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Humanities Postdocs

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Clarissa

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I’m discovering to my absolute dismay that there are academics who have convinced themselves that the destruction of tenure lines to create a series of revolving-door short-term postdocs in the Humanities is done to BENEFIT ACADEMICS.

And here I was wondering why my colleagues accepted the possibility of teaching extra courses for free with no objection. They probably think this is the administration’s super kind way of helping them enhance their teaching skills and help them rest from the demands of doing research and having a life.

19 responses to “Humanities Postdocs”

  1. J. Otto Pohl Avatar
    J. Otto Pohl

    To be honest when I was in the desert with no job I applied to a number of post-doc positions in the US and UK all without even getting rejection letters. But, I didn’t apply to them because I thought they were a good deal. Rather I figured any job even a bad one was better than permanent unemployment. In retrospect from a career point of view I should have been writing to every history department in English speaking Africa instead.

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      And this is a position I can really respect. Why delude ourselves when we can at least see what’s happening?

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    2. Z Avatar
      Z

      I am watching your university website closely, JOP, and I will apply when a position comes up. I am thinking about trying to get a Fulbright there actually. If you have ideas…

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  2. Z Avatar
    Z

    I still think that what you’re talking about is what the postdoc has devolved into, how it gets used sometimes, more than what a good postdoc is.

    Also: my colleague who was unjustly thrown out of here at 4th year review took a pleasant German postdoc that lasted through much of 2013, then started his new TT job fresh, having been able to heal from here, and with book mss. in hand.

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      There is no going back from this. The future holds a nearly complete destruction of tenure while academics thank the administrators for saving them from the evils of permanent employment.

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      1. Z Avatar
        Z

        I am thinking of applying to one at this very moment. http://shc.stanford.edu/fellowships/non-stanford-faculty/#exfac_answer_3 … They have been offering these since before the adjunctification started. Although I suppose you can say it is not technically a postdoc, it is a fellowship, but people from my (neighboring) graduate institution sure did use this as postdocs. I was advised that only TT was acceptable and so never applied for this kind of thing, but it was great for the people who did.

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        1. Clarissa Avatar
          Clarissa

          What about the postdocs that started to mushroom in recent years? Where are they all coming from? Fresh money isn’t pouring into Humanities, so the only possibility is that tenure lines are destroyed to make space for this part-time dispensable labor.

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          1. Z Avatar
            Z

            Correct. This is very different from the old-style postdocs. I think what your commenters are defending are the old style. They also may be in sciences where it is more normal to do a postdoc (short degree program, you are working on someone else’s project, then as postdoc you get another perspective and become more independent) … although the exploitation is famous in those science postdocs sometimes.

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            1. Clarissa Avatar
              Clarissa

              Good, this is giving me hope. If people simply haven’t realized what’s been happening recently, that’s much better than if they do realize and just don’t care.

              Back at Cornell the same department that gave me a VP, have a postdoc to somebody who had the exact same qualifications, did the same amount if work. The only difference wAs that she was paid 25,000 to my 50,000 and was given no health insurance or benefits. And I’m supposed to accept that this was not exploitative?

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    2. J. Otto Pohl Avatar
      J. Otto Pohl

      If you leave any permanent US position to come to Ghana as a normal not a Fulbright you will take at least a 75% pay cut and prices here are considerably more than 25% of what exists in the US. This can only get worse since the import of goods priced from abroad keeps driving down the value of the currency and the driving up the price of goods. The exchange rate is now 2.55 and things like plane tickets are all priced in dollars or Euros. The current annual rate of inflation for food is 20%. The upshot is that nobody including Ghanaians who can get a job in the US, Europe, Canada, or South Africa ever comes here permanently unless they are coming home to retire. Compared to Kyrgyzstan where I used to work it is a better deal. But, it is still quite low even compared to some Africa countries such as Nigeria or the RSA. If you want a high paying job in Africa then the place to go is South Africa where the salaries are higher than in the US and all of Europe except Italy.

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      1. Z Avatar
        Z

        Yes … I know, I may just want to fantasize. I am kind of serious about Fulbright though, as I am interested in Ghana specifically, not Nigeria really, although I’d like to travel there … also want to go to Mali, Benin, Cameroun, Angola. Unfortunately less interested in ZA, should be but . . .

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  3. Z Avatar
    Z

    “Back at Cornell the same department that gave me a VP, have a postdoc to somebody who had the exact same qualifications, did the same amount if work. The only difference wAs that she was paid 25,000 to my 50,000 and was given no health insurance or benefits. And I’m supposed to accept that this was not exploitative?”

    –That is not a postdoc, that is treating a VAP like a TA.

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      No, this was called a postdoc. I was the one with the VAP and better conditions.

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      1. Z Avatar
        Z

        No, it is a TA with a different title and qualifications / job responsibilities above the TA pay grade. This is not what people interested in postdocs are talking about.

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        1. Clarissa Avatar
          Clarissa

          Today, the reality is different. And we won’t be able to change it until we see what is going on clearly.

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          1. Z Avatar
            Z

            Mais j’insiste: a good fellowship is still a good fellowship and these are recognizable because they look like fellowships and not adjuncting gigs.

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            1. Clarissa Avatar
              Clarissa

              Mais oui, c’est vrai, ma chere amie. 🙂 🙂

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  4. John Hayden Avatar
    John Hayden

    Maybe it’s like writing. The supply of writers and scholars is far greater than the demand. Masses of qualified writers and teachers are forced to choose between working for free, or forsaking their chosen work entirely. Many of us see no viable alternative.

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      The demand for college-level educators is enormous. But just like in other professions, academics will need to fight for good working conditions. For now, this fight seems quite hopeless because the absolute majority of educators is busily justifying the exploitation.

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A conservative literary critic and college professor

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