Question: What do university professors need to teach a 4/4 load, be active scholars, and involved community members?
This is no surprise to me, really, but living it is so very different from anticipating it. My first day of teaching occurred today, although I have been having orientation activities and meetings for a week. Only Wednesdays will be this long, but here is a breakdown of my very first day as a university professor:
7:30-8:30am Awake, shower, prep, primp, chai, check bag for handouts, flashdrive, notebook, lunch, and water bottle.
9:00-9:50am Arrive at office, print assignment sheets and make copies, collect syllabus copies, chat with officemate and various other friendly faculty in copy room. Chug some water.
10-10:50am Introduce self and syllabus to energetic (and slightly scared) freshman in College Composition, give students time to partner up and interview each other and then introduce partner to class. Distribute first short assignment, dismiss class, field several initial questions and students personally introducing themselves.
11-11:45a Office hour during which one student from 10a class came in, sat down in the chair next to my desk and told me she's scared of writing and is very unsure about this first assignment. Also, that she doesn't have a user name, so can't access her KU email. In response to the latter, I picked up the phone and dialed the IT Helpdesk and sat on hold while talking her down and helping her to see how she could successfully write this brief assignment in a way that fit the parameters, but also used her language and expressions, and was possibly fun to write. Eventually had her leave a message for IT and encouraged her to email them as well since they are likely bombarded today. Told her not to give up on IT, be persistent, and also confirmed that she felt better about writing this assignment. Ate some petite sweet pickles, roasted red pepper hummus and wheat fiber crackers. Chugged some water.
11:45-55a Realized I didn't have enough assignment sheet copies for 1pm class, so made more.
11:55a-12:54p Comp Conversation weekly meeting with faculty teaching comp. Very funny and informative meeting - basically, I have amazing, smart, creative colleagues who are willing to share their expertise and ideas. What a fortunate place to have landed!
12:55-1p Walked to DeFran building and immediately got lost, circling various loops through hallways before accidentally stumbling upon my classroom.
1-1:50p See 10-10:50a - repeat.
1:50-1:55p Walk back to Lytle Hall and find classroom.
2-2:50p See 1-1:50p, except instead of introducing their partners to the class, the students spent 25 minutes talking to their partners, which must be continued outside of class in order to complete the first short assignment - Who is your partner? It's an exercise in identity creation/definition. This first part has someone describe and present who you are - the second part will be the student's chance to write his or her own story. Who you are according to someone else vs. who you are according to you.
2:55-3:15p Head to car, drive to other side of campus, get lost in a maze of parking lots trying to locate the Multicultural Center. Finally see it (very obvious place that I totally missed on the way in). Park, head to director's office.
3:15-4:30p Have delightful and supportive meeting with Director and Assistant Director and Graduate Assistant of the Center about 1) the feasibility of bringing two Native American stand-up comedians in my acquaintance to campus next fall (apparently, there is money and space for this sort of thing, so feasibility is high), and 2) developing a Multiethnic Film Series for next fall. Completely successful, early-in-the-process meeting. Lots of great ideas exchanged and a plan of attack. Sweetness!
4:30-4:50 Sit in sweltering car responding to a few emails, then drive to Betty's for a portabello pesto wrap, small three-cheese & mushroom soup, diet birch beer, and a peanut butter brownie...to go. Gaze out window while waiting for food, wondering how I'm going to make it through a three-hour class....
4:50-5:55p Head back to office with delicious dinner items, check emails while eating, load up bag so I can head home when class is over.
5:55-6p Walk into a sweltering classroom with melting students. Walk out mumbling "oh hell no" partially under my breath. Quickly scout two open classrooms, return to sauna and look at prof who taught in that room before my class. I say, "Room 212 is open." He responds, dripping with sweat, "GO." We do.
6-8:30p New classroom also has an oscillating fan, which I turn on high and position to cool the students down. This is my advanced comp class and already I can tell how on the ball all of these students are. Solid, smart conversations and debates, some teasing and joking back and forth. Good rapport right away. Several thank me for moving classrooms (I wouldn't want to teach in a sauna, as I explained). A handful even offered that they were excited about this class and the possibility of picking a social or cultural issue that they thought was important and to write about it in different ways all semester. No one looked at a watch, no one looked bored, conversations were lively. They gave me energy and I left class wide awake and just as excited at the end of the day as I was at the beginning.
8:35-9p Called mom to give her the day's overview (knew she was wondering) while driving home.
.....
10:58pm Bedtime and the sweet, calm dreams that are only possible when life is working in your favor. Realizing once and for all that yes, all that hard work, time, energy, sacrifice, heartache, frustration, obstacles, and annoyance was worth it. Yes it was. I'm there. It happened faster than I expected. :)
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Sunday, August 29, 2010
A (not so) simple question
When the server came to my table this morning, I already knew what I wanted for my post-hike meal: two eggs, hash browns, wheat toast, and strawberries. But two questions nagged at me that I lost the nerve to ask: Where did the eggs come from? Where did the strawberries come from?
These simple questions are loaded with implications and could potentially be received as negative or critical of the business. The diner was packed, my server was rushed, and it just didn't seem appropriate to ask, but I do want to start asking these types of questions because I do care about where my food comes from. What country, what state, what the conditions are for the animals before they are slaughtered. In fact, what has got me thinking more about food as a safety and humane issue are several related things.
Gene Bauer, author of Farm Sanctuary , detailing his work on the nonprofit place that he started in Watkins Glen, NY (http://www.farmsanctuary.org/), is coming to my campus to speak on Sept. 15. The moment I saw that announcement, I knew I wanted to incorporate his talk and an excerpt from his text into my Advanced Composition class. Our theme this semester is "pressing social and cultural issues," so I figured this would be a good one for us to start with before students go off and pick a topic that interests them. So I bought his book and read it in order to know which excerpts to give my students.
Honestly, I have several friends who are vegetarian or vegan, and am an animal lover and nature hound myself, and I also consider myself fairly well-read on a wide variety of topics. But the systemic abuse of both people and animals and the extraordinary levels of cruelty and malice built into the corporate farming industry makes me sick. Baby chickens being ground up ALIVE in wood chipper-type machinery? Feeding corn, dead chicken parts, and feces to cows messes with their digestive systems (I'm stunned), thus causing a ripe in-body environment for rabid strains of e-coli to grow? Starving male calves and holding them in pens so tiny they can't turn around so their flesh is soft and white (veal)? Boiling chickens alive? These are just some of the real-life horrors revealed in books like Bauer's and movies like Food, Inc. and I definitely think it is high time that we all start educating ourselves on where our food comes from and how these animals are treated or we cannot call ourselves a humane country. Period.
Bauer's book inspired me to do something I've been postponing for months because I knew how horrifying it was before even watching a minute: I watched the documentary Food, Inc. And yes, it is as hideous as you might expect - but also necessary. Books like Bauer's and documentaries like Food, Inc. expose a human-built system that completely disregards other species' rights wholesale. Even the idea that cows, chickens, and pigs feel pain. How can ANYONE think that these creatures don't feel pain? My god, I stopped fishing because I knew I was hurting the fish when I stunned it and then killed it. They squeak. Did you know that? Fish squeak when you kill them. (Aside: I do still eat fish, but only store-bought and only wild-caught, not farm-raised, and only occasionally.)
These texts also unveil many facts that the average consumer wouldn't know such as the reason junk food is so cheap is because those are the crops/products that are the most heavily subsidized because they are actually VERY EXPENSIVE to produce! This, to me, was a revelation. Perhaps it is something I should have known, being as highly educated as I am. But this is just one of the facts that I've since started looking into. Another is this lovely tidbit - according to the data in Food, Inc. 90% of the hamburger meat that is processed in this country goes through an AMMONIA BATH to kill e-coli.
AMMONIA. (Don't believe me? Go ahead. Read up: http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2010/01/nyt-discloses-pink-slime-they-call-hamburger/
I'm done ordering burgers. And no more grocery story meat. Not that I eat a lot of meat in the first place, but that lovely gem has solidified my resolve to purchase meat from local farmers who actually raise the animals, kill them and cut them up without any chemicals. These farmers live with these animals, care for them, and are as intimately involved in the killing process as anyone would wish to be. They do it by hand. Perhaps that makes me a hypocrite (maybe we're all hypocrites) because I'm willing to let someone else kill that animal for me. But that's a dilemma for another day...
The best way to guarantee our meat comes from local farmers is to shop at farmers markets where at least most of the produce, meats, and dairy are local or regional. Also, for a foodie like myself, I relish exquisite food, but haven't eaten veal since I was 23 because there is no reason to eat a baby cow. None. I suppose I will eventually become a vegetarian the way this is all affecting me, but in the meantime, I will try to seek out restaurants and stores that sell locally-produced meat, dairy, and produce. I have found two restaurants and several farmer's markets - that's a good start.
While thinking on these horrifying facts, I picked up a copy of today's Allentown Morning Call, my local paper. And look what the lead story is on the front page of the Sunday paper:
PA egg safety rules a model for coming federal regulations
At first blush, this article is very positive. PA is breaking new ground in voluntarily protecting consumers from salmonella in eggs. We're leading the charge, the feds are following, and my goodness, the FDA may again have the power to inspect places that process the food! Egads, what a concept.
But these chicken houses (in the photos) in Lancaster have 100,000 birds crammed into them on tilted metal grates on top of each other. According to Bauer's firsthand evidence, the grates cause broken feet and bones, the tilt causes the hens to never really be able to settle in so they are always moving, and the moment these hens stop producing at a high rate, they are sent to a slaughterhouse to be ground up into chicken nuggets or cow feed. This is humane? No. Would any one of us want to live this way? No. Then why have we rationalized away our basic sense of decency and humane treatment? We coddle our cats and dogs, feeding them organic specialized diets (or at least that's what my Lucy eats), exercising them, playing with them, buying them toys and fluffy beds...while the animals who are responsible for producing or becoming our steak dinner/chicken fingers/milkshake are treated as inanimate, unfeeling objects incapable of thinking or feeling pain.
Seriously?!
Seriously.
So my resolve was hindered this morning, but no more. I love diners, but I want the diners that I frequent to know that at least one of their customers cares where her eggs and strawberries came from. And the next time I visit that diner, which will probably the next time I hike the nearby nature preserve, I will make it a point to ask. And if they say "we don't know" or "from the store" or name a large manufacturing company - basically, any answer other than "X farm right down the road," I will very politely ask why not the farm down the road? And make a suggestion that they consider doing so.
Other changes I'm now committed to making include buying almost exclusively from farmer's markets and I am fortunate to live in a place with several permanent markets to choose from. And this includes animals for food - I've found an Amish farm that raises bison and chickens. I'm sure there are more if I just start looking. Might I suggest you do the same?
These simple questions are loaded with implications and could potentially be received as negative or critical of the business. The diner was packed, my server was rushed, and it just didn't seem appropriate to ask, but I do want to start asking these types of questions because I do care about where my food comes from. What country, what state, what the conditions are for the animals before they are slaughtered. In fact, what has got me thinking more about food as a safety and humane issue are several related things.
Gene Bauer, author of Farm Sanctuary , detailing his work on the nonprofit place that he started in Watkins Glen, NY (http://www.farmsanctuary.org/), is coming to my campus to speak on Sept. 15. The moment I saw that announcement, I knew I wanted to incorporate his talk and an excerpt from his text into my Advanced Composition class. Our theme this semester is "pressing social and cultural issues," so I figured this would be a good one for us to start with before students go off and pick a topic that interests them. So I bought his book and read it in order to know which excerpts to give my students.
Honestly, I have several friends who are vegetarian or vegan, and am an animal lover and nature hound myself, and I also consider myself fairly well-read on a wide variety of topics. But the systemic abuse of both people and animals and the extraordinary levels of cruelty and malice built into the corporate farming industry makes me sick. Baby chickens being ground up ALIVE in wood chipper-type machinery? Feeding corn, dead chicken parts, and feces to cows messes with their digestive systems (I'm stunned), thus causing a ripe in-body environment for rabid strains of e-coli to grow? Starving male calves and holding them in pens so tiny they can't turn around so their flesh is soft and white (veal)? Boiling chickens alive? These are just some of the real-life horrors revealed in books like Bauer's and movies like Food, Inc. and I definitely think it is high time that we all start educating ourselves on where our food comes from and how these animals are treated or we cannot call ourselves a humane country. Period.
Bauer's book inspired me to do something I've been postponing for months because I knew how horrifying it was before even watching a minute: I watched the documentary Food, Inc. And yes, it is as hideous as you might expect - but also necessary. Books like Bauer's and documentaries like Food, Inc. expose a human-built system that completely disregards other species' rights wholesale. Even the idea that cows, chickens, and pigs feel pain. How can ANYONE think that these creatures don't feel pain? My god, I stopped fishing because I knew I was hurting the fish when I stunned it and then killed it. They squeak. Did you know that? Fish squeak when you kill them. (Aside: I do still eat fish, but only store-bought and only wild-caught, not farm-raised, and only occasionally.)
These texts also unveil many facts that the average consumer wouldn't know such as the reason junk food is so cheap is because those are the crops/products that are the most heavily subsidized because they are actually VERY EXPENSIVE to produce! This, to me, was a revelation. Perhaps it is something I should have known, being as highly educated as I am. But this is just one of the facts that I've since started looking into. Another is this lovely tidbit - according to the data in Food, Inc. 90% of the hamburger meat that is processed in this country goes through an AMMONIA BATH to kill e-coli.
AMMONIA. (Don't believe me? Go ahead. Read up: http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2010/01/nyt-discloses-pink-slime-they-call-hamburger/
I'm done ordering burgers. And no more grocery story meat. Not that I eat a lot of meat in the first place, but that lovely gem has solidified my resolve to purchase meat from local farmers who actually raise the animals, kill them and cut them up without any chemicals. These farmers live with these animals, care for them, and are as intimately involved in the killing process as anyone would wish to be. They do it by hand. Perhaps that makes me a hypocrite (maybe we're all hypocrites) because I'm willing to let someone else kill that animal for me. But that's a dilemma for another day...
The best way to guarantee our meat comes from local farmers is to shop at farmers markets where at least most of the produce, meats, and dairy are local or regional. Also, for a foodie like myself, I relish exquisite food, but haven't eaten veal since I was 23 because there is no reason to eat a baby cow. None. I suppose I will eventually become a vegetarian the way this is all affecting me, but in the meantime, I will try to seek out restaurants and stores that sell locally-produced meat, dairy, and produce. I have found two restaurants and several farmer's markets - that's a good start.
While thinking on these horrifying facts, I picked up a copy of today's Allentown Morning Call, my local paper. And look what the lead story is on the front page of the Sunday paper:
PA egg safety rules a model for coming federal regulations
At first blush, this article is very positive. PA is breaking new ground in voluntarily protecting consumers from salmonella in eggs. We're leading the charge, the feds are following, and my goodness, the FDA may again have the power to inspect places that process the food! Egads, what a concept.
But these chicken houses (in the photos) in Lancaster have 100,000 birds crammed into them on tilted metal grates on top of each other. According to Bauer's firsthand evidence, the grates cause broken feet and bones, the tilt causes the hens to never really be able to settle in so they are always moving, and the moment these hens stop producing at a high rate, they are sent to a slaughterhouse to be ground up into chicken nuggets or cow feed. This is humane? No. Would any one of us want to live this way? No. Then why have we rationalized away our basic sense of decency and humane treatment? We coddle our cats and dogs, feeding them organic specialized diets (or at least that's what my Lucy eats), exercising them, playing with them, buying them toys and fluffy beds...while the animals who are responsible for producing or becoming our steak dinner/chicken fingers/milkshake are treated as inanimate, unfeeling objects incapable of thinking or feeling pain.
Seriously?!
Seriously.
So my resolve was hindered this morning, but no more. I love diners, but I want the diners that I frequent to know that at least one of their customers cares where her eggs and strawberries came from. And the next time I visit that diner, which will probably the next time I hike the nearby nature preserve, I will make it a point to ask. And if they say "we don't know" or "from the store" or name a large manufacturing company - basically, any answer other than "X farm right down the road," I will very politely ask why not the farm down the road? And make a suggestion that they consider doing so.
Other changes I'm now committed to making include buying almost exclusively from farmer's markets and I am fortunate to live in a place with several permanent markets to choose from. And this includes animals for food - I've found an Amish farm that raises bison and chickens. I'm sure there are more if I just start looking. Might I suggest you do the same?
Friday, August 20, 2010
Life off the grid (and back on)
Almost the moment I landed this sweet new professor position, I canceled my cable and internet service because I know what a time suck they both are and I had to dedicate myself in monk-like fashion to completing the most daunting of tasks: my dissertation. Oh, I could still get online by tethering my phone to my laptop, but at dinosaur speeds compared to zippy cable internet. So my time spent online reduced drastically. In addition, I had no Top Chef or Real Housewives of Orange County or Law & Order: SVU marathons to sap away my valuable time. I heartily contend that because of my disconnection from the grid, I had ample time to complete my dissertation, move to PA, graduate, and do a myriad amount of other tasks usually relegated to the "but I don't have time" whine-bank.
Today marks my return to the grid, lightning-fast internet, and digital cable with 180 channels. I still don't have my new TV, mind you, but the cable is hooked up and ready to go once said beautiful new HD flat screen beauty arrives. And this as I embark on a new adventure as a junior faculty member teaching five composition classes my first semester - one introductory comp, three college comp, and one advanced comp. Also, my research agenda for this fall includes writing a book review (which I have taken baby steps toward beginning) and finishing the necessary revisions for a journal that has requested a "revise and resubmit" for one of my articles based on a dissertation chapter. This is the scholar-teacher's life and I am loving it. Sounds like a helluva lot of work, but I'm not worried. Fifteen weeks goes by so fast, as I've come to learn. And I'm also much more capable now of voluntarily moving off the grid in selective spurts when my need to be ultra-productive or ultra-outdoorsy intervenes.
Life off the grid has its uses and can retrain your brain to focus and concentrate more singularly on necessary tasks such as completing work on deadline, or fun tasks such as taking a solo hike or meeting friends for lunch. Focus and concentration of this kind is a dying skill and one that is worth regaining. Being off the grid means having more time to spend with people and most importantly, yourself. When is the last time you sat on your porch or balcony with a glass of wine or cup of coffee, without your phone, without your laptop, without even a book...and just sat and watched the trees or neighborhood, listened to the birds and bugs, while you (gasp) thought. Just thought. About anything that came to mind.
Here's a nifty experiment that I challenge you to try. Disconnect from the grid for 24 hours. Just 24 hours. Keep your phone on (in case of emergencies), but don't call anyone and no texting! Keep your TV off. And don't go online to email, check your favorite news site or blog, or to watch a streaming Netflix movie. (And if you're in school, that's no excuse - do this experiment starting Friday at 6pm and ending Sat. at 6pm...if you do, you might find you don't want to return to the grid until Sun. at 6...it's addicting!)
Disconnect from the grid for 24 hours and spend time with yourself - go walk in the woods Thoreau-style and think about where you are, what your life is like and where you'd like your life to go. Write old-school in a journal; muses about someone you have a crush on or maybe a place you'd love to visit, or how much you miss your mom. Listen to the radio...and not just your favorite tried and true stations - explore the channels and see what's out there. Finish an assignment or project that you've been putting off. Try something new - a restaurant, a new dish at your favorite restaurant, a hobby you've always wanted to try. Spend time with people - call up a friend you haven't physically seen in awhile (before the 24 hrs begins obviously) and plan a car ride to nowhere - just jump in the car with a map and no plan and just drive - turn after turn until you find a cool old antique store to wander around in, or a funky diner in a neighborhood you've never heard of...
My challenge to you my friends is to go off the grid for just 24 little hours. And see what happens. You might like it. ;)
Today marks my return to the grid, lightning-fast internet, and digital cable with 180 channels. I still don't have my new TV, mind you, but the cable is hooked up and ready to go once said beautiful new HD flat screen beauty arrives. And this as I embark on a new adventure as a junior faculty member teaching five composition classes my first semester - one introductory comp, three college comp, and one advanced comp. Also, my research agenda for this fall includes writing a book review (which I have taken baby steps toward beginning) and finishing the necessary revisions for a journal that has requested a "revise and resubmit" for one of my articles based on a dissertation chapter. This is the scholar-teacher's life and I am loving it. Sounds like a helluva lot of work, but I'm not worried. Fifteen weeks goes by so fast, as I've come to learn. And I'm also much more capable now of voluntarily moving off the grid in selective spurts when my need to be ultra-productive or ultra-outdoorsy intervenes.
Life off the grid has its uses and can retrain your brain to focus and concentrate more singularly on necessary tasks such as completing work on deadline, or fun tasks such as taking a solo hike or meeting friends for lunch. Focus and concentration of this kind is a dying skill and one that is worth regaining. Being off the grid means having more time to spend with people and most importantly, yourself. When is the last time you sat on your porch or balcony with a glass of wine or cup of coffee, without your phone, without your laptop, without even a book...and just sat and watched the trees or neighborhood, listened to the birds and bugs, while you (gasp) thought. Just thought. About anything that came to mind.
Here's a nifty experiment that I challenge you to try. Disconnect from the grid for 24 hours. Just 24 hours. Keep your phone on (in case of emergencies), but don't call anyone and no texting! Keep your TV off. And don't go online to email, check your favorite news site or blog, or to watch a streaming Netflix movie. (And if you're in school, that's no excuse - do this experiment starting Friday at 6pm and ending Sat. at 6pm...if you do, you might find you don't want to return to the grid until Sun. at 6...it's addicting!)
Disconnect from the grid for 24 hours and spend time with yourself - go walk in the woods Thoreau-style and think about where you are, what your life is like and where you'd like your life to go. Write old-school in a journal; muses about someone you have a crush on or maybe a place you'd love to visit, or how much you miss your mom. Listen to the radio...and not just your favorite tried and true stations - explore the channels and see what's out there. Finish an assignment or project that you've been putting off. Try something new - a restaurant, a new dish at your favorite restaurant, a hobby you've always wanted to try. Spend time with people - call up a friend you haven't physically seen in awhile (before the 24 hrs begins obviously) and plan a car ride to nowhere - just jump in the car with a map and no plan and just drive - turn after turn until you find a cool old antique store to wander around in, or a funky diner in a neighborhood you've never heard of...
My challenge to you my friends is to go off the grid for just 24 little hours. And see what happens. You might like it. ;)
Saturday, May 29, 2010
No magic bullets
SO much has happened in the past few months that it has kept me more than busy, which is why I've not posted anything. But all of my activities have been amazingly good: I landed a tenure-track assistant professor position at a teaching university in my home state, which was my objective from the start of this six-years-long process of getting a PhD. And despite the fact that I have signed my university contract, obtained a lease for a beautiful apartment, and started buying new furniture while finishing my dissertation and preparing to graduate and move in August, I'm still adjusting to this new reality. From PhD candidate to professor in one quick sweep of a signature. . . and yet. . . and yet. . .
The path to getting here has not been easy and I hate to say this (because it goes against a lot of current opining and writing on the subject on the futility of landing a tenure-track academic job), but luck had very little to do with it. There are no magic bullets for getting to this point. From where I sit right now, reviewing and evaluating the time, sacrifices, hard work, dedication, and compromises required to put me in a position to land such a perfect job, it seems to me that having a strong work ethic, a focused goal, the right attitude, an interesting and trending research topic, and a willingness to put this goal above everything else (including marriage, friendship, health, and fun) is the way to succeed in a difficult and contracting job market.
My closest friends know what I did and how I did it - they have been my lifeline to sanity and survival in the past four years, which have truly been the hardest for me both intellectually and emotionally. But perseverance really does seem to be the only way to survive and even have the chance to thrive in this or any economy - have good ideas, present them well, be fearless, and work hard - no. . .harder than hard. . .commit yourself to the path in ways that makes others sit back and wonder how you could possibly sustain that level of work day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year. Sustainable perseverance. The energy, enthusiasm, effort, and time required to pull this off is immense and cuts across everything else in your life.
I also think good timing and the right fit have a lot to do with success as well. And how does one figure that out? I don't know. Good instincts, maybe? Just being aware of the marketplace, reading the job ads carefully, presenting yourself in the most targeted and honest way possible, and being willing to take as much of a chance on your potential new university home as they may be willing to take on you. Also understanding that if you do land such a position, you are the newbie on the block and must sit back and watch, listen, and learn and not approach your new colleagues with the attitude that you know more than they do. It's time to leave the ego at home.
I've been reading a lot about how to act during your first year as a junior faculty member and it occurs to me that this is just like every other field I've ever entered. . .despite years of experience and an advanced degree, I am once again starting on the bottom. Granted, that bottom has an already-elevated position in society, but this is a new job in a new environment that I must learn from the ground up.
This is a privileged position and I am so very thankful for the opportunity, but I do not wholly agree with some of the columnists and writers in the Chronicle of Higher Education (for instance), who insist that landing a tenure track academic job is like winning the lottery. If that randomness was true, then I wouldn't have this job that I pursued with single-minded precision. When I sat down in the MLA interview, the hiring committee asked me why I had applied for this position (a very reasonable and expected question) and I said (whether this was appropriate or not, it was the truth) because this is the perfect position for me - and then I went on to explain why. Ballsy? Yes. But it was honest - I made a commitment to myself years ago that when I went on the job market, I would always present the real me - not some put-on veneer of what I thought a hiring committee would want. That just isn't sustainable and it isn't real.
Let people see the real you - the professional you, but the real you - in any job interview situation. Takes a lot of pressure off in an already high-pressure climate. That way, if they do ultimately offer YOU the job, you know in your heart and mind that it really is YOU who they want.
This journey has changed me, hopefully for the better, so that I can be a more effective teacher, a better friend, a calmer colleague, and a better advocate for the issues that I believe are important. I wish my PhD candidate colleagues the best in their pursuit of tenure track positions and encourage them to persevere and not give up!
The path to getting here has not been easy and I hate to say this (because it goes against a lot of current opining and writing on the subject on the futility of landing a tenure-track academic job), but luck had very little to do with it. There are no magic bullets for getting to this point. From where I sit right now, reviewing and evaluating the time, sacrifices, hard work, dedication, and compromises required to put me in a position to land such a perfect job, it seems to me that having a strong work ethic, a focused goal, the right attitude, an interesting and trending research topic, and a willingness to put this goal above everything else (including marriage, friendship, health, and fun) is the way to succeed in a difficult and contracting job market.
My closest friends know what I did and how I did it - they have been my lifeline to sanity and survival in the past four years, which have truly been the hardest for me both intellectually and emotionally. But perseverance really does seem to be the only way to survive and even have the chance to thrive in this or any economy - have good ideas, present them well, be fearless, and work hard - no. . .harder than hard. . .commit yourself to the path in ways that makes others sit back and wonder how you could possibly sustain that level of work day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year. Sustainable perseverance. The energy, enthusiasm, effort, and time required to pull this off is immense and cuts across everything else in your life.
I also think good timing and the right fit have a lot to do with success as well. And how does one figure that out? I don't know. Good instincts, maybe? Just being aware of the marketplace, reading the job ads carefully, presenting yourself in the most targeted and honest way possible, and being willing to take as much of a chance on your potential new university home as they may be willing to take on you. Also understanding that if you do land such a position, you are the newbie on the block and must sit back and watch, listen, and learn and not approach your new colleagues with the attitude that you know more than they do. It's time to leave the ego at home.
I've been reading a lot about how to act during your first year as a junior faculty member and it occurs to me that this is just like every other field I've ever entered. . .despite years of experience and an advanced degree, I am once again starting on the bottom. Granted, that bottom has an already-elevated position in society, but this is a new job in a new environment that I must learn from the ground up.
This is a privileged position and I am so very thankful for the opportunity, but I do not wholly agree with some of the columnists and writers in the Chronicle of Higher Education (for instance), who insist that landing a tenure track academic job is like winning the lottery. If that randomness was true, then I wouldn't have this job that I pursued with single-minded precision. When I sat down in the MLA interview, the hiring committee asked me why I had applied for this position (a very reasonable and expected question) and I said (whether this was appropriate or not, it was the truth) because this is the perfect position for me - and then I went on to explain why. Ballsy? Yes. But it was honest - I made a commitment to myself years ago that when I went on the job market, I would always present the real me - not some put-on veneer of what I thought a hiring committee would want. That just isn't sustainable and it isn't real.
Let people see the real you - the professional you, but the real you - in any job interview situation. Takes a lot of pressure off in an already high-pressure climate. That way, if they do ultimately offer YOU the job, you know in your heart and mind that it really is YOU who they want.
This journey has changed me, hopefully for the better, so that I can be a more effective teacher, a better friend, a calmer colleague, and a better advocate for the issues that I believe are important. I wish my PhD candidate colleagues the best in their pursuit of tenure track positions and encourage them to persevere and not give up!
Friday, February 19, 2010
Why is tenure necessary?
In the wake of Amy Bishop's calm killing of her colleagues, lots of academic types are seriously questioning what has been an under-the-radar discussion for a long time: why is tenure necessary in our modern age? And why is the process seemingly so potentially unfair, unjust, and hazardous...not to mention time-consuming and stressful?
Story in Chronicle of Higher Education on the Bishop shootings: http://chronicle.com/article/The-Fatal-Meeting-Death/64295/
As a former journalist and creature of the business world and current PhD candidate trying to get a job, I wonder who tenure benefits? The scholar who survives the five-year obstacle course riddled with political maneuvering who then gains the right never to be fired unless something truly unlawful or grievous occurs? The students who, while the tenure process is underway, suffer a distracted, disinterested, and sometimes downright hostile professor who then may become relieved and equally uninvested in students' progress once he or she gains tenure? The university that demands all sorts of arbitrary proof that the scholar is actually a scholar (scholarly publications only, please) AND a teacher (your students best love you!), AND a good service member of the university community (can't say no to that "request" for Honesty Committee service!) and then judges the professor on how high he or she has jumped through these hoops in order to "approve" tenure?
I just don't get it. I didn't get it before I entered the system of higher education and I sure don't get it now. In fact, even though I am sitting on the cusp (or the abyss, if you will), wondering if I will even GET a job as a professor, I don't support the idea of tenure, regardless of how transparent the process may be at certain schools. Why shouldn't we, as teachers and scholars, be culpable and responsible to our students first, then our scholarship, then our service to the university community and the broader community - at all times?! Not just for the five years the tenure gauntlet takes? Why not require professors to continue being good teachers while encouraging creative and productive scholarship and service? What is so scary about eliminating tenure? Productive and worthy teachers and scholars will still be employed, will they not?
What is so wrong with transitioning higher education to a merit-based system where individuals must show consistency and regular growth (like anyone in any job that is NOT higher education), instead of going 150mph for five years and then slamming on the brakes? Which approach seems healthier for the professor and more beneficial to the students? Or do we in the academy even really CARE about maintaining a healthy and happy professoriate and a smart and encouraged student body?
Story in Chronicle of Higher Education on the Bishop shootings: http://chronicle.com/article/The-Fatal-Meeting-Death/64295/
As a former journalist and creature of the business world and current PhD candidate trying to get a job, I wonder who tenure benefits? The scholar who survives the five-year obstacle course riddled with political maneuvering who then gains the right never to be fired unless something truly unlawful or grievous occurs? The students who, while the tenure process is underway, suffer a distracted, disinterested, and sometimes downright hostile professor who then may become relieved and equally uninvested in students' progress once he or she gains tenure? The university that demands all sorts of arbitrary proof that the scholar is actually a scholar (scholarly publications only, please) AND a teacher (your students best love you!), AND a good service member of the university community (can't say no to that "request" for Honesty Committee service!) and then judges the professor on how high he or she has jumped through these hoops in order to "approve" tenure?
I just don't get it. I didn't get it before I entered the system of higher education and I sure don't get it now. In fact, even though I am sitting on the cusp (or the abyss, if you will), wondering if I will even GET a job as a professor, I don't support the idea of tenure, regardless of how transparent the process may be at certain schools. Why shouldn't we, as teachers and scholars, be culpable and responsible to our students first, then our scholarship, then our service to the university community and the broader community - at all times?! Not just for the five years the tenure gauntlet takes? Why not require professors to continue being good teachers while encouraging creative and productive scholarship and service? What is so scary about eliminating tenure? Productive and worthy teachers and scholars will still be employed, will they not?
What is so wrong with transitioning higher education to a merit-based system where individuals must show consistency and regular growth (like anyone in any job that is NOT higher education), instead of going 150mph for five years and then slamming on the brakes? Which approach seems healthier for the professor and more beneficial to the students? Or do we in the academy even really CARE about maintaining a healthy and happy professoriate and a smart and encouraged student body?
Monday, January 25, 2010
Nearing the End...Maybe?
Wow. Last post was 2008? That makes me both sad and maniacally hysterical all at once. That should actually tell you something about what getting a PhD is like. ;)
Nonetheless. I am nearing the end and will either graduate this summer or next, depending on which opportunity I've worked for materializes. And if none of the opportunities I've set myself up for work out, then I will definitely be here another year (sob). But, in keeping with my generally sunny outlook, I will say that if I AM here for another year, I will have time to develop my dissertation into book form AND work more on my photography. Things could be much worse, so I won't complain.
"Won't complain." Sounds noble, doesn't it? Yeah. But I can honestly say that if the job I applied for doesn't call back, or the Fulbright I applied for falls through, thus stranding me here another year...I am going to feel discouraged, deflated, and like I just wasted the last four years of my life.
Not saying I won't bounce back. I was just telling a friend tonight that life has taught me to expect the worst and to take it in stride, which may sound depressing, but is a good survival skill. It's the waiting that's killing me. Not knowing is the worst.
So I stay busy and wait for other people to make decisions about the course my life will take this year. Sigh.
Nonetheless. I am nearing the end and will either graduate this summer or next, depending on which opportunity I've worked for materializes. And if none of the opportunities I've set myself up for work out, then I will definitely be here another year (sob). But, in keeping with my generally sunny outlook, I will say that if I AM here for another year, I will have time to develop my dissertation into book form AND work more on my photography. Things could be much worse, so I won't complain.
"Won't complain." Sounds noble, doesn't it? Yeah. But I can honestly say that if the job I applied for doesn't call back, or the Fulbright I applied for falls through, thus stranding me here another year...I am going to feel discouraged, deflated, and like I just wasted the last four years of my life.
Not saying I won't bounce back. I was just telling a friend tonight that life has taught me to expect the worst and to take it in stride, which may sound depressing, but is a good survival skill. It's the waiting that's killing me. Not knowing is the worst.
So I stay busy and wait for other people to make decisions about the course my life will take this year. Sigh.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
The Discordant Dash for Doctoral Degrees
Let’s start with the premise that the pursuit and award of a doctoral degree equals economic privilege. Add in a dash of consideration for J. Elspeth Stuckey’s idea that by the time mainstream students reach the ninth grade, they have already achieved an elite academic status (The Violence of Literacy). Now take a quick glance at table #283 (page 23) in the Census Bureau’s updated 2004-2005 Statistical Abstract of the American Indian and Alaska Native Population: http://www.census.gov/statab/www/sa04aian.pdf.
This should be disturbing to more people than myself. I am just one short week away from taking my comprehensive exams (for my doctoral degree), so am trying to concentrate on reviewing, but find my attention sidelined by details such as this. Once again, as with my prior post on economic disparity within my home academic institution, I find myself distracted and upset and wondering what the hell is the answer to this problem?
Look specifically at the “Doctor’s degrees” section of Table 283 “Degrees Earned by Level and Race/Ethnicity: 1981-2002.” Notice anything strange?
The number of doctoral degrees conferred to Blacks, Hispanics, Asian or Pacific Islanders (which, by the way, is a misnomer since many Pacific Islanders consider themselves more “indigenous” than “Asian”), and Nonresident Aliens (whatever the hell that means)
But wait. This uphill battle is a pretty consistent problem for Native peoples – from challenges with literacy to continued treaty and land disputes with the
I don’t have an answer to this frustrating and easily identified problem, but it seems pretty clear that there is a problem related to higher education in our Native American communities. Of course, I know that the problems run much deeper than this. However, education and economic opportunity have always been tightly bound together, especially in the
If we, as a people in this nation, claim to believe that education is the “answer” to economic problems…why aren’t we doing more to help this particular group solve its own problems through higher educational achievement? At the very least, more non-Native people should be aware of this problem. And more people should give a damn about it - maybe then our leaders would also pay attention to disparities such as this.
Interesting that no politician currently running for President has meaningfully addressed Native communities and their concerns thusfar, beyond some lip service. Telling. Very telling.
(Edit: The Dems allowed this one tribal college president to speak: http://www.reznetnews.org/article/united-tribes-technical-college/tribal-college-president-decries-poverty-indian-country
...wonder if the Repubs have a similar plan?)
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