adjunct/part-time PhDs

Barbara Tsatsoulis (barbara@NEWTON.CECASE.UKANS.EDU)
Tue, 12 Dec 1995 19:19:41 -0600

To all "gypsy academics":

At this year's AAA I looked in vain for a session discussing
the issues confronting anthropologists with PhDs who hold
adjunct or part-time (non-tenure track) positions. While
three department heads assured me that "everybody" is talking
about it and that "it's a real problem", I would like to
see more information exchanged *by* us instead of *about* us
(I am familiar with the ANs statistics).

If anybody out there is interested, I'd like to propose a panel
for next year's meeting (either to the General Section or, if the
national modal personality appears in the respondents to this
posting, to the Feminist Anth. section) to present on and discuss
the situation of adjunct/part-time anthropologists in regard to
teaching load, time for proposal writing, insurance (health, life),
retirement, job security, professional self-esteem as well as the
esteem (or lack thereof) from tenure-track collegues and students,
departmental support, committee service, etc. Since I hope that
this could be a very informative session for those just starting
their job hunt, I am very interested in success stories.

Please consider that while many full-time anthropologists out there
may feel compelled to suggest that we should look elsewhere for
employment, I am addressing this mainly to those anthropologists who
are still determined to remain in teaching or teaching/research
dedicated schools. The issues involved in finding non-academic
employment are a whole other can of worms.

Let me know what you think,

Barbara Tsatsoulis-Bonnekessen
UMKC