Many times since 2010 I have thought my quest for a professorship was over, only to find myself looking through job listing and hoping against hope for the elusive post. Hundreds of applications later, sometimes 70 or more in a year, the impossible quest needs to end. I finished the doctorate…
Tag: professors
Duke University historian Nancy MacLean is currently a trendy historian who spent 2017 touring and promoting her book Democracy in Chains. The book has some serious scholarship flaws, which have been addressed by Henry Farrell and Steven Teles on Vox, a website considered progressive on most issues. MacLean has made the stunning…
Navigating school requires social skills, and often the most successful academically are also successful socially. Despite the stereotypes of jocks and nerds, geeks and goths, consider actual data. To participate in athletics, a minimum GPA is required. I recall the star athletes from my high school and today those individuals…
Some books and noted speakers make the case that academia is one of the better career paths for autistic adults capable of completing the required education. I’m unconvinced this is good advice for anyone, much less autistic individuals. Let me begin with the academic job market. Even within STEM fields,…
For the 2014-15 academic year, my title will be “Visiting Assistant Teaching Professor of Business Communication.” Reading this long title on my contract, I considered how labels and titles, beyond “disabled” and whatnot, shape how people view us. And so, an analysis: Visiting: not expected to remain; a guest; a…
I had written a long reflection on the job hunt (better an essay someday) as I finished preparing yet another portfolio to send to a state university. I found myself focused on a comment from a search committee member. “You aren’t anything like Christopher in The Curious Incident. Are you…
I turned my dissertation draft in to my adviser shortly before Christmas. I am now waiting for suggestions, which will then allow me to finish the dissertation in January. If all goes according to plan, I will be done with my doctorate by April. The journey through graduate school will…
I have too many interests, or I have too little time. Maybe both are true. When do people finish projects? The writing is piling up, a long backlog of things I hope to complete. I’m hoping this summer is all about finishing things, so I can start the next projects.…
In several earlier posts I have noted systemic failures at the University of Minnesota. In August, 2006, my misadventures began. By the end of September, my position in the Writing Center ended in disaster and a complaint to the university relating to the experience. The university has been less and…
Thanks to a complete breakdown in the University’s system and a professor I will never forgive, I endured a trip to the Office for Student Conduct and Academic Integrity. It was a stupid situation and far too much for my system. Before the meeting I was already in sorry shape.…