Introducing 'The Declining Academic'
Once Again, Starting Again
Just Like Starting Over
So why this letter and why now? I find myself at a new place in my professional life: I am stepping away from an administrative position after six years and returning to teaching. This feels like a different (i.e., scary) era to take on this challenge, as one of the many tasks I managed as an administrator was leading the college I represented through the pandemic and all things “remote.” Today’s classroom feels completely different from the one I stepped away from, with the neat division between “in-person” and “online” having been largely erased. The classroom is now everything at once, and I’d feel better suited with a degree in making sure sound and video work properly than I do with my PhD in English and Writing.
Who’s Invited?
Everyone. Especially educators, readers, writers, people on the margins, anyone who has used the phrase “imposter syndrome,” anyone who wants to write a novel, and those who put their feet on the floor today and realized, “Wow, this is the home stretch of my career. That scares me!” (Or maybe it thrills you.)
Let’s Be Free
That means this letter is free, and I usually average anywhere from four to seven readers. If there is a time where I reach 11 readers, I will consider charging one dollar per year for my deepest, inner thoughts. I expect to write about things like “who students are now,” who teachers are now, as well as all the things I don’t know while returning to a job that requires me to know things, like, as an expert. I am not sure if this will verge into education and politics, as I've already been forced off Twitter 1.5 times for caring about things (my thousands of followers abandoned in a single click).
But most of all I want to engage with you. I read so much about what we must do and should do and how the article that came out yesterday completely changes the whole game, again—I want to hear more about what people are unsure of, wonder about, the serendipities that matter, what it means to take chances, and can ChatGPT make a good breakfast. You know, easy stuff.
