ramble through the bronx

Sunday, August 27, 2006

How fast can I write my dissertation?

My friend Stephen forwarded me the following job posting:

21. CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY, Montreal, QUEBEC, Canada. Tenure-track position starting July 1, 2007, as assistant professor with AOS in Kant and Nineteenth Century German Philosophy. Send covering letter, resume, copies of recent publications, statement of teaching philosophy and interests, research achievements, evidence of teaching effectiveness, three letters of reference to: Chair, Department of Philosophy, Concordia University, 1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd W., Montreal QC Canada H3G1M8. Doctorate is expected by time of appointment. Review of applications begins November 1. All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply; however, Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada will be given priority. Concordia University is committed to employment equity. (SW06), posted: 07/07/06.

Concordia! With my Area of Specialty! argh argh argh.

Anyway, my advisor thinks I should go for it -- he writes

My recommendation is this: do everything you can to complete as much of your dissertation as possible between now and Nov. 1 -- and be able to promise that you'll have everything done by July 2007 (I can stand behind you on that). And go ahead and apply. When/if you impress them at the interview stage, they will be much more likely to cut you some slack about finishing on time, etc. So, in a word: work like crazy to complete as much of the dissertation as you can, and apply in time for their Nov. 2006 deadline (though it does not seem to be such a 'hard' deadline, after all.....)

And then in a follow-up email added

P.S. Many Canadian applicants for ths job will most likely have Canadian degrees. Your having a U.S. degree (which gives you U.S. contacts and U.S. experience) may give you an advantage over most Canadian applicants. The 'Jesuit' connection between Concordia (which emerged, in part, out of Loyola College) and Fordham cannot hurt, either.

Scary, scary, scary. I guess I'll go for it -- it's good practice for when I really go on the job market... but it's pretty terrifying as a prospect.

It would just be so GOOD.....

Meanwhile, here are some pictures --
This is me at the lectern at our Spring 2006 (April) symposium, co-hosted with the English department. Do I look sufficiently professional to be finishing a diss and going on the market? Would YOU hire me to teach your youngsters? I'm just the moderator at this event -- but would YOU take me seriously? I am really quite anxious about this. Even though I know I have nothing to lose, really... just some sleep. I will have to do my best to practice saying smart things. And also my best to avoid getting sucked in to things people want me to help out with... I will have to learn the magical word "No."


The second photo is more me, obviously, even though it's a guitar and not a banjo. This is taken at Heather's cottage, and it's Dawn's friend Charles's guitar.


Unfortunately the CD Dawn burned a bunch of photos onto dislikes my laptop, so I will wait to put more stuff up later once I am using a less-about-to-fall-apart computer.

In other news, I may be getting Jorge Cham from PhD comics to come speak at Fordham. Yay!!

jane 4:08 PM [+]