Campus Visit #4

...done and done!

I am so happy to announce the completion of my fourth and final campus visit! It has been wonderful to travel all over the U.S.; this is truly a beautiful country. But it is very nice to be done with the intense and hectic travel schedule. I am looking forward to giving my daughter and my students more of my attention.

So far I have received 2 job offers, one which I've already declined. I loved the school and location, but the Department seemed more interested in filling the position than in my scholarship. I want to be truly wanted for me, for what I have to offer, and for who I am. I am also committed to learning this lesson personally and professionally. They say that being on the job market is a lot like dating...

Nevertheless, visit #4 was to the school that I hope will be my future employer. The university is in the Midwest, massive (about 40,000 students), and well-respected. I had my most rigorous, challenging, and intellectually-stimulating interview process here. Imagine the room below full of PhD's firing questions for 40 minutes about my research and methodology while little-ol'-me stands at the podium trying to look calm!

Well, all that is behind me, but it does leave me with one question: given the number of horrible professors out there, how do people get a job at a university?! What do you all think? What are the traits of a good professor?

Tonight, I will celebrate with a good friend, and a group of Norwegians. (I promise to spill that story in a later post...).

Campus Visit #1

(note to self: not a good angle for minimizing thighs...)

Greetings from somewhere in the South! I had my first of what will be several campus visits this week, so that means all your prayers, thoughts, and well-wishes for the MLA had a very positive impact on my first round of interviews! I had a great time at the conference and really enjoyed meeting the various search committees as well. Such a great time was had by all that most of the schools have invited me for the final round of interviews!

The best part of the campus visit is that the school really rolls out the red carpet for you! Nice hotels, flights, and the best restaurants in their town are their way of making an impression on their finalists. This hotel was only ok, but I had many fine meals and a great time being in the South.

Part of my speech made a critique of "colorblindness" and the idea that we are now a "post-racial" society. It was wonderful to see that Southerners had no such illusions...

Otherwise, the pictures you see here are of post-interview exhilaration! I was so content to be back in my room alone (with no one asking questions) that I forgot to take proper pictures in my suit and looking scholarly. These pictures also show what the snow can do even to an overnight Soft Spike set! I have had to abandon the perm rods I loved to use before. Those curls only last 10 minutes now...