Death of the Ayn Rand Scholar by Gray Cavender (classic literature list txt) 📕

also on the Sexual Harassment Task Force. This entire movement is creating a real hot potato, which is a good thing…finally. Remember, ASU has had some bad publicity on this…that’s why there’s a task force. And, he has the rep of wanting to be in control of everything, so maybe he wants to know the players. Or maybe it’s threatening that you’re involved in both of these matters. Obviously, Jillian, Nelda’s murder is a very big deal…it’s a topic on our list serve…Faculty Women’s Association…and on at least one national list serve that I’m on.”

While the tea steeped, Jillian glanced at the poster in the far corner of the room, between Carolyn’s desk and the windows. The poster was the cover of a book that Carolyn had edited. Jillian recalled the poster in Professor Gilroy’s office and figured that maybe such book posters were “in” among professors these days. The title of Carolyn’s book was Transgressive Detectives: 100 Years of Women’s Crime Fiction. It was an anthology of original articles about fictional women detectives in literature and on TV. The cover featured color photos of Joan Hickson as Miss Marple, Dame Helen Mirren as Jane Tennison, Jill Scott as Precious Ramotswe, Kristen Bell as Veronica Mars, and Jody Foster as Clarice Starling. They were depicted in small panels.

Carolyn finished stirring in some sweetener, noticed Jillian’s gaze, and volunteered, “We’re still getting good reviews…it’s also being adopted for classes in several universities…so University of Illinois Press has already given me a contract for The Thin Pink Line: Women in the Upper Echelon of Policing.”

“I wanted to ask…how’s the book is coming along? And that’s great about the contract…congratulations…but you changed your working title. How come?”

“You’re right, I did. I just thought the new title was more descriptive of what’s in the book…plus, it’s…cooler. And in terms of how it’s coming along…well, I have a complete draft of the whole shebang, and I’m working on revisions. So, I’m pleased.”

“Are you still doing any interviews?”

“Yes,” she grimaced, “even though I shouldn’t be…it’s just that I was able to get interviews with a couple of women who head state police training academies…they’re really are trying to change the culture of policing. One of the arguments that I make in the book is actually relevant to what we were just discussing about Nelda’s perspective. So, for instance, yes, of course, we expect police men and women to exercise agency and to be responsible for their own actions…but they aren’t blank slates. They are part of a police culture…and that affects how they see the world….and they bring to the table all sorts of their own life experiences, including gender socialization, sexual orientation, racial identity, and so on.”

She blew on the tea, took a small sip, and continued. “So, like in your case, you’re a white, middle class woman, with a graduate degree in Justice Studies. All this background will affect how you see your role as a police detective.”

Carolyn smiled and continued. “In the literature, this is called structured agency. But, hey, you know all this.” She pointed to with her tea cup to a book on her shelf, one that Jillian recognized because she’d cited it in her project. “Anyway, in terms of my book, that’s got to be it for the interviews,” she said to herself as much as to Jillian. ”I met these police academy women at a conference, they agreed to be interviewed—then and there—and I could not pass them up. I’m working on weaving-in the interviews as I make the revisions.”

“Will the book be enough for promotion?”

“Well, of course, I’m not going up just on the book…I’m still getting articles out…so…mainly, I just have to get my book manuscript revised…and in…to the publisher.”

“That’s great, Carolyn. Will you and Professor Naremore apply for promotion at the same time?”

“I don’t think so. The University Promotion Committee is not supposed to make comparison of the applicants, but it is human nature that they do. And, Ian and I don’t want to be in competition. Besides, my book is further along than his, so I think he’ll come up the year after I do.”

They drank their tea and caught-up generally…about Alena, who had just started third grade and about Jillian’s job shift over to ASU Campus Police. Jillian was enjoying the visit, but knew that Carolyn had another appointment, so she closed her IPAD and was starting to say her goodbyes. Before she left, Carolyn told her two last tidbits.

First, Linda Timms, Jillian’s former supervisor, now had a complete draft of her dissertation and Carolyn thought that she might be able to defend her dissertation sometime in spring semester. Jillian made another mental note…this one to stop by Linda’s office and giver her congratulations and, jokingly, commiserations. Her own MS project had been hard enough, and she could only imagine what a dissertation would be like. Carolyn’s second piece of news was that their article in Feminist Criminology was still among the journal’s twenty most cited pieces.

Jillian left Carolyn’s office, walked down the two flights of steps, and then cut across that side of campus and walked to the ASU Police Department. She wanted to check her mail, see if anything was shaking over there, and she’d also download some notes to her file on the Task Force.

She had a text from Wes saying that the news conference went well and that their chiefs had done a first-rate job. In all, Jillian was there for about 45 minutes. She left the building, walked across the street, and, in about five minutes caught the Jupiter, and headed for home. It was rush hour so the bus was crowded and she had to stand most of the way…at least she was near the front.

At home, she had time to gather her mail, change into her gi, and drive to Judo class. The dojo where she worked-out was in Scottsdale. She’d been taking judo for about three years, and enjoyed it. They always began with yoga-type stretches