'All That Is Solid Melts into Air': Frank Donoghue, The Last Professors: The Corporate University and the Fate of the Humanities

摘要

Every year or two, a promising major approaches me about going to graduate school in philosophy, and I invite the student to my office for what I call "the talk." I tell my potential wisdom-seeker that I count myself as fortunate to be a teacher of young minds, that I find my research gratifying, that I savor the intellectual stimulation of my colleagues, and that, on balance, I wouldn't trade jobs with anyone. But then I somberly caution that though her studies have filled her with love of wisdom, she should think very carefully before making the serious commitment to pursue an advanced degree in any humanistic discipline. I tell her that securing a tenure-track position is unlikely, because today well over half of those teaching college-level classes in the United States are part-time instructors, with no prospect of tenure. These positions provide an abundance of teaching, but come with low wages, no benefits, no job security, and, more often than not, no office space in which to meet students. Furthermore, adjuncts are typically deprived of any meaningful relationship with colleagues, they are provided no funding for conferences, and they are robbed of the time needed for research or any other kind of professional development. "You will in all likelihood be denigrated, exploited, impoverished, worked like a dog, and exiled," I say sternly. "If you insist on doing this, adopt the attitude of a saint to be martyred and do it out of the blind faith of love, because there are no rational reasons to pursue an advanced degree in the humanities."