thecultofcelebrityprofessors翻译

Unit 7Text AThe Cult of Celebrity Professors—Celebrity professors are a good thing. Really!Few speci

Unit7 TextA TheCultofCelebrityProfessors —Celebrityprofessorsareagoodthing.Really! Fewspecieshaveasmanynaturalenemiesasthecelebrityprofessor.Other academicsenvytheirmoneyandfame;journalistsdisliketheircleverer-than-thouairs; andeverybodyhatestheirdeterminationtohaveitall—thesecurityofacademic tenureandtheglitzofmediastardom.Sothesearehappydaysfortherestofus. Plagiarism,lying,waffle-mongering:hardlyaweekgoesbywithoutsomeacademic celebrityorotherbitingthedust,hisreputationintatters. StephenAmbrosewasarguablyAmerica’sfavoritehistorian,amanwhowrote bestsellersfasterthanmostpeoplereadthem.AninspirerofHollywoodblockbusters, hecanalsoclaimcreditfortwoofthebestpresidentialbiographiesaround,on EisenhowerandNixon.Butitnowturnsoutthatfiveofhisbookscontainextensive “borrowings”fromotherhistorians.(“I’mnotwritingaPhD”,hehasofferedas anexplanation—anunsurprisingclaim,ashewouldnotgetoneforsomebodyelse’s work.) Mr.Ambrosemustbegratefulthatattentionhasshiftedtoanothercutterand paster,DorisKearnsGoodwin.ShewasafixtureonAmericantelevision,alwaysready withatellinganecdoteon,say,LyndonJohnson(whomsheknew)orAbrahamLincoln (thesubjectofhernextblockbuster).Herhandlingoftheplagiarismchargesagainst herhasarguablybeenworsethanthechargesthemselves.Inthelast1980sshe quietlymollifiedoneofherchiefvictims,payinghersomemoney.Nowsheexplains herbehaviorbythefactthatshereliedonhandwrittennotes—somethingother historianshavemanagedtodowithoutsuchdireconsequences.Amazingly,Ms. GoodwinremainsonHarvard’sboardofoverseers,despitethefactthatshe committedsinsthatmightgetanundergraduateexpelled. Thehuntisnowonforthenextserialplagiarist.Meanwhile,otherchargesarealso beinghurledatcelebrityprofessors.Takecompulsivelying.JosephEllis,theauthorof afirst-ratestudyoftheFoundingFathers,toldthestudentsthathehadfoughtin Vietnamwhentheclosesthecametocombatwassittinginauniversitylibrary.Or takehypocrisy.Paulkrugman,aprofessorofeconomicsatPrincetonUniversity,used hiscolumnintheNewYorkTimestoSavagetheBushadministrationforitslinksto ＄ Enron,whenthefearlessprofessorhadhimselfreceived37,500fromtheenergyfirm. Ortakegeneralflatulence.AsquabblebetweenLarrySummers,Harvard’scombative newpresident,andCornelWest,aprofessorofblackstudents,alertedtheworldto thelatter’srecentwork,whichturnsouttobeamixtureofpost-structuralist mumbojumbo,religiousrhetoricandrapmusic.Moreshouldbeexpectedfromoneof only17peopletoholdtheexaltedtitleofuniversityprofessoratHarvard. Isthisacaseofafewbadapples?Inpublicintellectual(HarvardUniversityPress) 1