Oh, well

[arisbe]

Thought I had a good shot at a think tank position. And maybe I did, but if so, somebody had a better one. There is another one open at another institution, and the same folks have encouraged me to apply, so I put in a couple of hours rewriting the letter, though I was told to leave it pretty much the same -- but I couldn't, it was too focused on the institution.

Well, wish me luck. This one is a couple of hours further away, but only a block from public transportation, and I am not a driver.

And if I get it, hope the place doesn't get nuked when things get hot in a month or so.

Comments

[tiwonge.livejournal.com]

Why would it get nuked?

Something I've wondered: how does a thinktank work? What do they do? How do they meet? How are people selected? WOuld you be paid? What do you think about?

Tell me as much as you care to about thinktanks.

[tiwonge.livejournal.com]

How hard would it be for me to get a bunch of people together and create our own thinktank?

[arisbe.livejournal.com]

Not hard at all. The hard thing is to raise money to pay for it.

[arisbe.livejournal.com]

Some of the shit that hits the fan in a month or two may well be radioactive.

Think tanks subsidize speeches, seminars, and publications in favor of one point of view or another to influence academe, the media, the government, or the general public. Needless to say they represent points of view that people or corporations with money to give want to promote.

[tiwonge.livejournal.com]

How does it work, though?

Does everybody get together in a room and talk? Is it done electronically? Do certain people create skeletons and others flesh them out? Do people put forth arguments and actually debate a topic before presenting it?