Whee!!! I have a job! (Yeah, I know most people have jobs, but I just finished a Ph.D. in English, so this isn’t a foregone conclusion by any means.)
I’m going to be teaching at a small liberal arts college in the Midwest. It’s a one-year visiting assistant professorship for now, but they have a tenure-track line opening in the fall, and I should have an edge as an insider. And it looks super-cool. I get to teach a course on Shakespeare’s comedies and histories, plus another one of my own devising, in the spring, and one of the profs wants me to join her and some students for a Harry Potter reading group. (One of the other profs, I mean. Hot damn. I don’t think I’ve quite wrapped my head around this yet.)
Or mine? (Ohio is the land of small liberal arts colleges, many of them very cool.) As a liberal arts ABD who watched lots of colleagues either 1) not get jobs, or 2) get jobs in places that seemed awful, I can appreciate the accomplishment.
More congrats from this social science student (Linguistics), and best of luck to you! Hopefully I’ll be making the same OP sometime in the coming decade…
Congrats! Of course, as a senior English major, I hope you know I expect to see updates on how the professing is going once you start.
Also, Ph.D. in English is awesome. I’m actually not planning on going that far (looking into a MA in Library Sciences) but good on you for making it so far…
Also, in Ohio? because as mentioned by gardentraveler, Ohio is the land of small L.A. colleges, and we would love new professors in this old state. (FTR, I’m at Shawnee State on the Ohio River)
I almost MAYBE have a similar gig at a similar school in a similar location but I won’t know until next week, eek! (Just got back from a good interview set) But another pal who got out a year earlier than I did just today got a tenure track gig at big research one on his FOURTH year on the market, so it can happen (this is all in art history-- not as bad as English, but, hell!).
So congratulations Porpentine! Perhaps we’ll be neighbors next year. In English! That’s like winning the lottery these days.
Now how do you feel about taking the little lib arts school gig after the whole research one research brainwashing you’ve gotten in grad school? Do you feel afraid of selling out and writing your research future away? Is your advisor going to be eternally disappointed? I’m trying to remember that this is the kind of job I really wanted in the first place before I started applying to everywhere I could. . .
Pretty darn good But then, I don’t think I ever really lost sight of the fact that this is exactly the kind of job I want – and people in my department are generally pretty clear-sighted about the fact that you take the job you can get. I’ve e-mailed my advisor, and he sounds like he’s about as happy as I am right now
Well congrats and good luck! BTW, although it’s dicey that you might remember, I was at the Charlotte dopefest in 2000 (at the spaghetti restaurant). Can ya believe it’s been 7 years? I was the creepy guy who had to leave early.
Are you going to be my neighbor?