Talk: Medieval 2009

Users[]

How many users still check and update this wiki?

Count: 8

Lurking for a friend.

I check at least once a week still, though I've nothing to update.

So at this point, given that there are so few users, the wiki is pretty useless... darn.

I wouldn't say so, it seems to be updated every week or so. Those of us who still use it don't have jobs lined up; everyone else seems to.

Wellesley PostDoc

Not sure where to put this, so I'll put it here...does anyone know if Wellesley has made on moves on the medieval postdoc? I can't seem to find a postdoc page for 2009/10.

Hiring Freezes[]

I've heard that several searches are being halted, delayed or cancelled at the 11th hour. If you have news on any hiring freezes (or better yet any thaws) please post it here.

Mercer University, frozen for now

--What source do you have for this? I've heard nothing from the school.
---I heard that the Provost's office has halted all hiring until they have a better handle on the economic situation. They may or may not go forward.

Cal State system, delayed approval of hiring decisions for now

University of Houston-Clear Lake, Cancelled Search, 2/26. As one of the people they interviewed, I received a letter today explaining that they are unable to make an offer because of the financial situation at the university.

--Are there really only three frozen/cancelled jobs as of 3/4? By my count, that leaves 17 jobs yet to be offered. Can this be the case?

--Not quite! There are four frozen/canceled jobs mentioned above, not three. Also, by my count, there are nine outstanding positions (seven assistant and two advanced), and many of these still seem to be in process. California University of PA, Georgia Gwinnett, and Marymount Manhattan have recent, ongoing activity listed (and this is true also of the Princeton senior search). So the real question is, what’s up with Claremont McKenna, St. John's, St. Xavier, and U of Alabama-Birmingham (and on the senior side, UCLA)? Five "missing" jobs is a whole lot less ominous than seventeen!

--It is possible I suppose that the five "missing" jobs went to folks who do not participate on the wiki, though one would think that they would have talked to a friend/colleague who does post here. Or, it is possible that the searches are frozen as well, and there is just no word. What I do wonder is the rationale behind freezing a search after the campus visit phase--after a finalist has in essence been identified. One would think that a college/university that had devoted that much time and money to filling a position would want to bring those efforts to fruition. I understand that "it's the economy stupid," but still in a recession enrollments in higher ed typically go up as young people have fewer job options and college looks even more appealing, and some people go back to school for additional training.

--Hi all. I had posted before that Rollins College canceled its search at the 11th hour, but SOMEONE deleted the post, both here under the discussion page, and on the "offers" section of the main medieval page. Isn't it so nice to know that freedom of speech reigns on the wiki? Also, last I heard Saint Xavier made an offer that was accepted. Posted that too, and that disappeared. So who knows, maybe this one will stay? (more likely not)

--I think the wiki had some technical difficulties and several pages of updates were lost. There is a blurb about it at the top of the page. So I don't think it was anyone deleting posts.

--Okay good to know. I am a bit paranoid about deletions since I had made an entry under univs to fear and it magically disappeared.

Any news at all about the frozen searches?? Have they been cancelled or just frozen "for now"?

St John's: I heard this past weekend from a knowledgeable source that St John's has canceled all tenure-track searches.

On Campus Interview Discussion[]

Those of you who have experience with this wiki: does it stay active after MLA? Do people post on-campus interview and job offer updates with as much regularity and diligence as they post pre-MLA info? I hate this waiting and not knowing anything stage and the wiki has been quiet for over a week.

Wow, has this wiki died?

In the past, it has remained active throughout the hiring season - hopefully it will continue to do so!

I thought it had died, since I stopped receiving updates in my e-mail.

Has no one heard from any other schools yet? Rumors?

As of January 7th at 4:44pm I've not heard a thing.

It's a usual quiet time as many schools don't start back up until next week (Jan. 12) and so many search committees haven't/can't make decisions yet. All of my MLA interviews said that they would be meeting the third week in January and then had to get it approved before they could contact people about campus interviews. So I don't expect to hear anything until towards the end of the month. But I'll still be checking and posting any new information I get.

On UNH
A friend of mine who has not been on the wiki said that they were contacted on Jan 2 to let them know that they were not one of the three finalists for the position, but that they were on a short list of alternates. Did anyone else receive such a phone call? I've not heard a word since the MLA.
--yes, I received that phone call too. I guess it's not such a short list after all?

Me neither (1/14).

Has anyone heard anything at all, even a rumor, out of Cal State Long Beach?

Long Beach contacted me over the Jan. 24/25 weekend to discuss an on-campus interview. Their message informed me that they wanted to wait until funding for the position was assured before they went through with campus visits. All seems to be a GO for their search now.

The Silent Searches[]

Now that all MLA interviews are scheduled, or at least I would certainly hope no one schedules later than this (12/23), what about the few left-over searches? Does anyone have any info on the following:

Alcorn State

Hasn't this job been advertised for a few years?
Please note that this job is still open, just in case anyone is still reading this wiki!

Georgia Gwinnett

Doing phone interviews (3/5)

Winona State

The Early American wiki shows that they recently scheduled phone interviews, so it looks like they aren't doing MLA: http://academicjobs.wikia.com/wiki/Early_American_2009
Interesting. But it seems no medievalists have been contacted for phone interviews yet. The medieval SC must be a bit behind and plan on doing things after break.

wiki-count[]

Is a wiki count the number of people visiting the wiki?Sobersnail 17:22, 13 November 2008 (UTC)sobersnail

Yes, it gives us an idea of how many people are updating the page.
(can there really be only seven of us? maybe this will be a good year after all :))
(by my count, based on the U of Pittsburgh listing, there are at least 13 of us)
For my part (not the original writer of this bit, just making a note), I'm the [overseas applicant] under both the Yale and Sweet Briar posts. So you may need to condense that from 13 down to 12...
This count (now at 13) is actually updated by each person (so if you haven't added yourself yet, please add +1 to the count). The conversation (7 vs. 13) was based solely on the Pittsburg listing, which doesn't have an overseas applicant listing. And I also now see that the count there should be 14. So it looks like not everyone is doing their part to individually update the count up here at the top. Perhaps it wasn't clear that you should be adding yourself?
No, it wasn't - sorry about that! I was under the impression you were counting responses and such in the entries below.
How many of us are there, really? I just got a "no thank you" email from Rollins saying there were 200 applicants!

--> 200?? Wow. I was told at the end of the Cal U phone interview that they were doing ten interviews, even though we only have 2 people on this Wiki claiming they got phone interviews there. Not sure if we can extrapolate, but I was assuming that we're only a fifth or less of the total applicant pool.

They were tallying the applications for two t-t positions...not to worry.

UNH[]

Anyone heard from UNH yet? Their letter said that if you don't hear by Dec. 15 you can assume you're not a finalist, but no one seems to have heard anything...(thanks for moving that here!)

Does this suggest that the search has been cancelled? It seems weird that none of the wiki posters would have gotten an interview here (if indeed they have started scheduling).

I just looked on the UNH website and the job is still up - I think they're actually under a few feet of snow! There was a major storm there on Monday and they might be behind on the calls/review of apps. Let's continue to monitor!

Nothing here either: I was worried because of that letter too, but I do know the power was out in most of the state. Here's hoping they're just behind schedule!

The power has been off all week; they're just now scheduling interviews (12/18).

Yale[]

So I am guessing that everybody applied for the job at Yale. Has anyone heard a single peep out of them other than that little EOE card? They are really taking their own sweet time, but I suppose it's because so many people applied! Or maybe it's a skull and bones thing. Anyone heard anything?

I've not heard a thing. But I don't think I would want to take this job anyway under the "new tenure-track appointments system."
Yes, I applied, but have not heard anything as of December 8. I would assume that you are correct and that it is a hotly sought-after job. But then again some may have thought they had no chance and not applied. I admit that I laughed at the futility of mailing out my own application, but just had to give it a try anyway.
I did NOT apply. Good luck to the rest of you!
I know that in the recent past they have contacted people for MLA interviews as last as Dec 21; and they send rejections via postcard
I did not apply. Yale is not going to interview anyone without a Ph.D. from another Ivy or a top-rank R1 university, much less hire them. In truth what they will see as their "viable" applicant pool will likely be quite small.
I happen to know this is not necessarily true, and I think it's even less true for medieval candidates. I think it's silly not to apply.
Hope springs eternal! I'd rather apply and be rejected than not apply and wonder. I was/am a good fit, whether they see it or not. I felt it best to give them the chance to see my materials. Anyway. I'm NOT counting on an interview from them!
In response to the individual posting above who suggests that it is "not necessarily true" that Yale hires only candidates with particular academic resumes, I suggest that anyone interested in the truth takes a look at where the current Yale English faculty earned their degrees. I think such an investigation will put this question to rest. The most frequent Ph.D. of Yale faculty? Why, Yale of course.
I'm the individual who posted above. While Yale has a lot of its own as senior faculty, if you look at the junior faculty you will note that they did not do their PhDs at Yale. None of the people coming to campus visits this year have Yale PhDs. Why? Because the department currently does not consider applications from their own PhD students. Second, if you look at the medievalists, you will note that most of them are not Yale PhDs, and that all the senior ones have worked at other institutions. Even public ones. (The CVs are online.) They know that good medievalists are not just made in Ivy League departments. Yale may be conservative, but their hiring preferences of thirty years ago are not representative of what happens today.

Having nothing better to do (yeah right) and finding this an interesting discussion on the nature of our field at large, I took the advice of the above poster and visited Yale's website. I looked at the full-time faculty in Medieval and Renaissance, and where they had completed their Ph.D.s. I found the following: Yale(3), Harvard(2), UCLA(2), Cornell(1), UPenn(1), UofChicago(1) and Queen's U of Belfast(1). I also browsed about the department listing at large, looking at faculty Ph.D.s in all fields. I found that it is true that the most frequent degree in the department is the Yale degree, but that there are more non-Yale Ph.D.s than Yale ones, by far. So both people posting above are accurate in a way. As the first person notes, "the most frequent Ph.D. of Yale faculty" is in fact Yale. The second person is also correct when he/she writes that "most of [the faculty] are not Yale Ph.D.s" It does appear that the person asserting that Yale hires people with particular academic pedigrees is true. By and large the Yale faculty hold Ivy League or premiere Carnegie I doctoral degrees. But the real question is, is that a bad or unexpected thing? I think the beauty of academia is the variety found in it. From the small liberal arts college to the colossal public R1 university, from the Ivy to the regional comprehensive university, there are many variations and characteristics in our schools. Certain Ph.D. programs train their candidates for certain tracts. While a place like Yale is most likely to hire someone trained "in the same vein" as themselves, a liberal arts college is not as likely to look at the same person as a viable candidate. The best thing to do is know your strengths, know the strengths of your program, and the nature of your program, and know the concept of "fit" that the places to which you might apply have. Is Yale going to hire someone who has a Ph.D. from a public "XYZ State University"? Not likely, though there are a few XYZs that would draw consideration. Is "XYZ College" going to hire someone with a Yale Ph.D. to come teach in their student-centered 4/4 load program? Equally unlikely. But if every program was the same there would be fewer programs and thus fewer of us with jobs!

So, does anyone know where the person Yale hired did his/her Ph.D.?
Um, yes, but am loath to post it in respect of the person's privacy. I'm sure it'll be announced soon enough on the website.
Ah yes, good point. I thought little of that when asking. I was just wondering how it might add to the above discussion.

Penn State York[]

The Penn State York job posting reads "Finalists will be asked to provide a list of references." Did anyone receive such a request?

I have not heard thing one, and folks have been good about posting what they hear. I saw on another list (post-colonial?) that Penn State (not York campus) had canceled/suspended a search, so who knows what's up with this one. To my reckoning, there are 9 schools still interview-silent, though the requests for materials do show signs of life!
I heard nothing from them and received no request for additional materials of any sort. I assumed that meant that they were not interested in pursuing my application any further.
Well, seems they made their interview decisions based only on a letter and c.v. I wonder if perhaps they are interviewing a larger number at MLA?
I think they are--notice that 8 wikifolks have MLA interviews scheduled with them, whereas it's around 5 for most other institutions. (Hope it's not the same five people for all!)

Statistics[]

Could people who are getting interviews let others know the following information: number of applications sent, number of interviews, campus visits, offers? It would also be great to know if you are ABD or Ph.D. and what medieval field you are in. Thanks!

ABD (Middle English): 37 applications (not all specifically medieval) | 4 searches canceled | 9+ rejections | 1 request for more materials (which led to a rejection) | 2 phone interviews | 3 MLA interviews | 0 campus visits (updated March 16)
ABD (Middle English): 15 applications (including 3 generalist positions)| 2 searches cancelled | 5 rejections | 2 requests for more materials (both rejected) | 1 phone interview | 3 MLA interviews | one on-campus (updated Jan 16)
PhD 2007 (Middle English, language and linguistics): 23 apps | 2 requests for more materials | 4 MLA interviews, 3 based on original materials | 2 offers
Ph.D. 2006 (Middle English): 10 apps | 2 searches cancelled | 2 requests for more materials | 3 MLA interviews
ABD (Comparative Medieval): 15 apps | 2 cancellations | 8 requests for more materials | 1 non-MLA interview | 6 MLA interviews
ABD (Middle English): 22 apps | 4 cancelled searches | 1 request for more materials | 3 rejections | 3 MLA interviews
PhD 2006 (Anglo-Saxon): 10 apps | 2 canceled searches | 3 MLA Interviews
ABD (Anglo-Saxon/Middle English): 21 apps | 4 canceled searches | 0 requests for more materials | 5 rejections \ 1 MLA interview
PhD 2007 (Comparative/Middle English): 10 apps | 1 canceled search | 4 requests for more materials | 1 rejection | 4 MLA interviews
PhD 2008 Middle English: 23 apps | 3 cancelled searches | 3 requests for more materials | 3 rejections | 8 MLA interviews
ABD (Anglo-Saxon): 5 apps | 2 cancelled searches | 2 requests for more materials | 3 MLA interviews | 2 campus visits | 1 offer (didn't wait to hear from the second school)
ABD (Middle English): 4 apps | 2 interviews | 1 campus visit | 1 offer
PhD 2008 (Anglo-Saxon): 17 apps | 7 requests for more materials | 5 MLA interviews | 1 campus visit | 1 offer

- 8 Interviews? Congrats are in order for sure! Can you give the rest of us some indication of what type of program you are in that has produced such a successful candidate? Is it Ivy League? Major R1 University? Have you published a book or something? 8 is as many interviews as I have heard of for a medievalist. Certainly you must be a superb candidate, with some sparkling credentials, but perhaps you could give us some idea of what sort of application is drawing such attention (aside from the clear indication that you must be a very promising scholar individually). I really am wondering how I might improve my chances next year. Anything you can say will be appreciated.
- Hey, thanks for the kind words. The 8 interviews surprised me a lot. I will tell you what I can and maybe it will be helpful. I managed to get a visiting gig at a really great school this year teaching a 2/2 load so I've been able to, if not finish, at least move ahead with some of my research projects. No book yet, though I'm starting research on it as soon as I have my sanity back -- that is, when MLA is over!! I think that part of it really is dumb luck -- that your application materials appeal to certain people on search committees who are reading your application. In terms of my preparation, my advisor is WONDERFUL and besides making my dissertation experience humane, also pushed me to work on ideas that I thought at first were stupid but ended up having potential. I did my grad work at U of Rochester, not an ivy but a fabulous place to do medieval with incredibly supportive faculty: they trained the medieval grad students in paleography, manuscript studies, theory, you name it. Also great pedagogy program for first time teachers, and lots of opportunities to publish. I also wrote two separate job letters: one for liberal arts schools and one for research places, and tried to tailor each letter to the individual schools -- this was tedious and took A LOT of time. On the MLA webpage there is a section on advice for job seekers where faculty members have written in to say what makes good apps versus bad apps. According to them, bad= big research letter written for small school or similarly inappropriate audience; whole job letter on dissertation or job letter too short with not enough info. about yourself. So I think that if I have any advice it would be to read anything you can get your hands on regarding what impresses search committees in general. Also, I found it helpful to ask practically everyone I interacted with their advice on job letters, CVs, etc. It made me crazy because everyone gave conflicting advice but a lot of the basics were the same: diversify and show that you can teach a lot of different courses; make sure that you can say something about Chaucer; explain the point of your diss succinctly and say clearly and confidently either (1) how you're making it into a book if it's finished or (2) exactly when it will be finished. I hope some of this helps; also I don't think there is any single right way to go about it because every candidate is different and every sc is different. This year is tough because so many jobs were canceled (I'm still bummed about Pitt) but I am sure it will be better in the next couple of years. Hang in there...I really think the academic job market is just about the most stressful thing out there (besides getting tenure!). (Sorry this post is so long.)
Same writer as above: anyone know why the comparative medievalist discussion got cut off at the bottom? It seems like it should just continue or go onto another page. I will shorten the monster post above if you think that's the problem.
Eh, I removed my non-comparativist comments, so it's me, not you. Post got "noted" that it wasn't aimed at me after I posted on it, prolly because I was muddying the waters. Sorry if that caused confusion. :)
Ok, cool. This is my first time using a wiki so I wasn't sure if I had messed it up!
Many thanks to the above medievalist with 8 interviews. It's really good advice, especially about tailoring application letters. You are a kind and generous soul.

Note: Question below was to the comparative medievalist. Question: Was your dissertation mainly Middle English? Are these positions for which you have interviews Middle English?
: Thanks for the clarification. I'm Comp Lit (more Medieval Latin and Old French, although I do parts of the Middle English canon). I'm trying to see how to position myself. No requests yet...but then I only sent out 6 apps.
:: Another comparativist here. I've gotten good responses from English Dept's but only places whose curricula emphasize European lit along with English lit. That said, my writing sample was on a Middle English text, and I made sure a couple CV entries mentioned Chaucer and other canonical types. I think we comparativists have a good shot at some places if we can convince people that, yes, we can teach Chaucer, &c, even if the 14th c. is not our primary specialty. -- Oh, and I applied widely. In my experience schools will advertise for one thing and then hire something rather different.
::: Hey -- I'm 'another comparativist,' and I guess I'm the one to whom the question was first posed. I didn't want to jump onto the metrist who posted comments (hey, metrist, your project sounds cool, btw, and I hope you publish bits of it soon), so I labeled myself as 'another.' Sorry if that was confusing. But you have your answer, fellow-comparativist. And thanks, Rochester PhD., for your excellent advice! I think that applies to everyone. Next time you're back in the Flower City, raise a mug of Genny and think of us!
::::To the latest comparativist poster: same question about Middle English in the dissertation. How many interviews do you have that are specifically Middle English? Thanks!
:::::Heya -- my dissertation texts were all written in England, though most of them are in Latin and French. I have two Middle English texts, and a handful of Old English ones, though these latter do not 'star' in the particular chapter where they appear. All but one of my interview requests have been for specifically English literature, and of these one was for Old English. Most of my teaching experience has been in English, and I made sure in my letters and teaching statement to draw examples from my experience teaching Chaucer, Malory, &c. Again, I think that so long as English Depts see that we're committed to good English teaching, they'll give us a chance. I hope that helps! 64.50.95.2 20:13, 14 May 2009 (UTC)

Princeton Senior Medieval Search[]

Has anyone heard anything about this search? I'm guessing they have a person in mind, perhaps?

I haven't heard anything recently, but they didn't have anyone in mind from the beginning. From what I heard they had a lot of top applicants. Don't know what's gone on since the initial stage though. (Sorry not to be more helpful.)

I understand three finalists are scheduled to visit through February and early March.

Wesleyan and UCLA senior searches[]

Anyone hear about these?

Both searches have invited finalists for campus visits.

If I remember correctly, during the "lost week" someone posted that the Wesleyen job had been offered and accepted.

Yeah I'll reiterate that. I'm a student at Wes (sorry for lurking) & one of my profs told me the job's been offered and accepted.