CAA News Today

Each week CAA News publishes summaries of eight articles, published around the web, that CAA members may find interesting and useful in their professional and creative lives.

Snyder Pledges $350 Million to Save Detroit Pensions and DIA Artwork, but Hurdles Remain

A settlement of Detroit’s bankruptcy that would protect city retirees and the Detroit Institute of Arts’s collection appeared closer after Michigan governor Rick Snyder pledged $350 million to a growing rescue fund designed to bring all the major parties together in a grand resolution. US Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes also put his weight behind a grand bargain, saying in a separate hearing that he might not allow DIA artwork ever to be sold to satisfy city debts. (Read more from the Detroit Free Press.)

Where Are the Girls? Jemima Kirke on Women in Art

Jemima Kirke of television show Girls discusses how women have always made art, even if they’ve been absent from the history books and gallery walls. This short film made by the Tate investigates the role of women as makers, not just muses—from Lee Miller to the Guerrilla Girls. (Read more from the Guardian.)

Congress Takes Note

It’s time for Congress to pay attention to the abuse of adjunct faculty members, and the way their poor working conditions impact not only them but also their students, says a new report from the House Education and the Workforce Committee. While the report largely endorses previous studies on the subject, “The Just-In-Time Professor” document marks the first time Congress has so formally acknowledged a situation that adjunct activists have long deemed exploitative. (Read more from Inside Higher Ed.)

Class Divide on Campus: Adjunct Professors Fight for Better Pay and Benefits

Marcia Newfield and Rosalind Petchesky are both professors at the City University of New York. They both have advanced degrees. They both have been teaching for decades and are in their seventies. But there’s a big difference between the two: Petchesky is a distinguished professor, and Newfield is an adjunct. That means Newfield makes a fraction of what Petchesky makes. (Read more from NBC News.)

Why Buy the Cow? An Open Letter to the Full-Time Faculty of American Colleges and Universities

It is Saturday night, and as I write this, my young son sleeps; there is a stack of at least 140 papers stuffed into my Jane Eyre tote bag—the seams that cinch the handles to the bag are loosening, and will probably rip before I administer my last final in December. I bought it just this August, but as an adjunct professor this semester, I’m teaching twenty-two credits at three separate colleges. (Read more from I Will Start This Blog. I Mean It!)

Smartphones in the Classroom? Let Students Decide

Should students be allowed to use personal technology in the classroom? That’s a contentious issue for many instructors, myself included. Concerns about distraction—web surfing, Facebook checking, Scrabble playing—may prompt instructors to adopt policies that ban students from using laptops, tablets, and smartphones in class. Understandably so. (Read more from Vitae.)

The Myth of the Tortured Artist

No one blinked an eye when John Malkovich stooped to do Transformers 2. Jimi Hendrix’s reputation as a rock god hasn’t suffered for having been a session guitarist for the Isley Brothers. If your child opened a lemonade stand on the sidewalk you’d probably praise his enterprising spirit. So why is it so odious to some in the art world when an artist tries to make a little coin for himself? (Read more from the Daily Beast.)

The Fate of Sculptures at Museums around the World

Neil MacGregor and Thomas Campbell, the directors, respectively, of the British Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, will now be able to make arrangements for the first two stops in the planned international tour of plum Burrell Collection works to help raise £45 million to repair and refurbish the Burrell Collection building, the roof of which has been left leaking for decades. The desultory nondebate took place during an international spate of damaged sculptures. (Read more from ArtWatch UK.)