January 25, 2006

Further evidence of declining university standards?

Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled that my University's Office of Graduate Studies and Research and the Graduate Student Association are co-sponsors of the annual All-Grad Research Symposium, now in its sixth year. I think it's a great opportunity for "graduate students from all fields to present their work to peers in a professional and intellectually stimulating atmosphere." Best of all, registration is free and includes breakfast, lunch, and a wine reception. How cool is that?

Not cool enough to ignore the fact that the keynote speaker is none other than Richard Lederer -- nor, apparently, cool enough for Lederer to list this appearance in the Upcoming Speaking Appearances section of his Have Tongue, Will Travel page. Just reading Lederer's own bio is enough to make you wonder: what in the world were they thinking? As I and others have noted several times before, Lederer may be an award-winning punster and quick with a dictionary or two, but he's certainly no linguistic scholar. But perhaps the graduate student masses just want to be entertained.

[ Comments? ]

Posted by Eric Bakovic at January 25, 2006 01:01 AM