Not one, not two, but THREE good things to come from one e-mail.
"Dear AcadeMama, would you be interested in teaching Shakespeare in the spring?"
Why yes, yes I would! This resulted in not one, but TWO Shax courses, which then resulted in an eliminataion of one of my comp courses--the 8:00 a.m. course!--huzzah!!
This news has me all sorts of giddy, but I'm also really nervous because a) it's been a long time since the Bard and I have been together and b) I don't want to screw this up. This does, however, how that I'm flexible and happy to teach a new course at the very last minute, and it will be great for my CV.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
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6 comments:
Hooray! Congrats on the Shakespeare courses!
I meant to add this to your last post, but it fits here, too.
Academia is, in the end, just a job. Perhaps it is a good job, but it is still just a job. And finding an alternative job when the present one is not working out at planned in order to feed, house and clothe your family is not selling out.
If you are not getting interviews this season—fresh PhD, publications, good teaching record, at least some jobs being advertised—it’s time to rethink the career path. Unless your appeal is about to dramatically change (e.g. your dissertation being reformulated as a book, but NOT just adding a new course taught or another article), you marketability is not going to change. If you are getting plenty of initial interviews and campus interviews then it may be worth sticking it out for another year and practicing your interview skills.
This is true of any professional career: if the profession does not want you on terms you can live with, time to consider another profession. Sorry to be blunt, but I see so many starting academics in your situation. Again, no shame in using your skill set to find another way to provide for your family. You're fortunate in that you have a gainfully employed partner, which gives you some flexibility.
I bet you end up having fun with Shakespeare. You are so ready to have some fun with this.
In the end, we do what we have to do to survive, to support our families. If it means teaching high school, it's a salary, it helps. Whatever - it also gives you time to write. Why stick with criticism? Your life is full of material; your Qatar material was amazing.
intlxpatr: I've toyed with the idea of writing, but the truth is that a)I don't think I'm a very good writer, like, at all, and b)I may, perhaps, be too sensitive to put my writing out there. Writing has always struck me as a very personal things--especially creative writing--a giving of one's self in a way that makes one incredibly vulnerable, and I don't know that I could do that.
You've been an academic too long. I am so glad you went to Qatar and rubbed up against real life. I am so glad your daughter watched you get out of the car to comfort the woman who was hit, as others drove by in their air conditioned cars and stared. You underestimate yourself, AcadeMama. You don't even see the difficulties you have already overcome, are overcoming, children, marriage, the PhD process . . .
You are right, writing makes you vulnerable. And guess what - you are writing. This blog is material. You are out there. Applying for jobs makes you vulnerable. People who don't feel vulnerable are just UNAWARE of how vulnerable we all are.
Once we've established that, we spit on our critics. You already have. You have prevailed. What are you waiting for? I'm not asking you to write a book, but I am hoping (demanding) you keep a journal. You are great material. You are in a transition, it is always unbalancing, but you will prevail.
Courage, ma soeur. You have daughters who are watching you. :-)
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