Description
Book SynopsisThe Road to Tenure offers humorous recollections of the messiness and confusion that fill the days of a pre-tenure academicfrom graduate school through the postdoc and into the assistant professor days. The book's three sections roughly map onto the chronology of academic life, beginning with graduate school and the job search experience; followed by teaching, research, and service; and finally the challenges of family and academic identity. The book is not a how-to, nor does it emphasize lessons learned on the way to tenure. Instead, the collection earnestly, and with good humor, captures a significant and meaningful slice of the experience of pursuing academia in contemporary colleges and universities. For the doctoral student or newly hired faculty member, these essays will provide some comfort with their implicit suggestion that, while it's certainly hard work, you are not alone.
Trade ReviewLearning from your mistakes is good, but learning from other people’s hilarious mishaps is much better. While laughing and cringing, you’ll get some wise advice and perspective from this gem of dark comedy. -- Paul Silvia, associate professor of psychology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and author of “How to Write A Lot”
There are precious few resources for new faculty members that get real about the messiness of academic life. The Road to Tenure is an irreverent window into the academic world that mentors in the best possible way: with honesty, humility and humor. I will be giving a copy to ALL of my mentees. -- Kerry Ann Rockquemore, Ph.D., president, National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity
Warm, funny, and strikingly true stories about what it is like becoming and being a junior faculty member. This book made me feel like I was having a beer with a group of good friends telling battle stories of academic life. It stands as a reminder that winning the academic pie eating contest is rewarded simply - with more pie. -- Scott McDonald, Ph.D., associate professor of science education, Penn State University
Table of ContentsIntroduction By Erin Marie Furtak and Ian Parker Renga Section 1: Startup Costs Warning: Scholarship Can Be Hazardous for Your Health By Ian Parker Renga Lucy and the Football: My Search for a Job in a Charlie Brown World By Steve Newton Chocolate Frosting & The Art of Interviewing By Heather M. Bandeen Changing Clothes in the Phone Booth By Jessalynn Strauss Section 2: Occupational Dissonance Whose class is it anyway? By Julie C. Mitchell When Homer Simpson Writes Homer’s Iliad: Preventing Plagiarism while Keeping Your Promotion By Troy Appling How Not to Teach a Class By Andrew Shtulman Publish, Perish, or Apply for Social Security: Reflections on the Tenure Process By Logan Greene The Life of the Mind…In the Company of Others By Amanda Jansen Section 3: Professors Are People, Too The Village Idiot By Erin Marie Furtak Hot Mess Times Three By Hindi Krinsky Who’s Pro-creating Now?: Two Sides of Parenting in the Academe By Lara Narcisi and Scott Dimovitz How I Got Dismissed from Jury Duty: A Reflection on Philosophy and Public Life By Rick Anthony Furtak Acknowledgements
