This is my final post on the Emerging Scholars Blog. Well, my final planned post, anyway. Tom insisted that I leave the door open for guest posts in the future, but I won't be writing here every Tuesday as I have for the past few years. For my final post, Tom asked me to offer some thoughts about how far ESN has come and where it might be going in the future. I became involved with the Emerging Scholars Network because I wished it had existed when I was an undergraduate. I've told this story many times, but I … [Read more...] about The Future of ESN
professor
Is a Tenure-Track Job a Futile Dream?
Probably. Last week, I addressed the question of whether graduate school was a path to certain doom. In the comments of that post, John questioned my use of statistics to show that people with Ph.D.s had relatively good job prospects in this economy. He shared a personal experience with trying to find a tenure-track faculty position in the humanities. Now that is a completely different matter than simply getting a job, and the outlook isn't nearly as bright. James K.A. Smith has written a series of posts offering … [Read more...] about Is a Tenure-Track Job a Futile Dream?
Is Graduate School a Path to Certain Doom?
Every few years, another publication discovers that becoming a tenured professor at a research university is hard work. Most recently, it was Slate, which ran an essay by Rebecca Shuman which, fittingly for an essay about literary study, had two different titles depending on whether you looked at the text on the page or the title in your browser: Thesis Hatement: Getting a literature Ph.D. will turn you into an emotional trainwreck, not a professor. There are no academic jobs and getting a Ph.D. will make you into … [Read more...] about Is Graduate School a Path to Certain Doom?
On the Tenure Track
I went through a painful process last year. Necessary, but painful. But it was a good thing. At my institution, we undergo a pre-tenure evaluation before we go up for tenure —a practice run, so to speak —and my pre-tenure review provided a valuable opportunity for me to reconsider my priorities as a Christian faculty member. As I listed committees I served on, classes I taught, lectures I attended, students I mentored —accounted for how I used my time —I could no longer deceive myself into thinking that I was devoting … [Read more...] about On the Tenure Track
How Should Students Respond to Anti-Christian Professors?
A friend who works in campus ministry asked me for advice recently. He had heard about a difficult situation at another university and was wondering what I would say to the student: There is a student in a philosophy class here, where the professor is incredibly disrespectful towards Christians. How do you usually encourage your students to respond, and what advice do you usually give them? It appears there are not many Christians in the class, and if there are, they all laugh at the professor and go along with … [Read more...] about How Should Students Respond to Anti-Christian Professors?