French and Francophone Studies 2011-2012

Position
Currently in TT job: 4

PhD in hand, currently in non-TT job: 8

PhD in hand, currently unemployed: 5

VAP: 3

Adjunct: 1

Other:

ABD, but looking to defend this year: 21

ABD in non-TT job:2

Field
Francophone: 12

Medieval: 5

Renaissance: 4

17th: 3

18th: 5

19th: 8

20th/21st: 8

SLA/Pedagogy (language and culture): 1

Linguistics and sociolinguistics: 1

Other? Define

Language Background
Native speaker:9

Non-native speaker: 21

Heritage speaker: 1 (what does that mean?!)

A: The term is usually used to refer to the children of Spanish and Chinese speakers who were born in the United States. Heritage speakers frequently use their parents' language with family and friends, while using English outside the home. While they may have oral fluency, they often enroll in "foreign" language classes in school in order to master other skills.

I think that is a great idea! Would anyone mind if we moved such comments and discussions to the bottom of the page in the "Word on the Street" section?
 * To keep the wiki a useful resource with as pleasant environment as possible, which doesn't cause more stress than we're already under and make people feel like they don't want to witness petulant anonymous arguments and barbs, could we please keep sarcastic comments, attacks, venting, and suppositions about job searches being rigged to ourselves, the talk page (see above), or the venting page? Merci beaucoup!

American University (DC) (TT, 20th and 21st century literature, cultural studies, or francophone studies)
Email confirming receipt of application 10/4, 10/20, 10/28, 11/09

Austin College (TX) (TT, open)
Email confirming receipt of application 10/25 11/15

Boston University (TT; Late French Renaissance/Baroque/Neo-Classical)
Email confirming receipt of application and request to complete EEOC form 11/23

Bowling Green State University (TT, Francophone )
email confirming receipt of application 11/02

Skype interview scheduled by telephone (11/22)

Carnegie Mellon (TT, French and Francophone studies)
Email acknowledgment of receipt of application 10/28 (x2)

College of Wooster (TT, pre-20th century)
Email confirming receipt of application 11/11 (x8)

Dartmouth (TT, Francophone)
Email acknowledgement of receipt of application 10/21

Eckerd College (TT, Generalist)
email request for letters of recommendation (11/10) (x4)... Was there some sort of cut involved or did they invite everyone who applied to submit letters?

- How can we know? A: If someone submitted an application but didn't receive a request for letters.

What is the last year story? Is it that bad?

http://academicjobs.wikia.com/wiki/French_2010-2011#Eckerd_College_.28TT.29 (kind of cryptic; people who applied there last year will tell you more I'm sure. Good luck!)


 * --> This story was really strange because supposedly someone was offered a job back in December (scroll down on that above link to the next mention of Eckerd) which was then rescinded, but then Eckerd went ahead and did the entire MLA/on-campus thing in the Spring semester, so I'm not sure what really went down.

A friend of mine and I both applied and we both received request for letters - I think they invited everyone who applied to submit letters.

Indeed, I think this is true. I have received a request for letters as well.

Fordham University (TT, Theater)
MLA interview scheduled by phone 11/17 (x5).

11/17: phone call about scheduling MLA interview in future, asked if I had questions followed by 11/20 phone call from Chair to actually schedule MLA interview (x3)

George Washington University (TT, Francophone)
Did anyone receive an acknowledgment? No.

Hobart and Smith Colleges (TT; Nineteenth-century, Medieval/Renaissance)
Email acknowledgment of receipt of application 11/2 (x3), 11/8 (x5)

Illinois State University
Letter confirming receipt of application

Videoconference interviews scheduled for 12/02 and 12/09 by phone on 11/23

Lewis and Clark College (TT; Contemporary France)
Email acknowledgment of receipt of application (10/20)

Linfield College (TT, Francophone African Studies)
Inside candidate? There is a VAP with the exact qualifications mentioned in the job description.

I was thinking the same thing!!

Luther College (Assistant Professor of French)
Email acknowledgement of receipt of application 10/28 11/04 11/21 (x2)

Marlboro College (Assistant Prof, TT)
No sign of life from these good folks. Anyone got a receipt of some of any kind? / Nope./Rien du tout.

I received an e-mail confirmation soon after submitting my online application (x2).

I have reason to believe that they are just now starting to look at apps - 11/21.

===Mills College (TT or tenured; pre-nineteenth-century literature focusing on a theoretical engagement with non-European cultures, particularly the Arab/Islamic world)===

Email request for writing sample and letters of recommendation 11/2 (x2)

Rutgers U Camden (TT; Francophone Studies or 18th/19th Centuries; media and the arts; hybrid identities; the history of colonization)
Email confirming receipt of application (10/28)

Did everyone get a confirmation email? I sent my application through email and never got a confirmation... (X3) +1 / Many schools send "batches" of acknowledgments (I got the email from U of the Pacific one month after sending the app); don't worry, it will come in due time. Good luck!

Salisbury University (TT; Generalist)

 * See Also: Chronicle Ad

San Francisco State University (TT, Assistant Professor, 19th and 20th century French Lit and Culture)
Their site mentions that they have already hired somebody with these qualifications (10 Nov 2011).

--> do you have a link to this? http://www.sfsu.edu/~french/?q=node/52 / A: she could be a Spring 12 visiting, though.

Sarah Lawrence College (TT; 19th/20th Lit and/or Francophone)
Anyone else get nothing at all? x10 - online apps = silence

Tulane University (TT; 16/17, 20/21 French or Francophone studies)
Email confirming receipt of application 11/10 (x3) 11/21 (x3)

UC Davis (TT; 19th c. Lit OR colonial AND/OR postcolonial)
Letters of recommedation requested directly from references on 10/21. /Q: Were they not automatically requested once the application was submitted? A: I am hesitant about the automatic issue. I submitted my application online on September 26 and immediately got an email from the secretary conforming receipt. On Oct 21, my three references (not me) were contacted by the same person requesting that they fill up a customized reference form. / A: Thank you for the explanation. Different poster: my references were contacted a week after I submitted my application (I'd put the interfolio unique addresses - and these were prompted and I had to confirm a pending delivery). I, too, thought the delay was perhaps a good sign since most of the online apps immediately request your references once you push submit. But no need to read into it too much... ;)

My references were also contacted -- now let's see how many get around to actually sending their letters... --> I promise that I'm in no way affiliated with Interfolio, but this is my 3rd year on the job market and my first time using it (previously used my university's dossier service). The "unique" email address for each recommendation that you can put into the online applications is a lifesaver for this worry!

University of Illinois at Chicago (TT; 18th Century)
Email confirming receipt and saying that references were contacted./ External references asked to write a letter -- did this happen to anyone else?
 * Yes, I believe that is how the application process was supposed to happen.

University of Maine at Farmington (TT; generalist)
Email confirming receipt of application 10/20 (x3) 11/16

Email stating that telephone interviews will take place in Dec. 11/9; 11/16, 11/14

Email requesting more information 11/18 (x2)

University of Mount Union
email: receipt of application, 11/15

University of the Pacific (TT; generalist)
email confirming receipt of application 10/19, 11/18

University of Pittsburgh (TT; French/Francophone Studies)
Letter confirming receipt of application and stating that Skype interviews will take place in Dec. 11/7, 11/18

Great. I got nothing. Anyone else?

University of San Diego (TT; French and Francophone)
Email confirming receipt of application (11/1), 11/7

University of South Carolina (TT; pre-19th French and Comp Lit)
Email confirming receipt of application and request to complete EEOC form 11/9, 11/22 (x3)

University of Southern Indiana
Phone interview scheduled (on Nov 10)

Anybody else got an interview?

May I ask when you were notified about scheduling a phone interview?

University of Texas, Austin (TT; 20th/21st century)
Email confirming receipt of application 10/17, 11/22

Vassar College (TT; Medieval, Renaissance, 17th or 18th centuries)
Email asking for writing sample and sample prospective syllabi 11/16 (x6)

Wesleyan University (TT, Post 1840 Literature and/or Culture)
Asking references for letters. I suppose that's a good sign... / Q: did you not include reco letters in the initial package? There were required.

Skype interview scheduled (11/18) / Q: anyone else have an interview?

Williams College (TT; pre-19th)
Email confirming receipt of application and request to complete EEOC form 11/16 (x6)

===Williams College (Visiting Position in Language and Pedagogy; 3 years, non renewable) ===

Yale University (TT; open w/ focus on uncovered field such as 19th/20th poetry)
Total silence. (I have heard from Faculty at my institution that they have someone in mnd...)

That is not true. The deadline just passed. They are reviewing all the applications.

Plenty of places don't send acknowledgments. Maybe you're right and they do have someone in mind; maybe they don't. (still, I'm now trying to find out what 26 can mean...). Good luck to all!

I'm sorry that you did not receive confirmation that they received your application. Perhaps you could contact them if you are concerned that it did not arrive. As the above poster mentioned, many schools don't send acknowledgments. I can assure you that the faculty do not have a particular candidate in mind. There are a few fields in which they are particularly interested because they are not currently covered. Beyond that, we've all seen how hard it is for faculty at any institution to agree on a candidate after the interviews and visits. What are the chances that they all know and agree on someone before the search even begins?! I think we should try to limit the speculations and rumors posted on the wiki. They just create more anxiety in an already stressful situation.

Yale University (Senior Lector-Director of Language Program; 3-5 year contract, renewable)
Received notification that my application would not be continuing to the interview process (11/1)

A candidate has been scheduled to visit campus on 11/18.

Word on the Street

 * For those of you who applied to Eckerd, you may want to refer to last year's wiki page. It sounds like some undesirable business went on and you may want to be aware of this if you are not already.

You should actually bring it up in the interview when it's your time to ask questions. Let's face it--no one wants to walk into that job anyway, so if everyone used the interview as a throwaway and asked the committee about last year's shenanigans, that would be GREAT!

Does anyone know why Saint Mike's (in Vermont) is doing another search?

A: My understanding is that they are either building or losing someone to retirement. They knew as soon as last year that they wanted to hire more folks, but i suppose they can only get one line at time.

Can folks who keep deleting info (Eckerd, Wesleyan) stop? This is a wiki, even if some info seems irrelevant to you, it is relevant and helpful to other people.

does anyone know if there is a section for Postdocs in French? (and francophone -- whatever that is supposed to mean....)

A: They are listed on the Humanities and Social Science Postdocs wiki page.

(From Yale TT section: How is it not true? Because the deadline just passed? Because they are reviewing the applications? Getting an acknowledgement that my app was received would have helped convince me that it is not a sham. I know the person who will get it. Can't say it here obviously but here's this: 26. Easy to remember. 26.)

Is this a short version for the devil's number? :)

--> Here's an easy word to remember: Haldol.

no one knows what you are talking about. If you know who the person is who will get the job, I know for a fact that you know more than the search committee, who hasn't even decided who to interview yet.

(From UC-Davis section: No infomercials for Interfolio, please. The $300 + I have had to spend on Interfolio is a source of financial concern. The fact that they bill us $6 to send an e-mail or to send a letter via regular mail is a source of outrage. I'd rather contact my references than give more money to the scam artists at Interfolio.


 * I completely understand what you're saying - the whole dossier service thing stinks. My university's dossier service is much more expensive than Interfolio ($8 for an email, $10 for a letter and a $60 annual fee, and they will only email rec letters and transcripts! so I had to pay for postage for the rest of the app), so Interfolio is actually a good deal for me.)
 * Well, Interfolio is a for-profit company and they offer a decent service that you can choose to use or not use. If any financial outrage is to be expressed, it should be directed at the MLA which routinely charges people not just for membershig AND access to the job list, but for access to the convention center ($145, unless you are unemployed) which is sadly where many schools choose to conduct their interviews. You have no choice about that. I think I have easily syphoned around $2000 into the MLA!
 * You are absolutely right; the MLA is a greedy little piglet. It's shocking that they charge the same amount for all faculty, regardless of their actual situations.
 * I could not agree more! Coming from the East Coast last year I spent over $1,000 for airfare, hotel, registratrion fees for the convention, membership fees just for one 30-minute interview. Obviously, this is my choice, but the problem is that the ADFL very strongly encourages universities to go through the MLA Convention for interviews, to the point of disparaging universities who do not follow this format. Given the current market (and the economic state of things), it's become unfeasible for grad students/adjuncts to dish out so much money for one or two interviews. Back in the day when 5-6 interviews were common, this made more sense. Also, having the convention two years in a row on the west coast really stinks for those of us on the east coast - the majority of grad students.
 * I never heard that the majority of grad students was coming from the East Coast, and if I recall correctly, the MLA has been hold several times on the East Coast these past few years between Philly, and DC

THIS IS THE FIRST YEAR THAT THERE HAS BEEN SO MUCH INCIVILITY AND IMMATURITY. IT SAYS AN AWFUL LOT ABOUT THE FUTURE OF HIGHER EDUCATION, I'M AFRAID. IF THIS IS YOUR FORUM FOR BEING A SMARTASS TO EVERYONE AROUND YOU JUST BECAUSE OF YOUR ANXIETY ABOUT A JOB SEARCH, THEN PLEASE STOP POSTING TO THE SITE.

I totally agree, never seen that before!!! This is ridiculous and makes me wonder what's the point to have a PhD nowadays?

Come on, my friend! No need for big words. Unfortunately, the "future" of higher education does not depend so much upon us, the job seekers, but rather on committees and an administration that act like corporations. And let's face it, nepotism plays a great deal in a job search. Not always but quite often. Maybe the person who ventured to make speculations about the Yale job exagerated a great deal but he/she was not totally wrong either. If you check the wiki site from last year, you'll see that people speculated about such and such position. And yes, MLA/ADFL are expensive adventures for both schools and graduate students/adjuncts/ lecturers/junior faculty.

Relevant Reading/Viewing
Job sites: The Chronicle, MLA, higheredjobs.com, insidehighered.com, HERC

Blogs: Get a Life, PhD,

Relevant to anyone in the humanities: Why Graduate Students Ignore Warnings about the Job Market ; No, You Cannot be a Professor