because of her field. What she does is maybe more akin to what I
do, because some of her work is very strongly inflected with femi-
nist influence...Irememberenjoyingherbookimmensely...
We are interested in [similar topics], which created similarities in
our evaluations.Another panelist says, “I remember having a couple of moments of
very pleasurable agreement with the medievalist. It had to do with
reading major classics against the grain...Thereagain, it just
seemed a moment of connecting, but I couldn’t really describe it
in abstract term[s].” Such moments of connection are particularly
important given the rather isolated character of academic work. They
are also valued because relatively few people share the knowledge
needed to appreciate scholarship in an informed fashion. A num-
ber of interviewees describe experiencing moments of individual
or collective effervescence during deliberations. These feelings are
prompted by a variety of factors, but some respondents note as espe-
cially powerful moments those times they felt they were in deep
agreement with others on what defines good work, or times when
they felt the group as a whole had forged a connection around spe-
cific research projects.^21
If these academics have a personal interest in serving on panels,
it appears to be as much about finding intrinsic rewards—the plea-
sure of reading good proposals—and in building relationships
they find rewarding as it is about maximizing their position within
intellectual fields. These elements of pleasure, which many respon-
dents noted, are utterly absent from Bourdieu’s description of the
academic field.^22 For his part, Collins associates the effervescence of
intellectuals with the emotional energy that comes from being at
the center of attention.^23 But emotional energy can come from shar-
ing important experiences. Considering the plurality of self-concepts
among academics enriches our understanding of their motivations.^24
36 / How Panels Work