Professors' Trading Cards
Pamela Sankar and Martin Perline
To the Editor:
In "Trading CardsTM for the Professoriate," in the November-December issue, Luis Martínez-Fernández proposes creating a series of playing cards to promote popular interest in the achievements of academics. He mentions that he has even trademarked his idea in case it "flies." Before pursuing his idea too far, I suggest that Martínez-Fernández visit the Web site theory.org.uk, which for several years has offered a set of trading cards featuring such luminaries as Sigmund Freud, W.E.B. DuBois, Judith Butler, and Anthony Giddens. It is a great site for resources on social theory, although I do wish that the Lego Angela McRobie and the Anthony Giddens action figures were real.
Pamela Sankar
(Medical Ethics)
University of Pennsylvania
To the Editor:
I read with considerable enjoyment Luis Martínez-Fernández's article in the November-December issue. Trading cards for the professoriate sounds like a great idea. Unfortunately, his idea may be too late in coming, as some years ago Prentice Hall published a series of economist trading cards under the heading of the Prentice Hall of Fame. These cards contained most of the information suggested by Martínez-Fernández, but, at least from my limited collection, appear to lack "a substantial representation of women scholars and at least one pinch-hitting minority professor." As soon as I finish grading finals, I will check eBay to see whether my collection has substantially increased my net worth.
Martin Perline
(Economics)
Wichita State University
The Author Responds:
The cards mentioned by Sankar and Perline actually have an older historic antecedent. Professors cards were issued in nineteenth-century Germany, where they became very popular among students.
Luiz Martínez-Fernández
(History)
Rutgers University
|