Religious Studies Beyond the Discipline
On the Future of a Humanities Ph.D.
Edited by Russell T. McCutcheon
Paperback (Published)
(October 2024)
ISBN: 9781800505445
6.14 x 9.21 inches
Price: $24.95
In stock
Given the continued challenges that face the higher education job market in the Humanities in North America, this multi authored volume offers a critical assessment of the current situation of Humanities doctoral students, early career scholars, and those now working in doctoral degree-granting institutions in the US along with concrete proposals for a way forward. In turn, these proposals are the starting point for constructive reflections by faculty now working in leading American doctoral programs. The aim for the volume is therefore to initiate and then move forward a conversation among future, current, and recent graduate students as well as those who train them concerning the content, process, and purpose of acquiring advanced research skills in the early twenty-first century university.
Given the continued challenges that face the higher education job market in the Humanities in North America, this multi authored volume offers (i) a critical assessment of the current situation of Humanities doctoral students, early career scholars, and those now working in doctoral degree-granting institutions in the U.S. along with (ii) concrete proposals for a way forward. In turn, these proposals (iii) are the starting point for constructive reflections by faculty now working in leading American doctoral programs. The aim for the volume is therefore to initiate and then move forward a conversation among future, current, and recent graduate students as well as those who train them concerning the content, process, and purpose of acquiring advanced research skills in the early twenty-first century university. For this is a time when most everyone in higher ed. knows that a decreasing few who earn these degrees will ever attain work as tenured faculty members while an ever increasing number will, instead, end up either in perpetually insecure contingent faculty positions or, for a variety of reasons, will opt to seek careers outside academia, where the explicit relevance of their training is, at least at present, uncertain and uncharted. The volume asks what the role of these students’ faculty, supervisors, degree programs, and Departments ought to be in helping them-and thereby helping these doctoral programs themselves, along with their affiliated faculty-to excel in an economic, and sometimes political, environment that is often not kind to scholarship in the Humanities.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements xi-xiii, Russell T. McCutcheon
Foreword xiv-xvi, Raj Balkaran
Preface xvii-xxiv, Russell T. McCutcheon
Introduction
Introduction 1-8, Russell T. McCutcheon
Context
1. “The University Absolutely Had Nothing in Place…”: Life After Grad School with Bradley Sommer 11-19, Jacob Barrett, Erica Bennett, Bradley J. Sommer
2. “A Series of Decisions Which Are Going to Affect You Over Time…”: Life After Grad School with Pamela Gilbert 20-27, Jacob Barrett, Erica Bennett, Pamela K. Gilbert
3. “What I’m Doing is Pivoting My Career…”: Life After Grad School with Jared Powell 28-34, Jacob Barrett, Erica Bennett, Jared Powell
4. “Be Thoughtful About What Skills You’re Developing…”: Life After Grad School with Shannon Trosper Schorey, 35-44 Jacob Barrett, Erica Bennett, Shannon Trosper Schorey
Manifesto
5. A Manifesto on Earning and Awarding a Ph.D. 47-61, Andrew Ali Aghapour, Shannon Trosper Schorey, Thomas J. Whitley, Vaia Touna, Russell T. McCutcheon
Responses
6. The Future of an Illusion 65-72, Barbara R. Ambros, Randall Styers
7. A Response to the Manifesto 73-75, David Frankfurter
8. In the Best Scenario… 76-82, Martin Kavka 9. The Way We Lived Then, and Now: The Ph.D. and its Employments 83-89, Richard A. Rosengarten
Afterword
Afterword 91-98, Emily D. Crews
End Matter
Appendix 1: Tracking Doctoral Graduates in the Study of Religion 101-104, Russell T. McCutcheon
Appendix 2: SBL/AAR Position Advertisements, 2001-2019 105-111, Russell T. McCutcheon
Resources 112-118, Russell T. McCutcheon
Index 119-123
- Edited by Russell T. McCutcheon
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