Monday, July 7, 2008

I'm a hustler baby...

So I've been on fellowship for a year -- funded by Miami University and Mr. Matt to get my dissertation done.

But it's all going to be over soon, because I'm a retard. Or a hustler. You pick.

Starting July 17, I will be teaching ENG 150 at Thomas More College in KY. It's an 8-week course that meets only once a week, and I think it's a pretty small group (7 or 8 students!). These are business students who have to have a writing component in their associate's degree program. They're either going to love my class or hate it; they'll either find it refreshing and challenging or redundant and superfluous to their own career goals. We'll see which one! The theme of the class is Differing Voices in America and the readings are awesome: they include Melville's "Benito Cereno," E.L. Doctorow's Ragtime and Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar.

Then, beginning the third week of August, the retardation/ hustlin' really begins. I'll be teaching 2 Fiction Studies classes at Xavier University on Mon, Weds, Fri; Advanced Composition and American Lit after 1945 at Miami University on Tues/ Thurs. That will be about 100 students total.

I'll be going "on the market" in Oct/Nov, a full-time job of writing letters (not easy) and sending dossiers to universities in the hopes they will want to interview me and then bring me to campus for a job talk and then hire me.

Oh, and I'll also be finishing up the dissertation hopefully.

The upside of all this: I can finally afford to pay the interest that has been accruing on my unsubsidized loans! I know, right? Awesome!

So I'm a retarded hustler. Don't be offended if I don't talk to you after August. I'm just either a) teaching b) grading c) writing letters d) working on the diss or e) having a nervous breakdown.

1 comment:

Jaymie said...

All hustlers are required to be able to do the hustle at moments notice. You should probably at least take the time to brush up on your dancing skills. If you know what I mean.

I miss you! Good luck with all the classes. Give me a call over the weekend if you get a chance to talk.