University Diaries » “These are people who have absolutely no intellectual ambitions,” he says. “One can tell from their spelling errors that they would never be able to get a Ph.D. the normal way.”

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“These are people who have absolutely no intellectual ambitions,” he says. “One can tell from their spelling errors that they would never be able to get a Ph.D. the normal way.”

“The relationship between professors and their doctoral candidates has often been minimized down to a lazy wave-through.”

There are many illuminating statements in this interview with a German ghostwriter of dissertations.

**************************

Markets work in funny ways.

Instead of creating a backlash against ghostwriters, however, cases like Guttenberg’s have actually had the opposite effect. His case was actually how many people first learned about the existence of doctoral ghostwriters at all. Since the beginning of the 2000’s, the number of ghostwriters … has risen and prices have fallen for the service.

****************************

The interviewed ghostwriter shares the self-justifying bullshit that gets him through the night.

“Everything is for sale: sex, people, doctorates. I am only a cog in the wheels of capitalism.”

You keep telling yourself that, honey.

Margaret Soltan, February 17, 2013 2:00PM
Posted in: foreign universities

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11 Responses to ““These are people who have absolutely no intellectual ambitions,” he says. “One can tell from their spelling errors that they would never be able to get a Ph.D. the normal way.””

francofou Says:
February 17th, 2013 at 6:03PM
Unfortunately, I’m not sure he is wrong. Reading your blog, I’m not sure you disagree — not with the ought, but with the is.
Margaret Soltan Says:
February 17th, 2013 at 6:17PM
francofou: I intensely disagree with the is. Which isn’t to say there’s not a lot of whoredom — whoredom that I chronicle. But there’s SO much else, and (as Ronald Dworkin among many others insisted) one has choices.
francofou Says:
February 18th, 2013 at 7:09PM
So much else for some of us, yes. Could be an interesting discussion, but the medium is not built for complexity, is it? Perhaps that is the point. Hit and run.
Margaret Soltan Says:
February 18th, 2013 at 7:59PM
Sure it’s built for complexity. Go ahead. Don’t hit and run.
Michael Tinkler Says:
February 19th, 2013 at 8:24AM
By the way, I’m not at all sure that spelling is a useful diagnostic. Two of the smartest people I know can’t spell at all in English (interestingly, I happen to know that one of them never had any problem spelling in Latin – we took a Latin composition course together). Maybe it’s a German thing!
Margaret Soltan Says:
February 19th, 2013 at 8:27AM
Michael: I think he probably means they can’t spell words and names central to their activity. Phylosofi. Haygel.
econprof Says:
February 19th, 2013 at 12:08PM
My emotions in this whole affair (well, being Austrian) oscillate between schadenfreude and homesickness. Our (former) member of government in charge of higher education also had an iffy dissertation – but he was quickly promoted to go to Brussels as Austrian commissioner of the European Union, so the whole debate died out. So if you love titles, this is a good thing. Our German brethren in their direct ways simplify things a bit too much: Consider e.g. Lufthansa: if you go to http://www.lufthansa.com (if outside the US, be sure to get the US-page) and try to purchase a ticket (for our purposes, JFK to FRA would be sufficient, choose any date and economy class and go thru the menu – choose any options you like, but do not login with your frequent flyer account). When you come to the page where they ask you the passenger details, you will notice a menu item “titles”: You can choose between “Mr.,Mr. Dr., Mr. Prof, Mr. Prof. Dr., Ms., Ms. Dr., Ms. Prof, Ms. Prof. Dr.”. In principle, this is a good thing – they show they value the “professor” title, even when the person lost his/her doctorate. Of course, the loss of the “Mrs” title hurts a traditionalist. Anyway, but what makes me homesick is this new formulation of the Nuremberg defense: Instead of “I just followed orders” it is nowadays “I am only a cog in the wheels of capitalism”. So good old German traditions – like abdication of individual responsibility in a collective – are alive and well..
Margaret Soltan Says:
February 19th, 2013 at 12:48PM
econprof: So much to like in your comment! Thank you for sending it. A German friend of mine not long ago told me about the hilarious choice of titles at Lufthansa…
Crimson05er Says:
February 19th, 2013 at 5:00PM
This is only tangentially related, but I’ll post it for sheer hilarity. Much like the great Lufthansa title choices cited by econprof, the British Airways website used to have a remarkably comprehensive honorific selection tool (regrettably pared down since, I believe). I copied and saved it last fall for posterity’s sake. I’m not sure if the best choice is “Air Vice Marshall,” “Deaconess,” or “His Holiness” — the latter presumably in case the Pope, the Dalai Lama, or the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople needs to quickly book a ticket online.

The full list, in its glory:

Mr
Mrs
Ms
Miss
Dr
Herr
Monsieur
Hr
Frau
– (blank for no title)
A V M
Admiraal
Admiral
Air Cdre
Air Commodore
Air Marshal
Air Vice Marshal
Alderman
Alhaji
Ambassador
Archbishop
Archdeacon
Baron
Barones
Baroness
Bay
Bayan
Bishop
Brig
Brig Gen
Brig General
Brigadier
Brigadier General
Brother
Canon
Capt
Captain
Cardinal
Cdr
Chief
Cik
Cmdr
Col
Col Dr
Colonel
Commandant
Commander
Commissioner
Commodore
Comte
Comtessa
Congressman
Conseiller
Consul
Conte
Contessa
Corporal
Councillor
Count
Countess
Crown Prince
Crown Princess
Dame
Datin
Dato
Datuk
Datuk Seri
Deacon
Deaconess
Dean
Dhr
Dipl Ing
Doctor
Dott
Dott sa
Dr
Dr Ing
Dra
Drs
Duchess
Duke
Earl
Embajador
Embajadora
En
Encik
Eng
Eur Ing
Exma Sra
Exmo Sr
F O
Father
First Lieutient
First Officer
Flt Lieut
Flying Officer
Fr
Frau
Fru
Gen
Generaal
General
Governor
Graaf
Gravin
Group Captain
Grp Capt
H E
H E Dr
H H
H M
H R H
Hajah
Haji
Hajim
Her Highness
Her Majesty
Herr
High Chief
His Excellency
His Holiness
His Majesty
Hon
Hr
Hra
Ing
Ir
Jonkheer
Judge
Justice
Khun Ying
Kolonel
Lady
Lcda
Lic
Lieut
Lieut Cdr
Lieut Col
Lieut Gen
Lord
M
M L
M R
Madame
Mademoiselle
Maj Gen
Major
Marchioness
Marquess
Marquis
Marquise
Marshall
Master
Mevrouw
Miss
Mlle
Mme
Monsieur
Monsignor
Mr
Mrs
Ms
Mstr
Nti
Pan
Pani
Pastor
President
Prince
Princess
Princesse
Prinses
Prof
Prof Dr
Prof Sir
Professor
Puan
Puan Sri
Rabbi
Rear Admiral
Rev
Rev Canon
Rev Dr
Rev Mother
Reverend
Rva
Senator
Senhor
Senhora
Senhorita
Senor
Senora
Senorita
Sergeant
Sheikh
Sheikha
Sig
Sig na
Sig ra
Sir
Sister
Sqn Ldr
Sr
Sr D
Sra
Srta
Sultan
Tan Sri
Tan Sri Dato
Tengku
Teuku
Than Puying
The Hon Dr
The Hon Justice
The Hon Miss
The Hon Mr
The Hon Mrs
The Hon Ms
The Hon Sir
The RT Hon
The Very Rev
Toh Puan
Tun
Vice Admiral
Viscount
Viscountess
Wg Cdr
Margaret Soltan Says:
February 19th, 2013 at 7:00PM
Crimson05er: Fantastic!
janet gool Says:
February 19th, 2013 at 11:02PM
That list reminds me of a Gilbert and Sullivan patter.

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Dr. Bernard Carroll, known as the "conscience of psychiatry," contributed to various blogs, including Margaret Soltan's University Diaries, for which he sometimes wrote limericks under the name Adam.
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George Washington University English professor Margaret Soltan writes a blog called University Diaries, in which she decries the Twilight Zone-ish state our holy land’s institutes of higher ed find themselves in these days.
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It’s [UD's] intellectual honesty that makes her blog required reading.
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There's always something delightful and thought intriguing to be found at Margaret Soltan's no-holds-barred, firebrand tinged blog about university life.
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You can get your RDA of academic liars, cheats, and greedy frauds at University Diaries. All disciplines, plus athletics.
truffula, commenting at Historiann

Margaret Soltan at University Diaries blogs superbly and tirelessly about [university sports] corruption.
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University Diaries. Hosted by Margaret Soltan, professor of English at George Washington University. Boy is she pissed — mostly about athletics and funding, the usual scandals — but also about distance learning and diploma mills. She likes poems too. And she sings.
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Margaret Soltan is no fan of college sports and her diatribes on the subject can be condescending and annoying. But she makes a good point here...
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11 Responses to ““These are people who have absolutely no intellectual ambitions,” he says. “One can tell from their spelling errors that they would never be able to get a Ph.D. the normal way.””

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