Why Ph.D.'s Should Teach in High Schools
By Todd Alexander Postol
As public schools enter the second half of the academic calendar, we should pause for a moment to consider how we, as a nation, recruit educators to provide quality classroom instruction. Time spent in instruction should—in theory, at least—prepare secondary-school students for what lies ahead, including the intellectual challenges of college and the working world. But in practice, that doesn't often happen. One little-recognized reason is the gulf between the people who teach the information in the curriculum and where the information comes from: academics with Ph.D.'s.
http://chronicle.com/article/Why-PhDs-Should-Teach-in/63993/
(Chronicle: 2/7/2010)
Whose Job Is It, Anyway?
Removing the age-old prejudice against nonacademic careers is not only long overdue but critical in the humanities
By Alexandra M. Lord
It is a question I have come to dread. Usually, the person asking it is a nervous graduate student who is, both figuratively and literally, looking over his shoulder as he whispers to me at the end of my talk: "But what if your adviser doesn't want you to search for a nonacademic job?"
http://chronicle.com/article/Whose-Job-Is-It-Anyway-/64536/
(Chronicle: 3/7/2010)
On Going Viral at the (Virtual) MLA
By Brian Croxall
Recently, I've had to come to grips with the fact that I've quite likely peaked. The paper that I was supposed to read at the 2009 Modern Language Association's convention went viral. When I chose at the last minute not to attend the conference, given my lack of job interviews, insufficient travel funds, and the low salary of a visiting professor, I rewrote the paper that I had planned to present at a panel on "Today's Students, Today's Teachers: Economics" to talk about "The Absent Presence" of people who, like me, could not afford to attend conferences.
http://chronicle.com/article/On-Going-Viral-at-the/64455/
(Chronicle: 3/7/2010)
