The gremlins are telling me that I should be all professional and tell you about my qualifications and experience. And they have a point. That kind of thing might be important to you. And for that kind of information the résumé was invented.
The problem is that my résumé doesn’t really tell you who I am and what I might be able to help you with. All of that experience helps but it isn’t the whole picture.
I’ve discovered that I have a talent for seeing things in different ways. And asking questions that get people thinking about things in different ways. Ways that the person I’m working with hasn’t thought of. I’ve also learned that this can help move projects forward.
The resumé was really not invented to capture that stuff.
I don’t follow rules very well. I prefer principles. Here are some of mine.
I believe that a lot of humanities and social science research is exciting and important.
I get all tingly when I talk to researchers who study poetry to understand things that are really hard to articulate, like pain or a radical pluralism. Even though I’ve been scared of poetry most of my life.
I love that you want to make art, write novels, or otherwise communicate your great ideas in ways that are not really “academic”.
I also think it is perfectly acceptable to only write for an audience of other specialist academics.
I understand how the discourse of “relevance” really irks you but you also feel deep down that what you do is relevant and important. That you want to change the world (or some small part of it) but not in a normative, authoritarian, “science knows best” kind of way. I sometimes even have ideas about how you can share your fantastic ideas with people that aren’t academics.
I agree that raising questions, thinking big thoughts, and carefully considering language and form are important and relevant. Even in social science disciplines.
That not everything worthwhile can be counted and that not everything that can be counted is worthwhile, but that sometimes counting things is exactly the right thing to do.
I am not competitive
I understand that we are competing for scarce resources — tenure track jobs, research grants, whatever.
But I don’t buy the frequently made argument that competition is good because it motivates all of us to reach goals we wouldn’t otherwise reach. I don’t buy that we need to struggle to do our best.
Just because you aren’t competitive doesn’t mean you don’t want to do excellent work.
I get it if you wonder who decided that those particular journals are “the best” and are reluctant to publish in them just because of that.
I believe academic publishing is about having a conversation with other people that care about the stuff you care about. And that you need to publish with a press or in a journal that those people are likely to read and respect.
I get that competition can be demotivating, and the success rates for research grants, or tenure track jobs, or whatever make you wonder why you would even bother applying.
I believe that the best reason to apply for research grants and fellowships is to get the resources to do even more of the great research and scholarship that you love to do.
I get that maybe you don’t even want a job at Harvard, or Oxford, or University of Toronto, or whatever is touted as the “best” academic job in your circles.
I know that there are excellent academics working in small colleges in out of the way places, many of whom feel privileged to have the job they have and to live in that place and wouldn’t trade it in for a full professorship at one of those big prestigious universities for all the tea in China.
I get that maybe you are really excited about teaching undergraduates well, and about the liberal arts, and that working at a small liberal arts college doesn’t mean you aren’t “good enough” to get a job “somewhere better”.
I get that you might want to balance your academic work with maintaining a personal intimate relationship, maybe even having kids and actually spending time with them. There are successful academics out there that do that. I’ve met a few.
I also get that once your kids are almost finished high school you might be looking forward to engaging with your academic work in a more intense way, maybe travelling more or doing other things that didn’t seem compatible with being an involved parent. Who says you have to peak in your early career? Maybe you want to go out on a high note.
I believe that you should be able to earn a living doing something you love and that most academics love research. Though sometimes they lose touch with that.
I want to help you be a better academic, whatever that means to you. Even if that means starting by helping you work out what being a better academic might mean.
I look forward to working with you.
