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Three Hundred Words, No Questions Asked | Shiv Issar, Ph.D.

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Every course runs on a hidden tax. Somewhere around week two, a reading reaches for terms like hegemony or reflexivity or performativity without pausing, and a portion of the room quietly decides not to ask what those words mean. The reluctance is understandable (and even something that a faculty member can empathize with) — asking what a word means can feel like confessing what you don’t know, in front of the people you least want to confess it to. But the cost compounds over time: readings skimmed, seminars sat out, arguments half-followed. Vocabulary is the cheapest thing in academic life to fix, and the most embarrassing to ask about. I’ve often faced the same issue as a student myself.

Every course runs on a hidden tax. Somewhere around week two, a reading reaches for terms like hegemony or reflexivity or performativity without pausing, and a portion of the room quietly decides not to ask what those words mean. The reluctance is understandable (and even something that a faculty member can empathize with) — asking what a word means can feel like confessing what you don’t know, in front of the people you least want to confess it to. But the cost compounds over time: readings skimmed, seminars sat out, arguments half-followed. Vocabulary is the cheapest thing in academic life…

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