I’ve been in Adjunctland for five years now. In many respects, the time has been good for the most part. I haven’t had to engage in the mad commute from one campus to the next which often plagues my peers. I have been fortunate to pick up three to four classes a semester on a regular basis up until the current semester. It has done wonders for improving my memory and my self confidence.

On the other hand, it seems a famine of sorts is coming. In my case, it is due to strike during the 2013-2014 academic year. There will be a change at my campus which will reduce the available amount of history courses. Naturally one would compensate by applying elsewhere and no doubt most of my peers will do this.

Myself?

If you knew me before I started teaching then you know that I had been denied classes at other campuses due to the fact that I am a European Historian, not an American Historian. On this basis, it has been stated that folks like me need not apply. It is the main reason I got to languish in academic exile for six years. When the classes dry up at my present location, my options will be rather limited.

So, what to do?

I could go back for the twelve hours of American History. Personally, I don’t think this will do a lick of good. The reality is that this is merely an excuse not to hire me. If I picked up the twelve, they’d simply find another excuse.

I could get a PhD in History which would consume at least five years of time if not more and double my debt load.

I could try to get a job outside of the KC area, which a peer and I talked about today. The problem with this option is that you are competing against PhDs and there aren’t that many of these jobs in any case.

I could try to transition to an admin support job.

I could leave academia all together and go back to security work where I could at least concentrate on my writing.

I could try to get a second BA in Spanish and follow that up with an MA in Spanish.

My gut feeling? My gut feeling is that my time in academia is rather limited and the clock is ticking. I’ve got about a year to figure out what to do. When the time is up, I am probably going to be out of teaching, whether I want to be or not.

Respects,
Steven Francis Murphy
Author of The Limb Knitter and Tearing Down Tuesday
Kansas City, Missouri