Restoration/18th-Century 2010

Demographics
ABD (early):

ABD (will finish this academic year): 10

Ph.D. in hand (one-year, VAP, postdoc, Lecturer): 11

Assistant Professor: 3

Associate Professor: 1

Full Professor:

Lurker: 1

Thinks it's a bad omen that the ad that keeps running on this page is for the community college show starring Chevy Chase: 1

TOTAL: 24 (not including lurkers and bad omeners)

Observation: Well, it could be worse: we could be 20th-c. Americanists. Here's hoping that with the economy apparently recovering some new lines will get approved in the next few months.

# Interviews Received
Phone: 1 (x 1), 2 (x ), 3 (x ), 4 (x ), 5 (x )

MLA: 1 (x 1), 2 (x ), 3 (x ), 4 (x ), 5 (x )

Interviews Scheduled
Please specify method (phone, MLA, etc.)

Colby College (MLA 11/20 x3, 11/23)

Connecticut College (video 11/10)

University of Southern Indiana (phone 10/20)

Restoration/18th-Century British Jobs
(please add jobs alphabetically)

Adelphi University (11/10) link
 * Teaching load: 3/3
 * Request for dossier (11/20) x8

California State University, Northridge (11/18) link
 * Teaching load: "12 units per semester" (does anyone know if that means 4/4?)
 * Yes, 4-4; that's the standard. They say somewhere that reductions are available on a competitive basis.
 * Don't count on course reductions; it's a CSU, which is in dire straits from budget cuts; most faculty research money has completely dried up. Caveat Emptor.
 * According to the dept. website, this search is cancelled: http://www.csun.edu/english/index.php
 * Received letter officially stating search is cancelled (11/18)

Colby College (ME) (Review begins Oct 19; Restoration and 18thc; 1670-1780) Link
 * Teaching load: 3/2, incl. comp.
 * Ack. of app 10/20; 11/10
 * MLA interview scheduled, 11/20 x3, 11/23

College of Staten Island (Review begins immediately) (12/16)
 * Received notice of this one via email. I'm not sure if it's listed anywhere, but it's not on their website yet.
 * Nor HERE, which is supposed to be the CUNY-wide teaching openings site. Have you got any more information on this job?
 * Yes! To avoid cluttering the page, I pasted the text of the notice below. If it ever gets listed properly, we can take it off the wiki page and replace this discussion with a proper link.
 * THANK YOU!

Connecticut College (11/2; 18thc and race/ethnicity) (from MLA) link
 * Teaching load: 3/2 (2/2 first year)
 * Second year for this search
 * Video interview request, 11/10

Illinois Wesleyan University (11/01) link
 * Teaching load: 3/3
 * Materials requested by email, 10/12 (x4)
 * Has anyone received a request after the Nov. 1 deadline, or did this school just decide to review people before the deadline?
 * No. They may be compiling a more comprehensive longlist now that all apps are in.
 * Q: Has this research been canceled? (Job listing no longer posted at IWU website)
 * Probably not. Job ads on university sites often only exist until the closing date for applications. To a lesser extent, the same is true for the job sites: they all have a window of time ranging from 30 days to several months when the job is posted, then taken down.
 * Just rec'd very nice email saying that search is indefinitely suspended because of budget concerns.
 * No such email here yet.... Woops.  Missed it in the inbox.  This is getting scary.  How many others are now also going to get pulled?

Pacific Lutheran University (11/01; 18thc and Romantic lit) link
 * Teaching load: 3/3
 * Second year for this search
 * Anyone know why the search failed last year?
 * A: That's a sort of deep, philosophical sounding question, but the answer is quite pedestrian. Position was offered, position was declined. End of story.
 * Does anyone know if PLU is more interested in an 18th-Cist or a Romanticist? The job ad is unclear here.
 * It seemed from the ad that they were especially interested in an 18th-c-ist.
 * Last year the search was strictly 18th c. They added the romanticism bit this year, which makes me think they genuinely want someone who can do both fields, and perhaps figured that out for themselves during the search process last year. Maybe that's why they never made more offers after the first candidate turned it down.\
 * Dossier requested by email, 11/09 (x10); 11/10; 11/13
 * How many individuals who have received dossier requests from PLU are actually Romanticists (primarily)?
 * I am (x2)
 * The Romanticism/Victorian wiki is reporting five requests for more materials
 * That listing wasn't on the 19th-century page until I added it a couple days ago and mirrored the total that was here at the time (fives requests). I reverted it back to just show my add and one that was posted late last week.
 * I think they don't care as much about ability to do both fields so much as they wanted a broader pool of applications.
 * How can anyone want a broader pool of applications? I think they are getting inundated enough as it is. My sense is that they want someone who can teach both fields.
 * Judging by how their search went last year, with two sets of interviews (at MLA and via phone) and two sets of campus visits, resulting in an offer for one person (that I know of), I'd say that wanting a large set of candidates to pick from is fairly likely. Good for them.
 * Hmm, given that they went through two rounds of interviews, do you think they're extraordinarily picky, or did they just have the bad luck of multiple candidates turning them down? I suppose this is a silly question, because no one knows for sure unless they are actually at PLU. I'm just very interested in this job, so I love to speculate. [Maybe A: I'm repeating my post from Romanticism/Victorian below since people are wondering about the pool for this job]
 * Pleasant rejection email including this information (11/23):


 * We received 134 applications, constituting a very strong pool of
 * candidates who all, like yourself, have impressive qualifications as a
 * teachers and scholars. As we must choose only fifteen candidates for
 * MLA interviews, I’m sure you can appreciate just how difficult our
 * selection process is.
 * FWIW, I'm a Romanticist with a lot of emphasis on the long C18.


 * [Repeating question from Rom/Vict/19th page] Q: Did anyone who was asked for dossier also get a rejection email? Or was this rejection to candidates who were never asked for dossiers?

Rhodes College (11/6; British lit, 1730-1830)


 * Anyone have any special insight into this search?


 * Email request for a sample of scholarship, 11/20 (x3)

Suffolk University (Boston, MA) (11/2)
 * Teaching load: 3/2
 * MLA ad says "pending funding"
 * NY Times lists Suffolk U's President #2 of top 10 in annual earnings
 * Email detailing that job search is canceled due to "budgetary uncertainties" (11/9)
 * /snark on/ (presumably the president's salary isn't uncertain.) /snark off/
 * To confirm, has anyone else received that email?
 * Job ad said that they would acknowledge apps via email. I hadn't heard anything yet at all, so confirmation would be good.
 * Yup, just got the email (date-stamped Mon, Nov 9, 11:42:36 EST) - the job's toast for this year. Friendly email, too.

Trinity University (11/20) (from MLA) link
 * "Primary emphasis on drama"

University of British Columbia (10/09) link
 * Teaching load: 2/2
 * Ack. of app by email, 11/6 (x2)
 * Anyone know anything about the timeframe for this search?
 * Email acknowledging application; review will occur over the new few weeks, 11/6. I guess this means that they are not trying to do campus visits before MLA, as some Canadian schools do. (Also worth pointing out that there is supposedly a very strong inside candidate for this post.)
 * I read the email as saying that review has been underway since the deadline passed (or thereabouts) and that the ack. email has just been terribly late; got no sense for whether they will invite people before MLA or what . ..

University of Nevada (10/29) link
 * Teaching load: 2/2
 * This job asks just for CV and cover letter for initial round. anyone know what they want following that?
 * Yeah. They'll request a dossier of references and a writing sample after reviewing your CV and letter in the online application. I believe they're attempting to save trees.
 * Dossier/writing sample requested by email (10/20 x4; 10/23 x3; 11/2 x2)

University of Pittsburgh (11/1) (from MLA) link
 * Teaching load: 2/2
 * Materials requested by e-mail, 11/5 (x 7)
 * rejection email 11/6 (x 7), 11/10
 * EEO request well after the rejection email. (11/18)

University of Southern Indiana (review begins 10/1) Long 18th c. or Rom./Vict. link
 * Teaching load: 4/4 incl. comp.
 * Did anyone else get a "failed delivery" notice saying the intended recipient (the e-mail address the USI app materials were to be sent to) was "over quota?" (I got this notice via e-mail today from the server, 10 days after sending the materials) A: A friend of mine did. She has also had a difficult time following up on the problem.
 * Request for phone interview via e-mail (10/20x2)
 * Request to contact references (10/30) Q: Was this request post interview or part of it? I ask because interviews weren't concluded until 10/30 A: post-interview via e-mail
 * Timeline: campus visits in November; will make offer in early December
 * Campus interview scheduled (11/10)
 * Has anyone else heard anything?
 * Rejection email from search chair (11/13)
 * See also discussion at Romanticism, Victorian/19th 2010

Villanova University (11/24) Link Dear colleagues- With a university hiring freeze having just been lifted, our department is opening a search for a tenure-track position in 18th century literature, especially the novel; it is a search that was cancelled last year. The listing will appear in the next update of the MLA Job List, but since this is a late announcement I'm asking for help from list members in making sure that potential candidates are aware of it. The MLA ad is below. --Evan
 * "specialization in the novel"
 * "initial schedule is five courses per year"
 * This is a resumption of a search canceled last year due to funding problems.
 * rumour has it that there's an inside candidate for this one--which would explain the late posting
 * ...yet the chair posted the job to both NASSR-L and C18-L before it turned up on the JIL, so who knows.
 * I don't know about the inside candidate, but the late posting is easily explained by the uncertain budget climate.
 * The chair's posting to C18-L reflects what the previous two posters have mentioned:

Winona SU (MN) [18th Century Literature (1642-1832)] (11/9)


 * Teaching load: 4/4
 * This online app was a pain.
 * See also discussion at Romanticism, Victorian/19th 2010

Yale University (11/1) (from MLA) link


 * Second year for this search. Did they ever make an offer last year? So far as I know, they did not.
 * The MLA posting for this job now mentions an 11/1 deadline. Thoughts?
 * I think it was always an 11/1 deadline.
 * Thanks to whoever entered the correct deadlines for Yale, Conn College, and Pitt. At least we can keep better track of their hiring timeline now.
 * EEO postcard with memo from chair (lots of applicants, apologies for the mass mailing, etc. etc.) (11/20)

Jobs listing 18th-Century British Literature as a secondary specialty
(please add jobs alphabetically)

Harvard University (British Romanticism) (10/26)

Linfield College (Shakespeare)

Miami University (Romantic Poetry) (11/2) (link)

University of Tennessee, Knoxville (British Romantic Literature and Culture) (11/1) (link)

University of Wisconsin, La Crosse (19th-Century British) (11/20) (link)

Discussion/Other
Complete text of email that included an unpublished job advertisement from CUNY Staten Island:

Late breaking job news? Apologies if you've already cottoned onto this; I have no idea if it's posted in the usual way or not. Best, XXX

Original Message Subject:       jobs (please forward) Date:  Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:32:33 EST From: XXX

To: XXX

TWO JOBS AT, Staten Island English Department:

1. Brit Lit A specialist in the "long eighteenth century" British or eighteenth-century transatlantic literature. Responsibilities include teaching elective and required courses for majors, in particular, British and American Literature Survey. Also required are teaching other literature and freshman writing courses, performing department and college service, and engagement in an active and productive research agenda.

Qualification Requirements:

PhD in literature or related field required with expertise in 18th Century Literature; college teaching experience; a demonstrated commitment to teaching; and a strong record of research and publication. Ability to teach a broad range of material, but in particular 18th Century British Literature, in all levels of undergraduate and graduate literature courses desired.

Indicate in your cover letter if you will be at MLA. Send Writing sample, CV and 3 letters of recommendation to: Janet Dudley, Chairperson English Department College of Staten Island 2800 Victory Boulevard New York 10314

2.    Mid East Lit

Position Description and Duties: Middle East literature specialist to teach modern and pre-modern literature from the Muslim world. Responsibilities include teaching elective and required courses for majors, in addition to other literature and freshman writing courses, performing department and college service, and engagement in an active and productive research agenda. Qualification Requirements: PhD in literature or related field required with expertise in Middle Eastern Literature; college teaching experience; a demonstrated commitment to teaching; and a strong record of research and publication. Ability to teach a broad range of material, but in particular literatures of the Muslim world, in all levels of undergraduate and graduate literature courses desired.

Indicate in your cover letter if you will be at MLA. Send Writing sample, CV and 3 letters of recommendation to: Janet Dudley, Chairperson English Department College of Staten Island 2800 Victory Boulevard New York 10314


 * Anyone know the deadline for the 18t c. job at Staten Island?
 * The first poster said "review would begin immediately" so I guess the deadline is now.
 * How much sense does it make to apply for a job that isn't even advertised? Maybe the email in question was sent to someone targeted as a candidate. And does anyone know what the teaching load would be at this school?
 * First poster here: The whole thing is a bit strange, but I do not believe that I was a targeted candidate. I went ahead and mailed my materials, but I don't know anything about it other than what I've posted here. I just put this up in the interest of full-disclosure because *if* the job is real, everyone deserves a shot at it.
 * Job posted to C18-L this morning (11/23). "Due to various bureaucratic headaches the following job ad is going out quite late" Deadline for apps 12/16.
 * Hmmm. Don't see it on C 18-L. [a: It's there, date stamped 11/23, 10:10 am. SUBJ: job listing, from: Alyson Bardsley. Same info as posted above though.]
 * I called the department secretary, who confirmed that they are running a job search (11/24).