: conference
Women in German 34th Annual Conference 2010
The Changing Profession: Workshop Sessions
When registering for the conference, you will be asked to register for one of the workshop sessions, as well. Below are descriptions of all five sessions. If you have questions about the workshop session, please contact the session organizers, Ulrike Brisson (ubrisson(AT)wpi.edu) and Alexandra Merley Hill (hilla(AT)up.edu).
Session 1: Rethinking Relevancy in Undergraduate German Programs
Organized by: Laura McLary (University of Portland)
You know all the reasons — from the lofty to the practical — our students should study German. Who hasn’t downloaded all those helpful brochures from AATG/ACTFL extolling the virtues of studying German in today’s global economy? “Did you know? German is the most-widely spoken language in Europe. German is the most powerful economic leader in Europe and a leading trader partner for [fill in your state here]. And German-speaking countries have long been leaders in the arts.” Some of it borders on the goofy (as if we German professors weren’t nerdy enough to be with): Let’s play the latest hot music in Germany in the classroom! Or let’s host a dance party with the hot [*cringe*] German band the Goethe Institut is touring through the USA this spring.
But how important are those reasons, really, when the relevancy, it would appear, of what we do is constantly under siege? If we continue to state the obvious in terms of how valuable the content of our programs are, we miss an opportunity. I would argue that we would be better served by moving beyond the relevancy argument and focusing instead on three ways to support our German programs: Skills, flexibility and external assessment. We know that students of German are skilled at writing, public speaking, and critical-analytical thinking, even when they haven’t been marched through the centuries of German literature. Additionally, external validation of the success of our German students, such as grants, acceptance to graduate programs, and scholarships (regardless of their area of study), is one of the most important measures of a program’s success at the upper levels of university administration.
In this workshop, I would like to provide some examples of how the very small undergraduate German program at the University of Portland has been able to grow by taking advantage of existing resources and tap into external means of positive assessment. Part practical pedagogy, part program revamp, my presentation will allow for discussion on how best to serve the students unique to our institutions in terms of their personal goals, as well as mentoring students through the grant-writing process. Are we indeed revising/revamping our programs to be flexible, innovative, and skill/proficiency-oriented? What can we do to continue to reach this goal? What sorts of post-BA opportunities are available to our graduating seniors in German? How do we support our students to be competitive for these opportunities throughout their four years of study?
Session 2: “You’re Teaching What???” High School as an Alternative to Academe
Organized by: Nancy Richardson (Mary Institute; Saint Louis Country Day School; University of Missouri, St. Louis)
I often find that people have mixed reactions when they hear that I am a full-time high school teacher with a PhD in German. Whereas some people find it interesting or admirable that I chose to “step down” and teach at the “lower level,” others seem bewildered or shocked by my decision. For many, my pursuit of a career at the high school level appears incomprehensible or born out of desperation. Some have even speculated about the quality of my dissertation or my supposedly “subpar” teaching skills that somehow made me less attractive on the academic job market. Although I initially struggled with such questions, I quickly discovered that the best response was to share the pride and deep sense of fulfillment that I have found teaching German to adolescents. For me, high school has become a viable alternative to academe that has allowed me to grow in many ways that I never expected. Having entered simply as the “next German teacher,” I have since become a mentor and academic advisor with a wealth of first-hand information about college education. I have also had numerous opportunities to travel and explore other interests, as well as create a German exchange program and a new Women’s Studies curriculum.
In my workshop, I would like to share my experiences with my colleagues and discuss how high school teaching might be an exciting and dynamic option for other German scholars in the changing job market. I would begin my workshop with a question and answer session, in which I would elaborate on several themes, including:
- choosing a potential secondary school and marketing oneself to fit its needs and goals.
- adapting and adjusting teaching methods and lesson plans to make them more appropriate for adolescents.
- dealing with the challenges and demands that come with the first year as a “new teacher” in a different setting.
- learning how to deal with parents and adolescent growing pains.
- moving beyond the classroom—redefining oneself as a versatile instructor with many interests that extend to the larger high school community.
In conclusion I would consider the criteria one might use to select a potential high school and work with participants to adapt a CV and/or a teaching portfolio to make them attractive to a potential employer. This would include some advice given to me by several of the department chairs at my current school who are responsible for hiring new faculty and have expressed an interest in attracting more doctoral scholars to our community.
Session 3: “And Then What?” Wiggies Contemplate Retirement
Organized by Patricia Herminghouse (University of Rochester)
When WiG was founded some thirty-five years ago, concerns about retirement were somewhere over the distant horizon for most of its members. Meanwhile, with the legal elimination of mandatory retirement ages, retirement has become an individual rather than an institutional decision. “Can I afford it?” “Will my department lose the line?” “What will I do with my time?” “Should I stay involved – and how?”: these are just some of the questions that, sooner or later, senior Wiggies will be confronting. But there are also bureaucratic concerns, such as the interplay between Social Security and earnings or the cost of insurance that also play a role in the decision process. Some Wiggies – as we heard last year – have already found successful, indeed exhilarating ways of entering this next life stage. Others look forward to it with a range of feelings from anticipation to anxiety. This workshop is meant to offer a forum for a free-flowing exchange of personal experiences, on the one hand, and individual concerns, on the other.
Participants registering for this workshop are encouraged to send me a sentence or two indicating concerns they hope to see addressed or useful experiences and insights they would be willing to share with the group. (You can e-mail Pat at pahe(AT)rochester.rr.com)
Session 4: Settling in for the Long Haul: Strategies for Sanity on the Multi-Year Job Search
Organized by Elizabeth Bridges (Rhodes College)
The academic job search is not for the faint of heart these days, and for every colleague who won the job lottery after one year on the market, there are several of us who have to try our luck several years in a row. Indeed, one reality for today’s Germanists that differentiates us from previous generations is the length of the job search phase. Formerly a one- or two-year endeavor, this process can now span various fellowships and visiting positions, and there are no guarantees. Meanwhile, the job-seeking experiences of our mentors at Ph.D.-granting institutions are, in many cases, least representative of what we can expect on today’s market, where tenure-track jobs - anywhere, much less those at R1 institutions - have become a rarity…
… but there is hope. As a seven-year veteran of the job search process, I will offer a new way to conceptualize the search as a multi-year enterprise and a distinctive career phase, not just a way station on the road to the “real” job. To this end, I will present some practical strategies for organizing and streamlining the process so that it will take less time, as well as some coping strategies that have helped me survive multiple years on the market with my sanity intact. Questions that I will address:
- How do I fit the job search into an already overloaded schedule?
- How does the process work, and what expectations are realistic? How does one define “success” in today’s market?
- How can I target my job letters towards specific types of jobs? When and how do I emphasize research over teaching, and vice versa?
- What do search committees want to know, and what is the best way to package that information?
- Should I bother to apply for visiting positions when I really just want a tenure-track job? Or are there viable alternatives to tenure-track?
- What if I don’t get any MLA interviews? Is the MLA the only game in town?
- How do I deal with the inevitable stress induced by the job search process?
This workshop will be aimed at graduate students and anyone already invested in the job search process. We will begin by viewing specific, current job announcements, and as a group, we will discuss and analyze their content to determine what one should address in letters to these institutions. I will also provide successful sample job letters (i.e., those that yielded interviews) for specific types of institutions and explain my system for keeping this vast amount of material organized and accessible. In addition, I will discuss stress management techniques (yoga, meditation, maintaining a sense of humor at all costs, etc.) that have worked for me during this sometimes harrowing process, and I will direct interested participants towards helpful stress-management resources.
Session 5: Turning a Dead-End Street into a Highway: Pros and Cons of Promotional Lines for NTTs
Organized by Ulrike Brisson (Worcester Polytechnic Institute), Sabine von Mering (Brandeis University), and Monika Fischer (University of Missouri)
With an increasing reluctance of university and college administrations to make long-term commitments of hiring Ph.Ds into tenure-track positions, many newly and not-so newly graduated academics find themselves not only in one, two, or three year contracts, but in full-time long-term positions with little perspective for becoming part of the tenure-track force or for any kind of promotion.
Being in a dead-end position can be a frustrating and demoting experience, considering the amount of work non-tenure track faculty spend on a relatively high teaching load and on advising students, on doing research, and other services that often go unrecognized, not to mention the lower amount of compensation in comparison to those in tenure-track and tenured positions.
This session is aimed to open up perspectives to those who might be in for a long haul to a tenure-track job or will never, perhaps, for various reasons, not even want to have tenure-track employment. Indeed, not having to go through the procedure for tenure can be an attractive aspect for NTT employment.
Rather than let frustration sour our enthusiasm for our work, this session offers some insights into the various processes involved in implementing a non-tenure track system, such as:
- Identifying the problems
- Soliciting support from like-minded, from tenured faculty, and the department head
- Language and communication (choosing the right kind of language, changing the language on campus; running against communication blockades)
- Dealing with the administration
- Dealing with tenured faculty
- Paper work (designing a proposal, soliciting emails for support, etc.)
- Contract issues (including salary, teaching load, travel funds, etc.)
By using the models of three institutions, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Brandeis, and the University of Missouri, we will be discussing the pros and cons of NTT positions and promotional lines, with the focus on the procedures and hurdles of implementing them, and how the changes have affected the work environment, such as course banking and compensation. We will also demonstrate some trends in hiring across the university and generally address the implications for the institutions and non-tenure track faculty for developing a parallel system.
Ideally we would like to instill encouragement in graduates and those striving to find a tenure-track position sometime in the future that alternatives are out there if the “promised land” remains a promise.