Fin

Our author mentions on page 88 an article by Kathleen Blake Yancey called “Redesigning Graduate Education in Composition and Rhetoric: The Use of Remix as Concept, Material, and Method.” Yancey’s article is centered around the English department at FSU, and how she encouraged graduate students to adjust traditional scholarship to more readily fit with a more fluid and technological era. According to Yancey, our author states, there are “methodological implications for scholarship in composition” when it comes to remix (89). Further, that a more prestigious view of remix “can lead to a reshaping of graduate curricula in order to make them more relevant to a constantly changing writing and technology landscape” (89). I agree, though tangentially, that remix could provide a model upon which to build similar but different curricula for graduate students.

In classes throughout my college education and in talking with others in the department, its not unusual to have discussions about dissertations, publishing, and a whole range of other topics related to the requirements for completing the degree. One thing that has been brought up time and time again has been the idea of a dissertation or thesis as being outdated, sometimes even to the point of being worthless in the grand scheme of completing one’s degree. Not only is it more than a little possible that the dissertation is outdated, but the process, i.e. via committee, is outdated as well, as evidenced by this article from The Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/higher-education-network/blog/2012/jan/30/academic-publishing-not-dissertation?INTCMP=SRCH

In addition to the many discussions regarding the usefulness and contemporary appropriateness of dissertations has been the topic of publishing. Dr. Birmingham recently posted on her Facebook an article from The Guardian about how the world of academic publishing has been, and continues to be “held hostage” by academic publishers who charge exorbitant fees for subscriptions. (Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/apr/22/academic-publishing-monopoly-challenged?INTCMP=SRCH ). This leads to a number of problems for those both in and out of the academy. Those wanting to be hired are told that their prospects of finding a good job are diminished significantly if they cannot prove that their research is publishable. Because subscriptions are so astronomically high, not only is the average person not likely to purchase, but some universities are also unable to afford the cost. Additionally, the much-lauded fact of being published means that the author(s) of a work must sign away their rights to their own intellectual property.

Clearly there are some holes in the logic of higher education, so my question is:

1) How can the concept of remix, re-interpreting pre-existing models of pretty much anything, apply to re-organizing hierarchies, like that of the higher education system, with regards to dissertations and publishing.