Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?

I take attendance by having the students answer a question.

Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?

• Standing right behind you.
• not here
• I just saw her the other day
• PASTA BAR
• California
• up and to the left
• I'll never know
• Mars
• Australia / down under
• MATRIX :(
• Where in time is Carmen Sandiego?
• with Waldo
• San Diego
• Antarctica
• really far away

Australia and California had more than one vote each.

Swarthmore-specific references:

• McCabe
• According to cygnet, Willets.
• Econ 01 (she got lotteried out of Algorithms)

"I don't know" and "idk" and "??" were popular answers; maybe the cultural reference is not universal. Similarly, "Who's Carmen Sandiego?" Alsa, hilariously, "Literally (not figuratively) no idea."

My CS-professor heart was won by the student who answered, "in the heap."


This post's theme word is gleichschaltung (n), "the forced standardization of political, economic, and cultural institutions, as in an authoritarian state." The non-ubiquity of Carmen Sandiego, despite her extensive travels, indicates an absence of gleichschaltung in the student body.