That's exaclty how I view my job! It would be so much easier if there weren't students. BUT, it would be far less fun! As the new semester dawns, I have to say that I am truly excited about the way the year seems to be shaping up. Already the faculty seem to be buying into my plans for departmental changes and the students seem to be "different" this year. I don't how how to define or describe this difference, but they just seem more open and engaged in class. I am looking forward to the course of the semester and don't see this year as an interepution of the things that truly matter to me--reserach and writing.
That being said, I am fully convinced now that my future lay not in academic history, but rather in more popular pursuits. I will still have an active research plan, but my audience (I hope) will now be the public at large rather than 10 other PhDs who are also specilists in my field. What would be the point of that? Some of you are going to look at this and see nothing but career suicide. I understand that within the profession this is so, but I see so much more in the world where I could use my talents than academic history. Some of reading this post are to blame for this decision--and I whole heartedly thank you!
Still, coming from this point, I am looking forward to the semester and actually fairly fired up about the course of the year!
4 comments:
But that's career suicide! ;) :P
Is there room for a little of both?
yeah, there is, but carving out that time is what I find to be the most difficult aspect of my job. I'm far from the world's most organized person--as you know, and really making time for all of it is truly the hardest part for me.
Which leads into...
I not this is a private blog. Who reads it? We must all be friends or trustees of yours. Why not have some introductions? :) Or would some people prefer to remain....undercover?
For your constant state of disorganization... I'd say that time spent getting organized would save you more than the time spent, so it's a good use of the time, but what's the point? You view the world through a curious lens, where you get to see great stretches of time compressed into a timeline, or you go to the other extreme and explore single events in great detail - just how much of your life do you operate your brain in 'real time'? Is there a historian term for this form of microscope/telescope view?
As for your career. If a tornado turned your University into a muddy field overnight, miraculously not hurting anyone... What would you do next?
Dave you raise an interesting question. What would I do if this place were gone? The easy answer is find another university; a university with its own set of problems and issues just like this one. However, if I had the opportunity to strike out on my own as an author--actually make a living writing I would. The opportunity to devote myself full-time to Native American issues would be a dream come true. But the last name isn't Rockefeller--so, I think I would love to write for a newspaper with a large Indian readership; say Indian Country Today or other state news outlets with high numbers of Indian readers. I went into hsitory because I liked the story--as did many of the others who read this but seem to stay hidden.
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