tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3671815.post5109378817123624280..comments2024-02-07T03:12:59.031-05:00Comments on Blogenspiel: What kind of Medievalist am I?Another Damned Medievalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05231085915472400163noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3671815.post-30152054552999460412009-01-13T22:06:00.000-05:002009-01-13T22:06:00.000-05:00Yep -- that's the job. Haven't heard anything yet...Yep -- that's the job. Haven't heard anything yet, and am hoping no news is good news, but am not holding my breath.Another Damned Medievalisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05231085915472400163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3671815.post-75704804273702098272009-01-12T10:06:00.000-05:002009-01-12T10:06:00.000-05:00Is that the job I think it is, I wonder? I wish yo...Is that the job I think it is, I wonder? I wish you the very best of luck either way of course. I shall hold thumbs for you wherever it won't stop me typing :-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3671815.post-46770543972633174132009-01-08T15:03:00.000-05:002009-01-08T15:03:00.000-05:00It was great to get to see you again at AHA! And ...It was great to get to see you again at AHA! And <I>please</I> let us know if you hear from DreamJob!<BR/><BR/>I think this is a really thoughtful post, and I sympathize with pretty much everything you say here. I, too, have a very good job with great colleagues, but I feel like I'm a "service professor" -- most of our majors are there to study U.S., modern Europe, or Latin America (we have a large hispanic student demographic). So students take my courses to fill requirements, and while I get a few hooked, most aren't really that engaged to begin with. Combine that with a load of 3-4 courses a semester, and it becomes a bit of a grind.Notorious Ph.D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/08700875559325201086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3671815.post-61324704943526935352009-01-07T20:57:00.000-05:002009-01-07T20:57:00.000-05:00I can only hope so, Steve. They were pretty impre...I can only hope so, Steve. They were pretty impressive themselves!Another Damned Medievalisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05231085915472400163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3671815.post-48548563886426605952009-01-07T20:52:00.000-05:002009-01-07T20:52:00.000-05:00I don't know you that well but I bet they were bot...I don't know you that well but I bet they were both charmed and impressed.Steve Muhlbergerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18136005762428407135noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3671815.post-31581307707796702202009-01-07T15:24:00.000-05:002009-01-07T15:24:00.000-05:00Manan, I actually looked for you via the message c...Manan, I actually looked for you via the message center, but your name didn't come up! Grrrr. Oh well, we'll have K'zoo. And I'm sorry about your interview. <BR/><BR/>Thanks Jeff and Susan. And Susan, the feeling is mutual! I still can't believe how lucky I am to have met so many cool people through this place. I wish we'd had more time for talking, but hope you had fun at the reception -- and that they found your phone!Another Damned Medievalisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05231085915472400163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3671815.post-60197037014481437502009-01-07T14:07:00.000-05:002009-01-07T14:07:00.000-05:00Well, I echo what others have said -- if they had ...Well, I echo what others have said -- if they had 2 hours of questions, they must have expected a somewhat jumpy and disorganized 1/2 hour! But I really like your thinking about what you are doing/can do in your current position....half of life, it seems to me, is figuring out what we can do with the hand that is dealt us, and I think you're doing an excellent job!<BR/><BR/>It was great having our quick cup of tea -- and good luck.Susanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09716705206734059708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3671815.post-29149854072646829492009-01-07T13:15:00.000-05:002009-01-07T13:15:00.000-05:00Here is hoping that things work out as you want th...Here is hoping that things work out as you want them to, and that you have the chance to flourish as the kind of medievalist you yearn to be.Jeffrey Cohenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17346504393740520542noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3671815.post-62935983277414437482009-01-07T11:54:00.000-05:002009-01-07T11:54:00.000-05:00Hey, I bollixed my interview. c'est la vie!The _ON...Hey, I bollixed my interview. c'est la vie!<BR/><BR/>The _ONLY_ medievalist job in my field was cancelled. The chair met me at AHA and sympathized. It is hard out there for medievalists.<BR/><BR/>Sorry we couldn't meet up...Manan Ahmedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10298964070805797658noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3671815.post-45845546831665824882009-01-06T22:49:00.000-05:002009-01-06T22:49:00.000-05:00I can't imagine your not doing well in an intervie...I can't imagine your not doing well in an interview . . .Kelly in Kansashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14345236866213138914noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3671815.post-693717463636474302009-01-06T22:10:00.000-05:002009-01-06T22:10:00.000-05:00Thanks to both of you -- it's nice to think I migh...Thanks to both of you -- it's nice to think I might not have screwed up too badly, and to be reminded that it can also be about not being what they want, rather than being crap. <BR/><BR/>And Ann -- funny thing: I spent the nights before and after the interview with my family of affinity -- and BiL, Cliotechnik, knows you from grad school!Another Damned Medievalisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05231085915472400163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3671815.post-15902195831240958582009-01-06T18:27:00.000-05:002009-01-06T18:27:00.000-05:00"At the moment I'm rather on tenterhooks. I'm pret..."At the moment I'm rather on tenterhooks. I'm pretty sure I bollixed up the interview. . . . despite bringing in 3 pages of notes and questions of my own, I think I came off as someone who alternated between deer-in-the-headlights and someone who might have been too assertive (or even bossy?) for a person applying for a junior position. I just don't think I managed to come off as competent and special enough. I really hope to hell I'm wrong."<BR/><BR/>You probably are wrong, and are worried just because you care about this job possibility. My guess is that they have different expectations of you as a junior faculty person already, versus an ABD or postdoc, but if you're not wrong and those things mattered to the interviewers, then you'd have to question whether it really would be a good working environment for you. I like to work with people who are confident and self-directed, but those qualities (especially in women, natch!) are read negatively as "too bossy" or "overbearing." It's not fair, and in fact it's really stupid--but that may be who they are. If they don't want to work with you, then you don't want the job either, because they'll make you miserable. (You might make them miserable too in the long run, but for the first several years, they have all the power, and who wants to live like that?) <BR/><BR/>It's good that you've decided what you "yearn to be." It sounds like you could probably be that at SLAC, despite its not-ideal aspects. One of the things I like about our profession is that it's relatively meritocratic if you're a publishing scholar. That is, people don't seem to be too snobby about other people's affiliations if they publish and remain active in their field/s. You and I can probably both name people in our fields who are really respected for their work but who teach at relatively obscure institutions, while on the other hand there are people who landed plum jobs but who haven't done much with them. <BR/><BR/>So, I would say that you have a great deal of control over the kind of scholar you are/will become, regardless of your institutional affiliation.<BR/><BR/>Historiann.comHistoriannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10615954696251174822noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3671815.post-4119408648069354642009-01-06T18:14:00.000-05:002009-01-06T18:14:00.000-05:00First, unless you did something blazingly stupid (...First, unless you did something blazingly stupid (and you're not the kind of person who does those things!), don't assume anything about how your interview was received: you know nothing about the competition, about their unstated goals or needs, about their perceptiveness (some of us historians are terrible judges of character and behavior, after all!). I have trouble believing that you didn't come of as both competent (three pages of notes!?!) and pretty special, particularly for your range of existing experience and, as you note, continuing productivity.<BR/><BR/>Second, you're not the only historian who has a yearning to be more; it's a very healthy sign, really, of someone who's in this for the long haul, who's made the right choice in career and focus. It's a <I>good</I> thing, really.Ahistoricalityhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04004964192885891003noreply@blogger.com