A Confluence of Crises: Tenure and Jobs

Abstract

I write in response to articles?particularly those by Philip Lewis and Domna C. Stanton?in Publishing and Tenure Crises Forum in Pro fession 2004, from a perspective different from that of contributors to forum, all of whom, except for editorial director of Columbia Uni versity Press, Jennifer Crewe, are faculty members at research institutions. What I found most striking about these essays was not a presence but an absence: absence of any suggestion that there could or should be a con nection between publishing and tenure crises and ever-popular job crisis. One may argue that surely two crises are enough for one short essay, or even several short essays, to tackle, but equally surely a connection exists between status of tenured faculty at flagship institutions (Lewis 14) as elect among elect, or luckiest of lucky, in perennially depressed field that is humanities today (and yesterday, and probably to morrow) and fact that already tenured feel entitled or even obligated to impose drastic demands on those who seek to join them in paradise of academics. After all, there are so many scrambling term to term in adjunct hell, some emerging annually at Modern Language Association confer ence to try to escape from their confinement, others resigned to permanent impermanence or maneuvering locally for that long-dreamed-of tenure track slot. Then, too, so many schools are not flagships but merely lost back in fleet somewhere. What makes tenure candidates believe that they are entitled to be called the best of best of best, sir {Men in Black)}