Job search

Some interesting developments in the job search over the last week. I’ll tell more later. In the meantime, check out the academic jobs wiki for American history, one of the ways that I keep track of the market. The idea is that job applicants post inside information as they get it. Here’s one of the more interesting job listings:

• Roger Williams College, RI — Assistant Professor of American Studies / United States History.
  • I applied for this job and wondered if anyone had any information about the school or this search, etc for an old veteran of the job wars. Thanks.
  • This one is also posted on American Studies, though there’s no news yet there either (12/5)
  • The job asks for someone in either American Studies or US history, as the department is a combined History/American Studies department.  One thing I noticed about the department, judging from the website, is that it seems to conceive of American Studies as American cultural and social history and to think of history in more social science terms.  (And, it’s not Roger Williams College, it’s Roger Williams University and has been since 1992.  Most schools that make the change from college to university are pretty insistent upon that change being recognized.  I hope no one applied to “Roger Williams College.”)  12/5
  • Rejection letter received via email. Email said short list of candidates chosen for AHA interviews. (12/8  X2… Durn)
    • Any info on how many applicants? Just curious.
  • Has anyone invited for interviews been notified?  I got no rejection, no news…  I hate limbo.  And, yes, I know that means this whole year will suck.(12/8) (x4 – on both the lack of news and the hating limbo!)
  • Was the rejection email personalized, or sent to a bcc’ed list?
  • It was personalized, and sent by the secretary for humanities, so they might be going out in small batches. (12/10)
  • Any new news today for the people who didn’t hear yesterday? (12/9)
  • No news.  As I’m getting a little OCD about checking this wiki, I pretty much guarantee that you will know when I do! (12/9) (x2 About the OCD)
  • Email from search chair 12/9: 400 apps for the job. They are still working through all the apps and are arranging phone interviews.
  • This is good to hear, but how did you get the e-mail from the chair yesterday?  Did you e-mail?  *Yes I emailed. Seems as if they sent out some immediate rejections (maybe to ABDs? who knows) … but everyone else still seems to be “in the mix.” The chair indicated that they were just beginning final exams etc and were really slammed, but that phone interviews would be forthcoming.
  • Hmmm … I am confused. One person above reports that a reject email says they are doing AHA interviews, another reports phone interviews? Can anyone clarify? Anyone have an interview? (12/10)
  • anyone have their references requested? the original call for applicants just asked for reference contact info, not the letters themselves. (oh and if it helps, i’m abd and haven’t been rejected yet…) (12/10)
  • rejection email today (12/10), stating that the SC had completed the initial screening process, narrowed the applicant field, and is in the process of determining the final list of candidates to be interviewed. Good luck to the rest of you!! (x3)
  • Received email informing me that I am on long list but that they are still “paring down the number preparatory to scheduling phone interviews.” (10/11) (x4 — unsolicited, and thanks to those wishing good luck. 12/11)
  • Did you solicit this information?  Has anyone else who hadn’t heard from RWU, then, received a similar e-mail?
  • I just received rejection email similar to above, non solicited. God luck!!!!
  • Still nothing either way… Maybe they forgot me? (x6 – ARGH! This is killing me!)
    • Glad to know it’s not just me, at least!
  • Got a rejection email this afternoon. this rolling rejection thing is cruel! (12/11) X2 — considering the number of apps they had, they handled this search cordially and professionally. Can’t tell you how many jobs I’ve applied for where I heard ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. Good luck to all interviewees, this looks like a rewarding position.
  • Is anyone still waiting on news one way or the other?
  • Yes! (12/14) (x11)
  • Phone interview invite via email.  (12/18)
  • congratulations! are you one of the posters who received the “long list” emails?[A: Yes. 12/18] are there other people out there still in limbo?
  • Totally in limbo. I never received an acknowledgment of my application, or at least I don’t think I did.  I’ve also not received a rejection letter or a note indicating that I’m on any list, long or short.  12/18 (X4 – although did receive ack)
  • This search has more red flags on it than a Communist car dealership.  Something is not right.  12/18
  • FWIW, this job ran two years ago and either they didn’t end up filling it or the person ran… This is a *very* conservative school (googling will turn up the various scandals over the previous few years involving the president etc), and has a long history of violating tenure procedure… be prepared to hire a lawyer if you want promotion (this is also public info, the NE Teachers Association has a union that has dealt extensively with these issues).  Then again… any port in a storm?
  • I’m not in for this job, but I wanted to say that the “Communist car dealership” line is the best one that I’ve seen on the wiki in 4 years. (12/18)

 

Papa and Papa

 

Brooks on Obama’s Christian realism

David Brooks wrote a perceptive column in the NYT a couple of days ago. He argues that Obama’s diplomacy is rooted in Reinhold Niebuhr’s Christian realism. In his Oslo speech, Obama spoke of engaging the world “as it actually is,” not what you idealistically want it to be. This is a very Niebuhrian (for that matter Augustinian) concept. So is Obama’s multilateral approach to diplomacy. He seems to nurture a bit of Niebuhr’s national humility, articulated in The Irony of American History, which points out the many “ironic” similarities between the U.S. and its then-arch-enemy the Soviet Union. Cool to see this because I just tested my students in their final exam, and they parroted back what I suggested to them in an earlier class–that Niebuhr is Obama’s favorite theologian.

–D

 

Malcolm Gladwell

Malcolm Gladwell, one of the fallen-away evangelicals mentioned in a previous post, writes here about growing up bi-cultural. His father was British; his mother was “middle-class brown” Jamaican. Gladwell himself grew up in Ontario. Interestingly, his father–who Gladwell describes as “a mathematician and a gardener and an art lover and an adventurer and, in the end, a little bit of a mystery”–and mother recently became Mennonite.

Gladwell is author of the best-selling books Tipping Point (2000), Blink (2005), and Outliers (2008).

 

Party time

Last night our small group from church had a Christmas party. The theme was “tacky Christmas clothing.” Since we don’t seem to own much of that ourselves, we let A&J create some of their own:

Some of our friends had better luck searching their closets for things shiny, stripey, and festive:

We opened a few silly gifts. . .

. . . and had some yummy refreshments. David introduced A & J to easy-cheese. They spent the rest of the night declining the brie and smoked gouda and asking for the “fancy cheese.” What a great father they have.

And here, in a rare appearance on this side of the lens, is me with my friend (who seems so refreshingly calm after a day with preschoolers) Smeer.