Thursday, June 01, 2006

Vacation from Paradise - Thoughts about the Future

Tomorrow I am flying to California for a month. It will give me a chance to think about possible career options. It is quite clear that I will never get an interview to teach at a US university even as an adjunct no matter how many scholarly publications I produce. They only care about teaching experience. Selection committees do not consider research and publications at all. In fact US universities have just become overgrown high schools where kids can get drunk, have sex, smoke dope and learn nothing. So other than overseas positions and post-docs, both of which do not neccesarily require teaching experience, I am not going to bother to apply to any more academic jobs. I wasted a lot of time and energy this last year in that futile pursuit. I was very poorly advised about the reality of US higher education. I wish somebody had honestly said to me, "Books and other publications do not count in the selection process at any US university. All they care about is teaching experience." In California I am going to talk to some people about exploring avenues other than academia where I can engage in historical research and get paid. One of the possibilites is consulting on the production of history orientated films. I have so far certainly had more success in this realm than I have had in trying to get a teaching job.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Just found your blog and began reading. My brother has a PhD in Philosophy and has been teaching adjunct for four years, out of pure luck (he knew someone). I just finished my MA in English and realized there is little reason to pursue a PhD, so I'm going for another masters in August. I know how frustrating it is to not have your education valued.

J. Otto Pohl said...

Vanessa:

Thanks alot for stopping by. I get very few comments so yours is greatly appreciated.