John Emerson has a long post up ruminating on the symbiosis between the humanities and the academy. John’s post appeals to me obviously, I certainly will never pursue a doctorate in the humanities or social sciences, but I have interests in Roman & Chinese history (my lack of fluency in other languages serves as a block on any scholarly contribution because of my first order ignorance of the primary literature). Some of the points John brings up will be familiar to those in the natural sciences as well, i.e., the perpetual post-doc ~ the nomadic adjunct. Our own David Nierengarten (Ph.D. biochemistry, Berkeley) expressed opinions that were not so far different from John’s in substance. I have a friend who is completing his doctorate in physical chemistry and now looking to go into the business management consulting world (merry X-mas B!).
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