Zhuobin Li, A01, Week 9

Zhuobin Li
5/24

“     In this week's reading, "Academic Symbiosis – A manifesto on tenure and promotion in Asian American studies,” the author Wei Ming Dariotis illustrated the idea of Academic symbiosis. "Academic symbiosis means building thoughtfully supportive academic community in which we each bring what we can share to the potluck rather than fighting over scare resources" and it stands for the antithesis of academic competition, hierarchy. Tenure symbolized for the height of intellectual capital. People care about tenure and promotion so much. However, Dariotis 's idea of academic symbiosis is the opposite of those competitions in academic. Academic community should be supportive and people can feel free to share their thoughts and improve together. We should have the idea of academic symbiosis, that way we can avoid vicious competition. But I think healthy competition also helps people improve and force themselves to become better. It is necessary, otherwise people would become lazy and unmotivated.

Valverde, K.-L. C., & Dariotis, W. M. (2020). Fight the tower: Asian American women scholars resistance and renewal in the academy. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.