I received an email from a former student this week. She is in the process of trying to figure out what she wants to do (what degree and career path to pursue). It can be tough to figure out what
path to take, and unfortunately the cost of tuition really doesn't allow one to
shop around various disciplines any more so I totally understand what this student and many others are
going through. That said I'm one of those odd folks that figured out pretty
early what I wanted to do and then did it.
She had a number of questions that she asked me to answer to provide some insight into how I ended up teaching Anthropology. Her questions are so great I asked permission to post them along with my response; she agreed (my many thanks to her for this!). I hope that future students will find them useful as they consider their own path. You will notice though that many deal with what it is like to be a professor as she was seriously considering a teaching career.
1. How long have you been a professor?
2. How have things changed from how they were when you started and now? (based on education system, students...)
Obviously the thing that has changed the most is how I interact with my students. As a TA I saw students mostly when they would pop into my office hours to discuss their assignments or grades. Since I've become a primary instructor I tend to interact mostly with my students online. As you know I use twitter to be accessible to my students and to provide them one more way of getting in touch with me. There is also the added bonus that the students can also interact with each other in an informal but highly informative way. I've also really noticed in the last year the generational differences between myself and my students. When I first started teaching, again as a TA, I was the same age, a social peer. Now I am over a decade older than my students and constantly need to be aware of this difference because of the implications this has in making a connection and in making course content relevant outside of the classroom.
3. Do you still find teaching as rewarding as when you first began your career? What makes you want to teach and continue teaching?
She had a number of questions that she asked me to answer to provide some insight into how I ended up teaching Anthropology. Her questions are so great I asked permission to post them along with my response; she agreed (my many thanks to her for this!). I hope that future students will find them useful as they consider their own path. You will notice though that many deal with what it is like to be a professor as she was seriously considering a teaching career.
I have been teaching courses as a
primary instructor on and off since Fall 2008. My first experiences teaching
were as a M.A. student way back in 2002, so I've been involved with teaching
University courses since then.
2. How have things changed from how they were when you started and now? (based on education system, students...)
Obviously the thing that has changed the most is how I interact with my students. As a TA I saw students mostly when they would pop into my office hours to discuss their assignments or grades. Since I've become a primary instructor I tend to interact mostly with my students online. As you know I use twitter to be accessible to my students and to provide them one more way of getting in touch with me. There is also the added bonus that the students can also interact with each other in an informal but highly informative way. I've also really noticed in the last year the generational differences between myself and my students. When I first started teaching, again as a TA, I was the same age, a social peer. Now I am over a decade older than my students and constantly need to be aware of this difference because of the implications this has in making a connection and in making course content relevant outside of the classroom.
3. Do you still find teaching as rewarding as when you first began your career? What makes you want to teach and continue teaching?
I love teaching. It is so rewarding.
What really keeps me going is watching the light-bulbs go on - by that I mean,
when I can see that a student has not only understood what I am talking about but
that it has made them reflect upon how they view the world. I see this usually
when I talk about topics like race and racism. Positive feedback helps too. I
love getting tweets thanking me for answering a question so quickly and
clearly, or an email thanking me for an interesting lecture topic. The best
emails are the ones that say stuff like "I came into anthropology thinking
it would just be my arts credit, but it turned into a class I really looked
forward coming to". I also am inspired and motivated by emails from
students that ask questions about things they've seen on TV and want my
opinion or thoughts on it as this means I've really connected with them and
made course material relevant to them as well. It's nice to know they've taken
something away from my course beyond the credit they needed for their degree.
4. Is teaching what you expected?
Teaching
is what I've expected in some ways. I knew I would find lecturing enjoyable but
I definitely underestimated the amount of time I would end up spending
preparing lectures (this includes refining them and fixing them up after I've
delivered them in a course) and the amount of time course administration takes
(e.g., answering emails, dealing with student issues). I also spend a lot of
time working on feedback for my students (remember those midterm review
documents where I provided the answers and explanations of how I marked - they
are hard work) including preparing documents explaining expectations. Lecturing
and interacting with students is the best part, making sure the course runs
smoothly and you do everything you need to do to make your
department/university happy is hard work.
5. What are the differences between a professor and a teacher?
Hmm.
I guess it is an important distinction and one I probably should have thought
about a bit more. Essentially I think they should be the same thing but in
practice they are not. To provide a very quick, from the hip distinction, I
guess I would see a professor as someone who teaches in Post-Secondary but has
other responsibilities above and beyond just instruction (including research,
publication, and University and Community service). A good professor should
also be a good teacher - someone who is dedicated to facilitating learning both
inside and outside of the formal classroom setting - but some focus more on
their other duties. Yikes, this isn't the best distinction but it's all I got
for now without some further deep reflection :)
6. What do professors do outside of class time?
Profs
do much outside of class time. Keep in mind that I do not have a full time
permanent position, but those who do teach three courses per term, serve on
departmental, faculty, and other university committees. They supervise graduate
students (and senior undergraduate students in special courses and honours
programs). They conduct research and often are running a whole research team
that may include members from other Universities. Profs are expected to publish
the results of their research and attend professional conferences and meeting
to present on their work. They are members of professional associations and
frequently serve on their committees as well. Not only are they expected to
publish, they are also expected to serve as peer-reviewers and to read other
people's papers and recommend if they should be published. Profs will also
serve on examination committees of graduate students within and outside of
their Universities and may eventually be involved in reviewing departments or
even other University programs. We are also expected to be involved in the
larger communities in which are Universities are located. Teaching is only one
part of the duties of a prof. For some of us, it is the best or least stressful
part. Plus we also try to have personal lives but it can be really difficult to
find balance. Right now, for example, I'm writing to you from Vernon where I
have a contract teaching while my husband is living back home in Edmonton
because that is where his career is and where we want to live.
Also, I am really interested in
anthropology but I'm not sure if I want to make a profession out of it (I've
only taken one class after all - anth101). Out of curiosity though...
1. What made you want to become an
Anthropologist? (inspiration)
I first became interested as a small child thanks to my
grandfather. I used to watch old specials about ancient Egypt and other
cultures on TV. He also made sure I had National Geographic as I was fascinated
by other cultures. When I got into high school I had a teacher who encouraged
me to learn more about anthropology and when I realised I could study it at the
UofA (I grew up in Edmonton) I applied to be an anthro major. I basically
decided then that I wanted to be an anthropologist and get my PhD.
2. Why did you choose anthropology
rather than the more common professions like engineering, nursing, etc.?
I wanted to do something that lit a
fire in me. I knew very quickly (a couple of classes into anth101 in my first
year) that I wanted to be an anthropologist. Other careers weren't really an
option because nothing seemed to fit quite like anth. I wasn't really thinking
about getting a job. I just wanted my PhD. And once I went on my first dig, I
knew I had to be an archaeologist. After I taught for the first time, as a TA,
I knew I wanted to keep teaching Anth in a university so it was further
incentive to get my PhD.
3. Was anthropology your first
choice of profession? If not, what made you change your mind?
When I was a kid I talked about
being a mad scientist and then a medical doctor (cardiologist). By the time I
hit high school I realized that my marks were good (I could get away with my
smarts and some studying) but that I'd never be top of my class. I also wasn't
that great in chem (which I really liked but just couldn't perform on exams) so
I ruled med school out thinking I'd never get in. Now I know I could have got
in and it probably would have been a faster route than my PhD ended up being :)
As I said above, once I figured out what anthro was, it was anthro all
the way.
4. If you were to start over, would
you still choose to become an anthropologist?
Absolutely!
5. What do you like the most and
least about being an anthropologist? (rewards and challenges)
Rewards: working with my hands
outside, finding things that have been buried for thousands of years (the
process of discovery), working with local communities, doing outreach projects
with communities, schools, and kids, going to other places, experiencing
different cultures, the anthro community is pretty rad (I have great colleagues
who do such interesting stuff). Challenges: spending long, extended periods of
time away from family and friends to do fieldwork.
6. What do anthropologists do
outside of giving lectures at universities? (Is it all research? What are your
personal opinions about your experiences?)
What anthropologists do outside of
lectures in a university varies depending on what type of anthropologist (and
person) you are! I could work as a consultant for development (oil, gas,
forestry, mining) companies protecting cultural heritage. I could consult with
multinational companies to provide advice on culturally sensitive/relevant
business practices. I could work in a museum. I could be hired by a local
community to work on education initiatives. Essentially as an anthropologist
you gain a lot of skills that are applicable for a number of different careers
or positions - you just need to find a good fit.
7. How does being an anthropologist
affect your lifestyle or outlook? (do you have to travel a lot? family life...)
Being an anthropologist definitely
impacts your outlook. You had a different perspective of the world and its
cultures, and become a great critical thinker. Personally, it has meant making
a number of sacrifices but these have been personal. Not everyone has had the
same path. For example, I chose to put off having kids. I have colleagues who
decided to have kids during their PhD. Now I'm trying to decide if I should
wait until I find a permanent job to have a kid or to try to have one now
before I get busy trying to ramp up my career. I've missed more birthdays,
weddings, showers, family events then I can count because of being away for
months at a time to do fieldwork or even just because I couldn't get away from
my computer because I had a paper due, or I was traveling for a conference. In
the six years I've been married I missed four anniversaries (including the very
first!). But again I made the sacrifices because I felt I needed to. Other
people might not have made the same decisions.
8. Do you have any advice for
students planning to major in anthropology? What should a student majoring in
anthropology expect in the long run?
Advice for majors...well talk to
your profs as much as possible especially once you start to get an idea of what
you want to focus on. The more advice you can get on what courses to take and
what kinds of volunteer/work experiences you can get while you study, the
better off you will be. Talk to graduate students and find out what path they
took, what mistakes they made, and what advice they have. So my advice is to do
what you've done - get advice and never hesitate to ask for more. In the long
run, anthro majors need to be prepared to NOT get a job in academia. They need
to figure out how their skills are applicable to non-prof careers. It's brutal
now and we are being told, as educators, to try to prepare our students for
non-academic jobs.
