tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773081222432050437.post2998918446238966534..comments2023-10-26T06:43:43.830-04:00Comments on Famae Volent: Professional DevelopmentsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773081222432050437.post-47609866701436482292009-03-04T14:34:00.000-05:002009-03-04T14:34:00.000-05:00Adjuncting or being in some unpaid research positi...Adjuncting or being in some unpaid research position connected to a university is probably the safest way to go. On the other hand, if you really want to make a living, high school is probably good. Once you are into high school though, you tend to be sucked into their system and not be able to come back to the u. level.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773081222432050437.post-35683011508258652252009-03-04T12:33:00.000-05:002009-03-04T12:33:00.000-05:00I've been pondering this question myself. Yeah, y...I've been pondering this question myself. Yeah, yeah, publishing, everyone knows that. But what form of employment: none? high school? adjuncting? one-semester job? going back to grad school for a degree in something different? (I'm contemplating a professional master's.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773081222432050437.post-41919898015969905802009-03-04T11:23:00.000-05:002009-03-04T11:23:00.000-05:00Here's a question for those of you who have some e...Here's a question for those of you who have some experience in these matters, preferably those who have served/are serving on search committees. Given the large number of people who will not be able to find a job in this year's market, some of those will still be fairly well qualified, the sort of people who would have found a position in any normal market (especially promising ABDs on whom the majority of committees just aren't prepared to take any risks). What sort of activity for the year ahead (since employment in Classics has been ruled out) would be *least* damaging for said people, when it comes time to apply again next year? Unemployment? Highschool teaching? Obviously publishing is a good idea, but what sort of gainful employment looks the least like failure and the most like a year of pre-academic preparation?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773081222432050437.post-54843502753037621402009-01-13T16:25:00.000-05:002009-01-13T16:25:00.000-05:00A $10,000 bonus for good student evaluations? Comi...A $10,000 bonus for good student evaluations? Coming to a university near you! <A HREF="http://insidehighered.com/news/2009/01/13/bonuspay" REL="nofollow">If you live in College Station, TX, that is.</A>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773081222432050437.post-85069026491040550342008-11-30T16:27:00.000-05:002008-11-30T16:27:00.000-05:00Sisyphus,Awesome! I'll bring the silver spray-pain...Sisyphus,<BR/><BR/>Awesome! I'll bring the silver spray-paint and wool socks. Make sure and wear your hoodie to trap the fumes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773081222432050437.post-17251536103475578782008-11-30T16:18:00.000-05:002008-11-30T16:18:00.000-05:00Sisy, since it sounds like you have time, I would ...Sisy, since it sounds like you have time, I would be interested to see the breakdown by sub-discipline, whether those particular percentages have held or not. Now get to it! :-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773081222432050437.post-4665296626853320812008-11-30T16:11:00.000-05:002008-11-30T16:11:00.000-05:00Welcome back from Thanksgiving Break everybody! I ...Welcome back from Thanksgiving Break everybody! <BR/><BR/>I imagine many of you spent it like I did - trying to explain to friends and family that you can't simply apply to the local university, that the academic job-market is more like the NFL draft, and that this year ticket sales have plummeted so badly that few teams have the means to lay out for new talent. Fortunately for me, I still have a year's worth of college eligibility, but for many of my friends this is it. I think, however, that next year will be even worse, so even I am feeling the pressure now.<BR/><BR/>I went upstairs to my old room, stared at my old Mets posters, played trash-can basketball for a few hours, and then tried to figure out exactly how much worse it is this year than in the past. Because, as we all know, it sucks. It really, really sucks.<BR/><BR/><B>Well, you know what? It f@*$^!g sucks. It really, really, really f@*$^!g sucks.</B><BR/><BR/>I counted the jobs advertised by Dec. 1st in the past three seasons, including this year's. Here are the stats:<BR/><BR/>Dec. 1st 2006<BR/>Total Jobs = 159<BR/>Permanent (TT, Senior, et al.) = 121<BR/>Temporary (1-year, Post-Doc, et al.) = 39<BR/><BR/>Dec. 1st 2007<BR/>Total Jobs = 156<BR/>Permanent (TT, Senior, et al.) = 120<BR/>Temporary (1-year, Post-Doc, et al.) = 36<BR/><BR/>Dec. 1st 2008<BR/>Total Jobs = 100<BR/>Permanent (TT, Senior, et al.) = 73<BR/>Temporary (1-year, Post-Doc, et al.) = 27<BR/><BR/>The percentage of permanent jobs out of the whole has remained steady, but the overall numbers have dropped by almost 40%. To add insults to injuries, 5 of those 73 permanent jobs for this year have already been canceled and presumably there is more of that where it came from.<BR/><BR/>I'm planning to pack a case of Boone's in my luggage for Philly. I won't be able to afford the bar, but I'll need to drink myself silly after the few interviews I end up getting. Look for me in the lobby, sitting on the floor next to the elevators. I'll share.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773081222432050437.post-39085519374040585152008-11-30T15:20:00.000-05:002008-11-30T15:20:00.000-05:00If you think that lowering or eliminating the capi...<B>If you think that lowering or eliminating the capital gains tax is a bad thing, that says far more about you than the capital gains tax.</B><BR/><BR/>I would respond to this, but I'm too busy having my boat lifted by the rising tide of prosperity.<BR/><BR/>Whee!!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773081222432050437.post-69670178029058531962008-11-30T14:22:00.000-05:002008-11-30T14:22:00.000-05:00I know I left those fasces around here somewhere.....I know I left those fasces around here somewhere....... Oh, wait, is this Famae Volent or The Free Republic?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773081222432050437.post-20205430303536974452008-11-30T12:02:00.000-05:002008-11-30T12:02:00.000-05:00If you think that lowering or eliminating the capi...If you think that lowering or eliminating the capital gains tax is a bad thing, that says far more about you than the capital gains tax.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773081222432050437.post-70221043683549716112008-11-29T17:33:00.000-05:002008-11-29T17:33:00.000-05:00Classics Journal Wiki I don't know where to post t...<B>Classics Journal Wiki</B> <BR/><BR/>I don't know where to post this, but this seems as good a place as any. <BR/><BR/>I have submitted a few articles in the last couple of years and have been struck by the variability of response times, etc. One of my research fields is ancient philosophy, so I check in on this Wiki occasionally:<BR/><BR/>http://wikihost.org/wikis/philjinfo/wiki/start<BR/><BR/>I find it useful, and would like something similar for Classics. Does anybody else agree, and should we start one?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773081222432050437.post-21704358152058972002008-11-29T11:11:00.000-05:002008-11-29T11:11:00.000-05:00there's no decent book on why Classics rocksCorrec...<I>there's no decent book on why Classics rocks</I><BR/><BR/>Correct. However, if we were to cut the capital gains tax, then the magic of the market would see to it that there were six excellent, low-priced books about why Classics rocks.<BR/><BR/>However, since the Democrats continue to fight off our free-market paradise, I'm afraid that the only alternative is for the Treasury Department to give me a $300 billion bailout package so that I can finish my book about Classics for a general audience. Books about Classics for a general audience are the lifeblood of our economy, and if I am allowed to fail the whole system will come down with me.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773081222432050437.post-71187316130926496492008-11-29T02:59:00.000-05:002008-11-29T02:59:00.000-05:00I know we're getting a bit sidetracked here but, s...I know we're getting a bit sidetracked here but, satire notwithstanding, wasn't the policy of fiscal deregulation actually that of your favourite actor-president, dutifully preserved by his successors? (Which still leaves GWB 4lbs of awesome, cause for much self-flagellation no doubt).<BR/><BR/>But in sum, no, there's no decent book on why Classics rocks (perhaps it doesn't?), and yes, despite some good qualities, WKH? sucks like Charybdis. Is that about right?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773081222432050437.post-51289265868773921842008-11-29T00:19:00.000-05:002008-11-29T00:19:00.000-05:00But that doesn't mean that anything VDH wrote ther...<B>But that doesn't mean that anything VDH wrote there about the economy isn't perfectly sensible.</B><BR/><BR/>I strongly agree. Personally, I think that if you whiners out there were a little more virile then we wouldn't be having any problems. Not that we <I>are</I> having any problems, mind you. Because we're not. But I'm just saying that, if we <I>were</I> (which, I cannot stress strongly enough, we are <I>not</I>), it'd probably be the fault of you whiners and not of anybody who was in control of the government for the past eight years (which BTW were 5 lbs of awesome in a 1 lb bag).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773081222432050437.post-91749081442164952812008-11-28T21:35:00.000-05:002008-11-28T21:35:00.000-05:00"Send federal money to the states, but make sure a..."Send federal money to the states, but make sure a lot of it goes to state universities"<BR/>Thus sayeth David Brooks in his newest NYT column (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/28/opinion/28brooks.html?_r=1). I would far rather read a sensible conservative like him than VDH.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773081222432050437.post-45727484162436997382008-11-28T13:26:00.000-05:002008-11-28T13:26:00.000-05:00Well, at least everybody can relax about the job m...<B>Well, at least everybody can relax about the job market. Apparently the economy just has a little head cold, and all we need to do is show a stiff upper lip. You know, like the Spartans or whatever.</B><BR/><BR/>Well, the phrase "head cold" doesn't appear anywhere in that piece. But he's absolutely right about the economy as a whole: things are bad, but not nearly as bad as they have been in the past (and not just the depression, also the recession of the late 1950's); things might get much, much worse, but it's far from certain that they will. And, to be honest, a recession like this one in many respects is a very good and healthy thing in the long run, despite the suffering it causes in the short term. So VDH, who has lived long enough to see plenty of expansions, recessions, and even numerous bubbles, is obviously wise enough not to panic over the current economic situation.<BR/><BR/>Now, as in any recession, some sectors are hit harder than others, and this obviously isn't the best time to be on the academic job market. But that doesn't mean that anything VDH wrote there about the economy isn't perfectly sensible. You just have to make the mental adjustment to the "new normal," to take a phrase from 2001.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773081222432050437.post-63191332318168942172008-11-27T22:42:00.000-05:002008-11-27T22:42:00.000-05:00Well, at least everybody can relax about the job m...Well, at least everybody can relax about the job market. Apparently the economy just has a little <A HREF="http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZGMzODEwMTJlNDBmYjRiYzRmMmY3ZTdhODkwMDAzNWM=" REL="nofollow">head cold,</A> and all we need to do is show a stiff upper lip. You know, like the Spartans or whatever.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773081222432050437.post-16343922472298933622008-11-26T21:37:00.000-05:002008-11-26T21:37:00.000-05:00"Gratuitous" political slam? The woes of WKH? spri..."Gratuitous" political slam? The woes of WKH? spring directly from its politics. So how can any attack of the above sort be gratuitous? And it shouldn't matter what the political spectrum of blog readers is. If the mode of argument sucks, the mode of argument sucks. Or are you saying that Republicans are bound to admire WKH? uncritically? I give some of them more credit than that.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773081222432050437.post-5334972831067204962008-11-26T15:26:00.000-05:002008-11-26T15:26:00.000-05:00It makes me feel better about my Homer talk being ...It makes me feel better about my Homer talk being rejected....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773081222432050437.post-50624758785931272852008-11-26T15:12:00.000-05:002008-11-26T15:12:00.000-05:00Speaking of who killed Homer, did anyone notice Ho...<I>Speaking of who killed Homer, did anyone notice Homer's near total absence from the program for this year? Aside from linguistics and reception, I only see one actual talk on the Homeric poems.... There's usually two panels wholly devoted to Homer.</I><BR/><BR/>Looks like many of the canon authors got put on Sunday as well. Big ol' conspiracy, that's what it is.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773081222432050437.post-82773547554176421062008-11-26T14:57:00.000-05:002008-11-26T14:57:00.000-05:00Speaking of who killed Homer, did anyone notice Ho...Speaking of who killed Homer, did anyone notice Homer's near total absence from the program for this year? Aside from linguistics and reception, I only see one actual talk on the Homeric poems.... There's usually two panels wholly devoted to Homer.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773081222432050437.post-7613103874797438892008-11-25T22:56:00.000-05:002008-11-25T22:56:00.000-05:00Instead of WKH-VDH I suggest Bernard Knox's "Backi...Instead of WKH-VDH I suggest Bernard Knox's "Backing into the Future".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773081222432050437.post-55466327730952437002008-11-25T21:41:00.000-05:002008-11-25T21:41:00.000-05:00I double-dare anybody who detests sticking forks i...I double-dare anybody who detests sticking forks in their eyes to stick a large soup spoon up their nose. I still refuse to read VDH in the NR. Blech.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773081222432050437.post-33481118665834786262008-11-25T20:32:00.000-05:002008-11-25T20:32:00.000-05:00I dare anyone who doesn't like being hit in the fo...I dare anyone who doesn't like being hit in the forehead with ball-peen hammers to spend six months hitting themselves in the forehead with a ball-peen hammer.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-773081222432050437.post-34006243791142724912008-11-25T19:42:00.000-05:002008-11-25T19:42:00.000-05:00I dare anyone who dislikes VDH's politics to read ...I dare anyone who dislikes VDH's politics to read his National Review Online columns with an open mind for a period of six months and not get at least some appreciation for where he's coming from.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com