My Experience on the Academic Job Market
It’s almost that time of year again—yes, it’s academic job search time. There’s loads of job market advice out there (as you most certainly know), and now I suppose I’m throwing my hat into the advice ring as well. I thought I’d discuss my personal job market experience because I think it deviates in some ways from the standard experience. Before we dive in, however, I want to underscore the precarity of the job market and acknowledge the university’s role in contributing to the exploitative and extractive environment that adjuncts and non-tenured college instructors face. The precariat makes up most of the academy’s scholars and educators, and we (tenured and tenure-line scholars, administration) have continuously failed to address the demands of these essential educators.
Down The Strange and Winding Road to the Ph.D
A grad student at a friend’s get-together recently asked me how I finished my doctoral program. I don’t think I gave them the response they were looking for. The truth is, there’s no singular way that one finishes a doctorate—however, there is a lot of luck involved.
Getting high on my own (pedagogical) supply.
I often, in the midst of planning for a course, get so excited about how the activities I introduce will go over with my students. I think about what they might come away with at the end of the class / semester, how they might feel about the concepts I introduce and what needs to be in place to ensure relative safety (sometimes things like reflection essays, for example, can bring up strong emotions among students, so I like to build-in contingencies to address this possibility). I also often do not think of myself as another beneficiary (participant - yes, beneficiary - not necessarily) of the outcomes I hope my students end up working with.