Some of my former teaching assistants would laugh because my desk is relatively clean right now. In addition to the things you would expect (file drawers, tissues), there are a couple of other things I keep on my desk to remind me about various things:
Yes, I’ve been known to like the Peanuts cartoon strip (I’m second generation when it comes to that). I did see the statues during all 7 years they were out in St. Paul, Minnesota and Santa Rosa, California. I have … a few of these statues as well. But why I have this one on my work desk: to remind me of the various parts of the department I serve. It’s not just rhetoric, or strategic communication… we’re also about journalism and production in its various forms.
You’d also see a bunch of 5×8 sheets and index cards on my desk too. They’re the cards and sheets that my students filled out at the beginning of the semester, with various questions I asked them about their learning styles and what they hope to get from my classes. I leave those on my desk to remind me of who I’m teaching, and to remind me that it’s not just about content — it’s also about the people in the room.
And I also have a few journals on my desk. Since I’m a patron member of Southern Communication Association, I get all the regional journals. In the case of some of the regional associations, I don’t get access to the electronic copies; rather, they decide to send an entire year’s worth of their journal at once.
The journals remind me that as the chair of a comprehensive department, part of my job is to learn more about the communication discipline in all its forms – media, strategic communication, relational communication, communication education, and so forth. Have I read all the articles yet? No. Do I intend to? Yes. Because that’s what polymaths do.