Will DCP Keep His Promise To BYU?

[Everybody Wang Chung]

In 2014, DCP took a year sabbatical with pay in exchange for his promise to finish two books.

DCP will retire on July 1st, 2021. As of today, those two books DCP promised to finish remain unfinished.

What are the chances DCP will finish those books by July?

[Doctor Scratch]

All I can say is that this would be a fitting end. I certainly haven't forgotten how Midgley, Kiwi, and the rest of them attacked Grant Palmer like rabid wolves, howling about how Palmer had "deceived" his employer.

July 1st is what? A little more than three months away? So there's still time.

[Everybody Wang Chung]

I agree. It would be a fitting end to a disappointing and lackluster academic career.

I’ve been told that DCP’s lack of publishing has been a real sore spot with his Department Chair. Instead of publishing, DCP has only endless excuses, broken promises and delay tactics.

DCP’s time at BYU will unfortunately be remembered by plagiarism, disparaging BYU/The Maxwell Institute, one of the lowest teacher ratings by students at BYU, lack of publishing and open disdain for his students/teaching.

DCP has really taken advantage of his employer.

[Dr. Shades]

I agree. It would be a fitting end to a disappointing and lackluster academic career.

Come ON. How can you possibly know that it's been those two things?

DCP’s time at BYU will unfortunately be remembered by plagiarism, disparaging BYU/The Maxwell Institute, one of the lowest teacher ratings by students at BYU, lack of publishing and open disdain for his students/teaching.

Again, COME ON!! Why would you insinuate those things, especially that latter part?

DCP has really taken advantage of his employer.

He founded and ran METI, and perhaps ISPART as well (my memory is fuzzy on that last one). That sounds pretty employer-friendly to me. That's much, much more than *I* have ever done, that's for sure.

Sure, we may all disagree--vehemently so--with much of what he says, but does it become us to be so recklessly uncharitable about the person himself?

[Kishkumen]

Sure, we may all disagree--vehemently so--with much of what he says, but does it become us to be so recklessly uncharitable about the person himself?

Agreed. Dr. P. has accomplished a lot in his time at BYU. I hope he savors his memories with satisfaction of a job well done. I disagree with him strongly on some matters, but I wish him well.

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeters ... qus_thread

For Dr. Shades and Kish - I think 'Ron Gould' makes Everybody Wang Chung's point in spades.

For the lazy, RG summarizes their back and forth:

DCP: I have such a love for my field that I started this project. I was booted from my position, the project was handled by someone else, and now the project is moving elsewhere. Woe is me! [Insert passive aggressive swipe that also suggests I don't have the time to do all work I want.]

Me: The project is great! Surely there must be other ways you contribute to your field, like publishing original research.

DCP: Why are you stalking me?

Me: I just searched for your work in Harvard's system, and haven't found anything original since 2001.

DCP: How dare you!

Seriously, the only original research published in what is likely a peer reviewed venue I found since 2001 is “A Prophet Emerging: Fetal Narratives in Islamic Literature.” In Vanessa R. Sasson and Jane Marie Law, eds., Imagining the Fetus: The Unborn in Myth, Religion, and Culture (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008), 203-222. And before that I only see a couple more. For most faculty, a listing of publications appears straight on their faculty page. But not for you.

You're not accountable to me, but if you want to position yourself as a scholar in a particular field, and then go on to lament your removal from a position in that field, then you are accountable to your field and your colleagues. If you aren't publishing in the field, then perhaps you don't have much business running such a project in that field

.

- Doc

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

Here's another instance of DCP claiming he was "writing books" back in 2012:

I’ve been tinkering with a book project—with several book projects, actually—for a number of years now.

This is an excerpt taken from a beautiful eulogy he wrote for his brother's funeral, which I recommend people read:

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeters ... Relief Society-on.html

Honestly, to have such a great sibling relationship is special, and is to be celebrated.

- Doc

[Kishkumen]

I don't give a flying "eff" what "Ron Gould" has to say. BYU is primarily a teaching institution. It is there, first and foremost, to educate LDS kids in an environment that comports with LDS standards. There are plenty of faculty members at BYU who are not publishing powerhouses. They are good teachers.

Speaking more generally about academia, some professors publish a deluge of material, some publish modestly (I fit in this category), and some hardly ever publish. Over time, the culture of publication has changed markedly. Once the book was seen as the product of a seasoned, experienced scholar. Now, a young person may have to publish a book BEFORE they ever land a tenure-track job. The obsession with high numbers of publications as though they were widgets--evidence of "productivity"--is not necessarily a benefit to the world. Most of what gets published is of negligible value. One would do much better to publish one article or book that makes a lasting contribution to the field than to publish a hundred things that no one cares about and effectively achieve nothing.

Honestly, I really don't understand the decade and a half of harassing DCP about non-apologetic issues and dissecting his life to pick on all of his perceived faults. He had an honorable career at BYU. He did a lot of good there. Now that it is drawing to a close, maybe people can show some decency by wishing him well. You don't have to agree with him or like his hobbies, but, really, isn't this way too much?

We can also leave aside any consideration about the particulars of DCP and his character, and I think the question of what our activities say about us is much more pressing a concern.

[Kishkumen]

"When I started my career almost 30 years ago, a few peer-reviewed publications could secure an academic job at a storied institution…Today…a CV that used to get you a job now makes you competitive for a postdoctoral fellowship."

- Lisa Feldman Barrett, President of the Association for Psychological Science and University Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Northeastern University

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

Kish

It's DCP himself constantly referring to books he's writing and never published that seems to be the issue, in addition to apparently striking a deal with his employer to actually effing publish an effing book or two.

He's the one that put that out there over and over and over again. That's on him.

Don't we disdain people who say they're going to do something and never follow through? Of course we do, because it feels like we're being manipulated. When an academic constantly makes reference to a these amazing things they're doing, but ends up shitposting on the Internet to primarily attack others or to defend the cojcolds then they're FAIR game.

- Doc