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l hadn't posted in a while because I wanted to wait for the entire process to play itself out. As many of you know, I was in the process of completing my dissertation and applying for jobs. Now that that process is complete, let me offer a final post briefly reflecting on the process:
- I defended my dissertation April 1, 2010 and passed with distinction. The revisions are complete, and I am now ready to deposit at the graduate school. The dissertation is DONE!
- I now have a job! I will be Assistant Professor of Rhetoric and Writing Studies, and Director of First-Year Writing at Western Michigan University starting Fall 2010.
- Mr. C and I are expecting our first child--a little girl! We've know about this for quite some time obviously since I'm 7 1/2 months preggo! I'm due in July, so I'll be starting the new job shortly after she is born. Crazy, I know. But I've never followed any path in life conventionally. Pictures of her 21st week ultrasound are posted below. In some of the shots, you can see her flexibility--she must have been practicing her yoga along with Mama! LOL!
Obviously the above events indicate why readers haven't heard from me much. As any academic knows, going on the job market is a very stressful and grueling process. My process was especially unique with its own set of challenges because I found out that I was pregnant early on in the job market season. I had to go to the MLA Convention shortly after a serious battle with morning sickness that left me hospitalized because I couldn't keep clear liquids down. As if MLA interviews aren't nauseating enough! I also had to hide my pregnancy while interviewing and going on campus visits (which I was able to do until the third trimester--I think!). I especially thank my Mom for letting me borrow all those tunic tops! Hiding the pregnancy was also challenging because I was small and petite pre-pregnancy, so any subtle change in weight tended to show up quickly. It didn't help that I am carry a baby that measures larger than weeks gestation. As you'll notice in the ultrasound pics, her femurs are long: the doctor told us that she'll probably have dad's height (he's 6"2), which means she might be taller than me by the time she turns 10 (I'm 5"1)! LOL!
That is all; I thought I'd end this blog with a happy post. I'm closing it because I basically don't have time to keep it up, in addition to the fact that I originally started the blog to get me through my dissertation. And I've fulfilled that goal.
Thanks for reading, Prof. PC
Some of y'all are familiar with some of the events that went down at our discipline's WPA Conference held in Minneapolis this past week. This is the first time I attended the conference, so I don't have much to go by other than my own personal experiences. However, based on what I've heard, this is one of the conferences in our field where leadership is trying to promote diversity. And, I see why that's a concern: Out of the roughly 260 people in attendance, 5 or so of those people were African American. I'm not so sure about the numbers for other racial/ethnic groups. What I can say is that there didn't seem to be very many (if any) of other racial/ethnic minority groups represented either.
I also have some suspicions as to why this was the case. This may come off a bit harsh, but it's exactly how I felt when I was there. My suspicions are in no way intended to criticize the leadership, however. In fact, the WPA president and other members on the executive committee went out of their way to talk to me and make me feel welcome on multiple occasions, so my criticisms about the conference aren't directed at them. And, based on the events I'm about to tell, I've received multiple apologies for what happened.
Okay. Here's what went down. First of all, I did a panel with other colleagues about my experiences with racism and sexism as a future WPA. This panel was not exceptionally attended, although there were roughly ten people in the audience. We had good conversation and they seemed to appreciate the work that we had done narrating and complicating our experiences. Not a half-hour after our panel ended, we ran into a colleague whom each of us on the panel had met briefly about a year ago. She then proceeded to introduce us to one of her friends as our WPA supervisor's bitches. If that weren't appalling enough, she singled me and my African American male colleague out and basically urged us to beg their department chair for a job at their institution because their institution only had one African American and needed more. As a result of these comments--and the general vibe of the conference--in addition to other personal reasons, I chose to leave the conference early.
On my way home I rode to the airport with another scholar in our field. She also expressed concern about the lack of diversity, and after I told her of the events I experienced, (s)he was horified! We also discussed whether or not I'd come back to WPA. I told him/her that while I loved doing WPA workm and editing our first textbook reader and composing our handbook at my institution, I'm not sure whether or not I'd continue doing this kind of work if it meant that I'd be required to also attend this conference. (S)he encouraged me not to give up on the work that I love doing, but I dunno...
Once I'd gotten home, I received a text message from my African American male colleague telling me that they refused to let him into an event because they mistook him for coming to play basketball pickup games at the park where the event was being held. I won't get into the other details, but the president of the organization did issue an apology that can be read here.
Like I said, I love doing WPA work; I just don't want to be anywhere where I'm not welcome. And, like I also said, my sentiments aren't because of the leadership. Regardless of the leadership, if the people who are a part of the organization aren't welcoming, I still don't want to attend.
That's all.
1) I've learned that my dissertation is like a layered cake. Each chapter is a necessary layer that builds on the next. If I'm doing a teacher-research study on an Afrocentric curriculum, I need a) a chapter that provides a context for how Afrocentricity (vis a vis Ebonics) is situated in education, sociolinguistics, and rhetoric and composition scholarship; b) a pedagogical chapter that describes my Afrocentric pedagogical practices and the theoretical rationales for implementation; c) a methodological chapter that uses previous teacher-research studies on Afrocentricity and Ebonics to demonstrate how my teacher-research study builds on them; and d) chapters that discuss my data results on African American students and all students. (Of course there's a conclusion that I'm still working out.)2) I've learned not to take on projects where people easily lose interest and expect other people to do the work for them. I have a dissertation to write!3) I've learned not to apologize for being MIA. I have a dissertation to write!4) I've learned that support and mentorship is irrespective of race, class, or gender. The people you think are least likely to help you with your work are the ones who've been the most helpful and influential.5) I've learned not to buy clothes when you're bloated and it's humid. I bought two dresses that fit on Thursday only to find that they were too big by Saturday. At least I got the $241 bucks I spent on them back.
Can dissertating really induce heartburn? Just wondering--I thought I'd ask for a very close friend who happens to be dissertating madly right now (why would you think that I'm referring to myself? No really, a good friend. LOL!). Note to self friend: Coding data and writing chapters are extremely hard to do on a Monday morning after teaching/after staying up watching the Superbowl.
Monday has gotten off to a pretty good start, nothing like the cranky weekend. First, I got a journal article accepted for publication (it'll be in print sometime in mid 2009--quite soon considering the fact that many academic journals lag far behind schedule for printing accepted pubs). Then, I tackled cleaning out my closet! Although I keep an extremely neat home, when it comes to my closet, I've been quite a pack rat, keeping articles of clothing dated from 2002/2003/2004, stuff I haven't worn in ages, and most of which, is at least 2 sizes too small. And even with the stuff I can technically squeeze into (not that I really want to), it's not in style. Can you say gaucho pants anyone? And who really needs 40 blazers? Seriously.
My sister would always say how she was gonna come visit and help me get rid of all that clutter, thinking that somehow I needed a life coach. Well, if you're reading T, don't bother. The proof is in the pudding on the right.
I did it! And I even have space for the clothes I've been storing at my parents' and T's places.
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