Introducing: Faculty Leaks Animated
Many readers think our essays are satire. They aren't. This short animated film, however, is.
Launching today: Faculty Leaks Animated.
Many readers have assumed our essays are satire. Believe it or not, they aren’t. The events, meetings, documents, and institutions are real — only identifying details are changed, for obvious reasons.
The animations are different. These are satire, loosely inspired by real experiences in the same academic world. The comic frame allows for what direct reporting cannot: caricature, absurdity, and the alien-invasion metaphor that academia has been earning for years. Productions are AI-assisted. All writing, direction, and editorial decisions are the author’s.
Episode 1: “The Faculty”
A short animated film about a new professor’s surreal first day on the tenure track. The premise comes from our recent essay, “The Faculty,” about the alien-invasion feeling of contemporary academia.
More episodes if this lands.
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We are the Borg.
You will be assimilated.
Resistance is Futile.
Ooh touches something deep. My pre tenure days (early 2000s) felt a lot like this though I was so overwhelmed during those early years (multiple preps, multiple committees and sub committees lol) that I don’t think I was truly aware of the ideological agendas and general ineptitude. I just waned to teach undergrads my beloved discipline and assumed that’s all any of us wanted. Sure many would have political leanings but surely that would not intrude - it’s not like I was in one of those liberal arts departments! But even in the sciences it’s inescapable.