University of Toronto is looking for a mature scholar in a field they invented two minutes ago:
They do it all the time. Every year I wait for the hiring cycle to see what new fad UofT us embracing this year.
This Year’s Fad
Opinions, art, debate
Clarissa's Blog 
“Palestinian Literature and Culture”
Okay, I’m not completely unsympathetic to Palestinians (though about half their problems, conservative estimate, are of there own making).
But…. they seem like the least interesting Arabic speakers going…. since Palestinians are made up of different sub-groups (since a lot of them are descendants of economic migrants) there’s no distinct Palestinian Arabic (national varieties of Arabic are just starting to be markers of national identity the way national varieties of English or Spanish are…. though there are important differences).
Similarly with religion… it’s my understanding that they follow a very vanilla version without the national quirks that used to mark different places (and they’ve marginalized non-muslims in recent years).
And what culture do they have besides hating Jews (as they themselves put it)?
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A Full Professor is somebody like me. Somebody who spent a quarter century in the field and made a name for themselves in it.
But … what field? Palestinian culture is an expression you can entertain people at parties but little else.
This reminds me of how UofT tried to hire a Spanish lit Prof who specialized in disability studies.
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“And what culture do they have besides hating Jews (as they themselves put it)?”
I think that’s exactly what they are looking for. It’s Toronto after all.
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UofT should put up a running job ad advertising a cushy job in whatever the most recent social media fad is.
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