A World Apart?

Professors say the degree to which non-academic life affects their work can vary.

In the sciences, for example, knowing about current movies or talking to people on the bus just may not be that useful, some say.

Machinist says some professors deal with material that is so theoretical that they may not use outside experience as much in their academic work.

"Creating sometimes involves shutting out the entire world except the world in which you're creative," he says.

Yet Klein Professor of the Classics Charles P. Segal says that particularly in the humanities, personal experience helps scholars make sense of the works they are studying.

Segal is currently writing a new translation of The Bacchae, a drama by Euripides, which he says deals with timeless human problems.

"When you're studying a past civilization, no matter what works you're working with...you're dealing with basic human experiences," he says.

The Tenure Track

Yet some professors say junior faculty members--who are under more pressure to publish and become involved in Faculty committees--can not afford to spend time on other pursuits.

Green says junior faculty should consider becoming involved with community organizations such as the one he serves on--but they shouldn't focus on it.

"For a new assistant professor this wouldn't be the first thing I would do," he says. "But on the other hand, I wouldn't wait too long either."

Jesse E. Matz, assistant professor of English, says it is difficult for junior faculty to concentrate on non-academic pursuits.

"It can be tough to do things not related to work in the early stages because you have to do a whole lot of work to establish yourself," he says. "There are certain expectations on someone like me to do what is conventional."

Matz adds that a tenured professor like Gates has more flexibility.

"[Gates has] reached that level where there is no distinction between inside and outside," Matz says. "The more important you are, the more liberty you have to integrate your work and your pleasure."

Yet Matz and other junior faculty say they don't understand why academicians are thought of as aloof.

Assistant Professor of Psychology Patricia K. Keel says she's happy with the balance between academics and other aspects of her life.

"I don't think that the pressure to publish is detracting from that balance," she says. "I'm reasonably happy with the balance right now."