From the CHE

[akashiver]

In Professor-Dominatrix Scandal, U. of New Mexico Feels the Pain

Life has become extremely complex in the University of New Mexico's English department in the three years since Lisa D. Chávez, a tenured associate professor, was discovered moonlighting as the phone-sex dominatrix "Mistress Jade," and posing in promotional pictures sexually dominating one of her own graduate students.

Comments

[ninja-turbo.livejournal.com]

Was this the inspiration for the episode of Castle? ;)

[moonandserpent.livejournal.com]

That is by far my favourite episode of Castle... :P

[d-c-m.livejournal.com]

Oh my.

[bitchy-vegan.livejournal.com]

In all honesty, I couldn't make heads or tails of that whole situation. Especially with sentences like: "Ms. Chávez says Mr. Jones told her that Ms. Cutler was the origin of the accusations against her", which are no doubt quite typical in situations like this.

Did you read this post by Ms Cutler, grad student named in the Chronicle piece?

I think she has some trouble understanding various aspects of higher ed, like 1) "imposter syndrome", which affects every damn grad student at some point, and 2) that no one is ever prepared for the arbitrary nature of much of academic, like paperwork. But it at least gave her (partial) perspective on things.

Also, makes me glad for my experience in what has, for me, been a very functional department.

[akashiver.livejournal.com]

An interesting read. Thanks for the link.

[prosewitch.livejournal.com]

Whoa, that was a dramatastic read.

I think some of the article's commenters were spot-on when they mentioned the systemic problems involved: how grad students and some faculty aren't paid a living wage, and so on. I'm also kinda bummed to see that sex work is still so stigmatized; I don't think sex work and academic work are necessarily incompatible, but if there is dishonesty and general ass-hattery, I don't see how they could mesh well.

I'm also curious what her "sexually-charged" classroom situations were actually like. I think it's fine for profs to instigate discussions about sex and sexuality where relevant, and so long as no one is put on the spot and forced to talk about (or hear about) things that make them too uncomfortable. But then, I tend to think that pushing students outside their comfort zones can be a handy teaching tool, and it is certainly a double-edged blade, as the instructor can also be pushed outside their normal boundaries. But as long as it's productive, and no one's basic classroom rights are being violated, I think it's a workable tactic.

[akashiver.livejournal.com]

>>I think some of the article's commenters were spot-on when they mentioned the systemic problems involved: how grad students and some faculty aren't paid a living wage, and so on.<<

Yes... though there's also a danger sometimes of projecting the systemic onto the particular.

As a respondent to that comment noted, the person in this situation claiming to be motivated by financial need is the (associate!) prof herself, and her $60,000+ salary is a matter of public record. Much as I'd like to turn this into a productive discussion about grad student working conditions, what this particular case highlights instead is "teh dramaz."