Since receiving my Ph.D. in May 2014, I have enjoyed the process of carving out a new life after graduate school.  I was delighted when Christina DiFabio asked me to talk to a group of current IPCAA students about my experiences teaching as an adjunct at two institutions while working on publications and remaining active in fieldwork.  What I wanted to offer these students was one account of the challenging but rewarding process of figuring out what to do after graduation when that postdoc or tenure-track job does not come through.  This is a very different kind of alumni up-date from the others included in this newsletter, but I hope my thoughts and observations will hearten students who feel anxious about what is an undeniably difficult job market.

I started teaching in the Classics Department at Union College and in two departments at the University at Albany (State University of New York) in the fall of 2014.  Before I defended my dissertation in February of the same year, I had already moved to Albany and had sent out a portfolio of application materials (letter, CV, writing samples, teaching and research statements, student evaluations) to the chairs of all relevant departments at all regional colleges and universities.  I met face-to-face with six departmental chairs at four of these institutions, and four of those meetings turned into job offers for adjunct positions.  Now, we all know about the trials of teaching as an adjunct, but for the first year and a half after graduate school, doing so has offered me a number of rewards: experience designing and teaching my own classes; exposure to local academic communities, resources, and opportunities; and the flexibility to spend time on research, writing, and fieldwork.

I was, for example, able to create and teach two courses I’ve been thinking about for a long time that dovetail with my research interests: “Environmental History of the Ancient Mediterranean” and “Cultures in Collapse: Lessons from the Ancient World.”  Since, for better or worse, adjunct-taught classes often fly under the radar, I felt free to experiment with new materials and teaching methods.  That first year of teaching was also an excellent time to identify my strengths and weaknesses as a teacher, and to learn where to invest my time and energy most efficiently.

As an adjunct, it’s easy to feel like an outsider, but it is important to make a place for yourself in the local academic community, by going to as many functions as possible and speaking at institutions in the area.  Three of the departmental chairs to whom I had introduced myself when I first moved to Albany invited me to give papers, at Skidmore College, the University at Albany, and the annual meeting of the Classical Association of the Empire State.  These were not major international conferences like the AIA and SCS Joint Meeting, but they provided me with a means of receiving feedback on my research and a forum for introducing myself and my work to a community of potential future colleagues and students.

But teaching and community involvement cannot come at the expense of the work you need to do to make yourself as attractive a job candidate as possible.  I have always struggled with making the most of my time and opportunities, but one year of working in “the real world” can change one’s perspective dramatically.  It’s essential to keep in mind whatever goals you have set for yourself.  My goals are to continue to do fieldwork and to teach students about the ancient world.  In 2014 I became involved in two new field projects, the Notion Archaeological Survey (a Michigan-Brown project directed by Christopher Ratté) and the Brown University Labraunda Project (with Felipe Rojas), both in Turkey.  I am working on publications that will present the results of archaeological surveys at Aphrodisias in Turkey and Vani in western Georgia (both Michigan projects).  I have also begun to turn my dissertation research into publication-appropriate writing projects.  This research examines major changes in Graeco-Roman life at the end of antiquity in Anatolia and pulls together my interests in the archaeology of the countryside, urban abandonment, and social resilience in times of crisis – or what I like to think of as the archaeology of apprehension.

Speaking of apprehension, being an adjunct can indeed make you anxious about the future.  It makes you financially insecure, and sometimes you wonder whether anyone appreciates all the work you put into your classes.  Some of your colleagues may never be aware of your efforts, but the students will.  One of the unanticipated rewards of the past year has been transferring my own personal feelings of vulnerability and apprehension about the future into empathy and understanding for undergraduate students, many of whom, especially the seniors, are suffering through the same emotions.  If I have been able to use any of my 13 additional years’ worth of life experience to make their lives more fulfilling, then I consider this past year a success.

Being an adjunct can make you feel like small fry, but it also means you are free of the administrative and service-related responsibilities of a tenure-track or other full-time academic position.  That’s the trade-off: security and status for time and flexibility.  Since what many recent Ph.D. students need immediately after graduation is time to transform from a student to a professional, to turn their research into publication-worthy writing, and to plan their next career moves, being an adjunct for a while is not such a bad thing.  Time and flexibility: that’s the silver lining.

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