The Chronicle has an article on how the administrations put windows in the offices of their faculty to monitor their behavior. But, of course, folks cover up the windows. Who wants to be in a fishbowl?
My new office has a window in it. It’s 8×12. The office put a piece of paper across the middle of the window, so no one is very visible, but you can still see the light from inside. The office upstairs covered the window with three pieces of paper so that no one can see anything.
Me, I’m kind of… ambivalent. I mean, I get not wanting everyone to see you. But I also like to see who’s out there. When I am having office hours with students, I open the door all the way. Otherwise the door is kept locked. My chair suggested it since there is violence in our area pretty regularly.
But I open the door whenever anyone knocks, so really, what does locking the door do?
Privacy. Safety. Both are an illusion that a window cannot shatter.