By Marco Lazzarotti We have a tendency to perceive the passage of time as traced by the path of an idealized academic career. In this vision, an academic career is perceived as an obstacle race, or perhaps an elimination race—with well-defined paths and obstacles carefully laid out before us. As we inexorably move down this path, we are so focused on the goals and obstacles ahead that we forget to notice as our life—and our youth—comes to an end. After {+}

By Laura Miller. Expectations for academics are sometimes based on stereotypes. One idea is that people reach the apex of their creativity and intensity before diminishing energy and relevance after the age of 60. I suspect that “relevance” has more to do with academic trends than with research productivity. Less energy may be a genuine problem, but I’d like to focus on a few positive aspects of becoming an older anthropologist and newbie historian. Although my early career was plagued {+}

Post by blog member Kerim Friedman. As one gets older, one’s experience of time simultaneously collapses and expands, creating a parallax effect. Amidst the daily routine of the school year, time seems to pass ever slower, each semester much like the next, erasing any sense of the passage of time. At the same time, the years breeze by at an ever faster pace, unnoticed, until they are brought to one’s attention with a sudden shock of realization, such as when {+}