“The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings.”–Julius Caesar

The star system is one of the worst afflictions to hit academia, and responsible for many of academia’s current problems. Frank Donogue wrote a recent blog on academic stars that got me thinking about the topic.

Academia has always had stars. There have always been professors with prominent reputations, and distinguished professorships. The difference is that these professors were admired for their academic work, and their star status took the form of academic admiration.

It’s quite amusing that some critics of academics think the “star system” was created by literary theorists. Stanley Fish might be a master of the star system, but he was just following a trend impacting all of academia. In reality, English professors are among the smallest stars in the academic galaxy. They attract attention not because they are stars, but because some people really hate them, and because the humanities still have enough ethical concerns about the star system to raise concerns that are largely ignored in the rest of academia.

In essence, the “star system” is another term for expanding inequality.

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