The Waiting Game

A couple months ago I sent a manuscript off to a journal for consideration. The usually process is that the editor takes a look and decides if it's worth sending to outside readers. In the past I've sent manuscripts to this journal only to have them summarily rejected for some inconsequential reason ("not the length we expect" or some such thing). The rejection comes fast, within a couple weeks, and straight from the editor.

This time is different. I haven't been rejected (yet), which means that they actually deigned to send it off to outside readers. This could take months. The next step depends on those peer reviewers, who will either accept or reject it. If the former happens, there will probably be suggested revisions, etc. If the latter happens there will be withering comments about why the article doesn't deserve to be published. (If you think the comments I write on student papers are critical, you should see what peer reviewers write.)

All this is to say that we professors have our parallel experience to the students' experience of submitting a paper. But, in our world, the process is drawn out with exquisite anticipation of a sound mental pommeling. Sometimes I miss the day of turning in a term paper and getting it back a couple weeks later with a final grade. End of story.

It's Not The Same Lounge It Was Before

Humanities 254, that is. After an often times hectic summer during which many members of the department found themselves involved in switching around offices, packing and unpacking countless boxes, and moving, cleaning, and even assembling furniture, perhaps in no place are the major changes made over the past few months more evident than in Room #254.

Many of you have no doubt made use of this space during prior semesters, or at the very least passed through it on your way to visit the offices of Professors Blum, Hargett, or yours truly. But in contrast to the previous layout, when you enter the room now it should appear much more open. The bookshelf has been relocated slightly to make way for a sofa. And gone is the moveable dividing wall that previously made the room appear so much more narrow and confined.

The most noteworthy alteration, however, is the replacement of our three old computers with five brand new machines and the addition of a printer. Yes - and let me reiterate this in bold, eye-catching font - a printer! Just as the computers are intended for student use, so too is the printer available for students in the department provided that they bring their own supply of paper. It's not a hard thing to do and this, we hope, will encourage even more students to make use of this and the many other resources available to you in Humanities 254.

After all, it is supposed to be your space, and whether that means typing up and printing out homework on the computers or gathering around the main table for language practice, you are always welcome to stop by. So long as one of us with an office adjoining Room 254 are around we will do our best to keep the door open and the place accessible. This semester, keep your eyes out for an open door on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons.

Listserv subscriptions

The university recently started closing e-mail accounts of alumni, and as a consequence I've been seeing a number of bounced messages from the EAS listserv. If you used to get listserv messages but now don't, this is probably the problem. If you'd like to be back on the listserv, though, it is easy to do that. Just go to http://listserv.albany.edu:8080/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=eas&A=1 (if that link doesn't work, try http://www.albany.edu/eas/listserv_forum.html) and sign up with whatever e-mail account you're currently using.

New alumni rep in Japan

It took me a while to post this, but better late than never. Patrick Murphy ('09) is our new alumni rep in the Kansai region! His name does not appear on the alumni page of the university yet, but I trust it will be there soon. Patrick's e-mail address is pm654744@albany.edu, for those of you who want to contact him. He is a JET teacher, like so many of you. Many, many thanks to Patrick for stepping up to the plate on this one. There are many of you nearby (Melissa, Ashley, Dan, Tammy, Reggie, etc.), and I encourage you to touch base. The listserv is the most likely place for announcements, but we'll try to cross-list to the blog, too.

So, now that we have a rep in Japan, is there anyone who is interested in being the rep in China or Korea?

Alumni representatives

Having heard recently from a couple students heading to Japan, I got to thinking that we must have a sort of "critical mass" of alumni there. Is anyone interested in volunteering to be a "regional alumni volunteer" either in Kansai or Kanto? Right now we do a lot of networking, but it tends to be through the listserv or even less formally (i.e., I distribute your e-mail addresses with reckless abandon). If we had a regional volunteer then maybe things might be easier. The alumni page of the university says that a regional volunteer does the following:

• Act as a central contact for alumni, parents, prospective students,new graduates, and the UAAA.
• Serve as a university ambassador at events determined by theUniversity (faculty visits, presidential visits).
• Plan the occasional informal event (book readings, viewing parties).
• Assist in determining a location for a University event in their region.
• Distribute promotional emails inviting people to attend upcomingevent in their area.
• Assist alumni relocating to their area.

Lest you think this would end up being an "expat" group, let me remind you that a lot of our alumni are/were international students. This would be a great way to meet the locals, too.

If anyone is interested, check out http://www.albany.edu/alumni/regionalvolunteers.php

And, let me know, too. Just because the Alumni Association gets involved doesn't mean the department would necessarily be copied on any correspondence.

Likewise, if there is anyone in Beijing or Shanghai (the two likely locations) who might want to volunteer that would be great. Given how many UA alumni are in China I'd think this would be easy.

I hope someone chooses to do this--right now there are only two international volunteers, which is pretty sad when you think about it. Come on, let's show them that EAS alumni are a force to be reckoned with (or, at least, a cool bunch of people)!

Translation

I recently attended the memorial service for my graduate advisor, Edwin McClellan, who passed away last month. As most such services are, it was a time of reflection. In attendance were many former students of McClellan's, and the reminiscences were largely about his guidance as a mentor and accomplishments as a scholar. (For those of you outside of Japanese studies, McClellan was one of the prominent translators of modern Japanese literature.) McClellan was one of the last of his generation of Japan scholars--those who served in World War II, and who introduced Japanese studies to the United States. It must have been a very lonely existence, in a way. Very few people in the U.S. knew anything about Japan or Japanese literature 60 years ago. To quote one of the obituaries: "In 1948, [McClellan] went to the University of St. Andrews, where he earned a degree in British history and met his future wife, Rachel Elizabeth Pott. At St. Andrews he also met the noted political theorist Russell Kirk, who took him on as his graduate student at Michigan State University. Two years later, McClellan transferred to the University of Chicago to work with economist and philosopher Friedrich von Hayek. McClellan appealed to Hayek to write his doctoral dissertation on the novelist Natsume Soseki, whose work was much admired in Japan but unknown in the West. To persuade Hayek of Soseki's importance as a writer and interpreter of Japanese modernity, McClellan translated Soseki's novel "Kokoro" into English. McClellan's definitive translation of "Kokoro" was published in 1957." (the full obituary is on the Yale website at http://opa.yale.edu/news/article.aspx?id=6691)

A translation for Hayek! We should all be so lucky to have such a readership.

I also spent time this weekend talking with Jay Rubin and Steve Snyder, both of whom have become prominent translators of Japanese literature (and both of whom were students of McClellan's). They told me something I thought I'd share with my students: often it is the editor/publisher who decides to cut a sentence or paragraph or chapter, not the translator. But, when that happens, unless one reads the colophon, the translator gets the credit/blame for it. So, before we jump down the throats of the translators for missing something, we should think twice.

Already?

Wow--the school year went fast. It was great to see everyone at Commencement, meet your families, etc. Professor DeBlasi was serious, you know, when he said that we'll miss you. If you're not signed up for the listserv, you should be! For you graduates, the networking through the listserv and connected EAS alumni just seems to grow continuously. Someday, perhaps, as Joe predicted, we'll take over the world. But, until then, I guess we'll have to settle for geeky research and course prep...