The Duck of Minerva

National Day of Prayer, Political Science Edition

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by Amanda Murdie

2 May 2013, 1010 EDT

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Of the 6 churches I passed on my way to the office this morning, 3 reminded me that today is National Day of Prayer.  In the spirit of the day, I’m following my Grandmother-in-Law’s advice and suggesting that we all pray for our enemies.[1] Here’s my list:

 

  1.  Reviewer 2.  Thanks for the suggestions!  XOXO
  2. That guy I know from the chemistry department who always stops me in the grocery store to say things like “Hi, Ms. Political Scientist, where’s your Bunsen burner?”
  3. The undergrad student who can never make it to my office hours but always schedules an alternative time to meet and then doesn’t show.
  4. Fixed-effects.  You might be a “thing” instead of a person but I still pray for you daily.
  5. The second-year graduate student who refers to their seminar paper as “the paper I’m working on for APSR.”
  6. Endogeneity and all methods of trying to deal with it.[2]
  7. Libraries that require me to take books back and then recheck them after a semester.  Seriously, no one but me wants to check out that book.
  8. Anyone who says they “just don’t get” a piece of scholarship/complete sub-field/method. You are just so special.
  9. Whoever started Political Science Job Rumors.  Thanks!  I feel better about my profession every time I check your site!
  10. Reimbursement forms and the people who double check them.
  11. Tom Coburn.  I’m praying double for you!

Anyone you are praying for this morning?


[1] I guess the rules are that you can’t pray for your enemy’s early demise (<Insert Holy Book quotation here>).  But, you can pray they get stuck at the DMV, get guacamole on their Taco Bell order when they asked for sour cream, or get audited by the IRS.

[2] As Alan Abramowitz once told my class, “God is the only exogenous variable.”

 

Amanda Murdie is Professor & Dean Rusk Scholar of International Relations in the Department of International Affairs in the School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Georgia. She is the author of Help or Harm: The Human Security Effects of International NGOs (Stanford, 2014). Her main research interests include non-state actors, and human rights and human security.

When not blogging, Amanda enjoys hanging out with her two pre-teen daughters (as long as she can keep them away from their cell phones) and her fabulous significant other.

6 Comments

  1. Kyle N
    Kyle N on 2 May 2013 at 10.58 EDT

    Re: Footnote 1
    Yes you can, it’s called an imprecatory prayer. It’s just, you know, considered bad form and generally not in line with the spirit of the holy books.

  2. Christopher Zorn
    Christopher Zorn on 2 May 2013 at 11.02 EDT

    College IT. And really, any old preposition will do: pray for them, pray to them, pray at them,…

  3. Lauren
    Lauren on 2 May 2013 at 13.27 EDT

    ” Reviewer 2. Thanks for the suggestions! XOXO”
    I LOLed. Then I cried :-).

    Seriously, this is hilarious.

  4. Laura Sjoberg
    Laura Sjoberg on 2 May 2013 at 13.51 EDT

    I pray for the person who just started an email to me with “I don’t want to be obtuse, but …”

  5. Jeppe Mulich
    Jeppe Mulich on 2 May 2013 at 17.42 EDT

    I pray for reviewer #2 who thought it so crucial that I have 6 languages, rather than the mere 4 I already have, that he turned down my research proposal and suggested I devote a few years to learn them.