer meet current needs. based on this belief, he wrote a paper for csis in august 2020 titled "a new policy framework for the african century." he believes that this paper is one of the reasons why the white house asked him to draft the us africa strategy.
here is a summary of judd devermont’s comments from the podcast interview:
“we need to adapt our approach because the world is changing. an important part of that is that africa is no longer just a supporting player. we can no longer compartmentalize it. if we are to address challenges like climate change, pandemics, the new world order, africa must be included.
to achieve this we need to take different steps:
rethinking partnerships: we have to think differently about working with africa. we need to inject more complexity. for example, we may need to work with african leaders to accomplish certain tasks, but how do we not let those specific issues dominate the entire relationship when it comes to geopolitical competition or counterterrorism? how do we think about long-term goals (such as democracy and governance, peace and security, trade, investment, development) as real catalysts for change, so that africans can be more active on the global stage?
adapting to a young, connected, urban africa: we need to adapt policies to respond to the continent’s young population, increasing connectivity, and urbanization trends.”
devermont reflected on the turmoil of 2023: a coup in gabon in august, a coup in niger in july, and the outbreak of civil war in sudan in april. he found the situation frustrating and began to wonder if these problems were the worst moment in african history.
he looks back at the 1990s and reflects on what many people thought of the time. that era was considered the "end of history" moment, with the fall of the berlin wall and the disintegration of the soviet union. africa also experienced major events, such as the end of apartheid, namibian independence, the end of the mozambican civil war and the introduction of multi-party democracy. but it was also a time of chaos, destruction and conflict, with the liberian and sierra leone civil wars, "black hawk down", the rwandan genocide and the congo war resulting in the loss of many lives.
devermont believes there are parallels between then and now. when the cold war ended, a particular international system disintegrated and a new one was established, one that was dominated by the united states and based on rules. the united states subsequently withdrew a large amount of resources from africa and did not return to 1992 aid levels until 2011.
now that the united states and the soviet union are no longer the main powers supporting the regime, competition and new players have been reintroduced into the international system. the current period is one of rule-challenging, which provides more opportunities for internal bad behavior and external manipulation. there are similarities to the 1990s.
devermont quoted robert kaplan’s the coming anarchy and mentioned a line from a christmas carol quoted by don steinberg, a senior executive in the clinton administration: “are these shadows of what is to come, or shadows of what could be?” this line challenges us to rethink what we are doing—the old tools are no longer working, and the continent is being constrained by these historical and global forces.
he believes that if we are to work with our african partners and other countries to reach a new world of stability, prosperity, and democracy on the rise rather than on the decline, the united states cannot achieve this goal alone, but it has an important role to play. the united states must play its role humbly, engage in dialogue, and bring all parties to the negotiating table.
when asked how the united states should reflect on historical lessons, understand current african desires for neutrality, and adapt to new forms of international competition, devermont said:
“africans want partners of choice. so when the us says we are the partner of choice, it’s hard for me to get them to change that view. if the us says we want to be the partner of choice, but africans say they want to choose their partners, there is a fundamental disconnect. we should start looking for lasting solutions.
it also means we can express specific concerns about the behavior of our allies and adversaries in africa because they may impact u.s. national security interests and may undermine african sovereignty. we can have a conversation about that. but in my experience, we never say, us versus china, us versus russia. the conversation is always more specific.
for example, some of the things you're doing, we would like our american competitors to participate in. we have some work to do, and you have some work to do, to make sure that the playing field is level.
but it was never an all or nothing choice. the challenge now is that 'all or nothing' sounds very popular in the media.
every article or newspaper in the last two years has been saying, the russians are coming, and the united states is training african soldiers. there is also a problem with the framing of these things. even when you explain to journalists that we are not actually doing this, they say, yes, i know, but my editor likes to frame it that way. so, i am not blaming them. what i am trying to emphasize is that sometimes we all have a share of responsibility in how we talk about these issues. that includes the u.s. government, the u.s. media, think tanks, african media, and african governments. sometimes, nuances don't sell. those nuances are harder to express in bullet points.
but i just want to share my experience that we recognize that africa needs and wants partners. our goal is to be the best partner we can be, but we also don’t shy away from disagreeing with what other partners are doing.”
building africa’s digital future
when asked how the united states should adjust its policies to better respond to local needs in africa, devermont said: "i believe africans are asking very important questions, which is a good thing. when i served in the biden administration, we were at a turning point. so it started with how we thought about africa, and i think that was reflected in the strategy and then the engagement. but then it became a question of instruments."
he mentioned tools such as increased funding for the young african leaders program. the government also announced a new kennedy and liberal arts education initiative and launched an $800 million africa tech or digital transformation program, which includes initiatives to improve skills.
coincidentally, cisco released a report in july this year on using ai technology to improve africa's cyber resilience, titled "elevating africa's cyber resilience: unveiling regional challenges and charting ai solutions." francine katsoudas, vice president of cisco, discussed the current state of cybersecurity in africa in csis's august podcast.
katsoudas said the report highlights not only africa's connectivity issues, but also secure connectivity. she discussed in detail some specific challenges and opportunities for cybersecurity in africa. for example, the number of cybersecurity experts varies greatly from country to country, with the united states having nearly 500,000 security professionals and nigeria having only about 5,000. therefore, every country needs to build and expand cybersecurity capabilities. the importance of technical training is obvious.
regarding the widespread application of artificial intelligence on the african continent, she pointed out that artificial intelligence can support cybersecurity, but also needs to pay attention to the security of artificial intelligence itself. at the same time, the independent treatment of policies by countries or states makes the problem more complicated. she suggested that the development of consistent protocols and sharing mechanisms would be very helpful.
cisco is involved in building a cybersecurity center in nairobi in partnership with the university of nairobi. the project not only builds skills and capacity, but also creates some communication mechanisms so that kenya can improve communication and measures.
katsoudas also stressed the importance of widespread data privacy and digital literacy education. with fewer people connected to the internet on the continent, learning about data privacy and digital literacy can take time. the first examples we learn about phishing are usually taught through it organizations, such as "don't click on this link, pay attention to these things." this kind of education is essential to truly protect society.
digital literacy education includes not only understanding some of the terminology, but also knowing what to watch out for and the latest attack vectors, such as malware and phishing. you need to ensure that there are ways to stop these threats and support people.
how can we have these capabilities? katsoudas believes that people must be connected first, because connection brings educational opportunities, employment potential, and even medical support. in the process of building connections and education, it is necessary to cultivate people who can build a stronger network in the future.
when asked whether frequent leadership changes in africa affect cisco's cooperation with governments, katsoudas said that leadership changes sometimes change priorities, so when working with global companies, the first thing to do is to clarify "what goals do we want to achieve with technology?" technology goals vary from country to country. some countries focus on ensuring that people can participate and access technology, others may focus on digital records, helping citizens get the prescriptions or medical services they need, and some countries focus on digital transportation projects, using technology to better understand and adjust needs. therefore, cisco needs to understand the priorities and needs of african countries and introduce partners to provide long-term and scalable solutions. she introduced cisco's "national digital acceleration" program, through which it works with 50 countries around the world on digital projects to improve citizen experience.
katsoudas highlighted the continent’s huge growth opportunities in terms of internet connectivity and young workforce, and pointed to innovation in the financial sector as an important example of africa’s economic potential. she encouraged the private sector to seize the opportunity and build closer ties with africa.
gong siliang, yang xiaozhou
(this article is from the paper. for more original information, please download the "the paper" app)
