So the NYT might publish the letter I sent them a few days in response to their terrible article about adjuncting as a resume builder (see previous blog entry). I just spoke with the section editor (Sunday Times Business Section), who sent an edited version of the letter that they might print if there is space. Ummmm… this feels like a different letter. Totally bland, totally toothless. Is it just me?
To the Editor:
Had the article examined the controversy surrounding the increase in adjunct positions at many universities, it would have offered a better account of why these positions are available.
These are tough economic times, to be sure, but an elimination of tenure-track positions began long before this downturn. Many of us in the profession [MAYBE EXPLAIN HOW YOU ARE IN THE PROFESSION, AS A DOCTORAL CANDIDATE?] have been discussing this distressing trend as more than a budget-saving maneuver. It’s also altering the fundamental nature of college education in this country.
The American university has long positioned itself as a place where the twin goals of research and teaching are brought together to promote new ideas. This model has largely explained why the best students from all over the world covet degrees, particularly graduate degrees, from American institutions.
Many of us are fiercely attached to these goals, but wonder what the current trend means for them.
Alicia Gibson
Hiroshima, Japan, [CORRECT?]Jan. 31#
The writer, a doctoral candidate in comparative literature at the University of Minnesota, is a research fellow at the Hiroshima Peace Institute. [CORRECT?]
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