Talk:US History 2012-13

20thC US History Posts
Question for those of us struggling in the 20th Century market this year: Is it appropriate to go ahead and apply for a few of the staggering number of South Asian jobs that are being advertised? I ask because most of those searches will fail and the lines will be converted to 20th Century US positions by March. Is there a sense that we can get ahead of the rush with those?
 * Seems like this would be a question better put to the South Asianists at Asian History 2012-13. They might also have some view on the validity of the theory that "most" of any unfilled S. Asian jobs will turn into US History jobs [unless that is a joke... can't tell]. Right now (9/5), there are 10 S. Asian jobs on the wiki vs. 10 jobs in US 20th C., so don't see that they're so far ahead [although admittedly there probably is much more competition for the US jobs].
 * There aren't ten US 20th C jobs....there are five 20th C jobs and five for U.S Foriegn Relations in the 20th Century. There is a difference (I've wondered why they were grouped together to be honest).
 * Separated "20th c." jobs from "US and World / Foreign Relations" jobs (they were originally put together because the categories frequently overlap, I think). There are more 20th c. jobs in various sub-specialties (Af-Am, Women's, etc.) - "20th c." is marked where relevant in these sub-categories.
 * It does seem like fewer and fewer jobs are being posted that only specify a preferred chronological period. It seems rare to find any posting that doesn't pair an era with a more specific topic/method. That limits the number of applicants--a good thing for a search committee if they want coverage; a bad thing if they want the strongest candidates. But it helps the candidate separate the jobs that they have a chance at actually landing, too. Frankly, there are enough of us out here that they can be usually get a strong candidate and a coverage fit.
 * There are also a number of jobs under "mixed/open specialty" that a 20th century person would fit. The thing to keep in mind is that, unless you wind up at an R1 school, you're not going to get to teach only your primary area. At all but the biggest schools, you have to be able to wear more than one hat.

AHA Fees
Just paid-- again-- the fee to register for the AHA, which is-- again-- the same for full profs making six figures a year as it is for adjuncts... with the difference being that they can get their depts to pay for it, while we have no damn options if we are hoping for any kind of real job interviews. Do you think the AHA ever gets tired of ruthlessly exploiting the most financially vulnerable members of its community? And does anyone know where all of that money we pay *goes*???