7bec3b03_s_to_fear___Academic_Jobs_Wiki___Department
[School] Davidson College [Issue and Date] The English department at Davidson is a genuinely poisonous environment. Relations between established members are such a minefield that you’re guaranteed to lose a limb or two now and then. The salary is good, though, so there will be takers for their jobs. Here’s the advice I can offer. No one will tell you anything straight when you visit for your on campus interview. You’re pretty much certain to have to field questions about whether you have a spouse who’ll be asking for work at Davidson. However you handle those questions, you should understand that they will not hire your spouse to any ongoing academic position. Don’t be fooled by any equivocations you hear, nor by the spousal pairs already at Davidson; they got in under a different administration. The current president and dean won’t allow spousal hires. You’ll have to teach a class on your campus visit and to impress you pretty much have to entertain more than actually instruct. Don’t pitch your class low (Davidson believes its students are celestial geniuses), but don’t get lost in theoretical abstraction either. Be guarded. Take special care to fend off anyone who wants to act conspiratorial or draw you into some kind of alliance (that advice applies both to the campus visit and your subsequent career at Davidson). If after all that you get the offer and decide you’re willing to take it, gird yourself. You won’t be made to feel welcome by senior faculty in the department. There are some younger faculty you can trust. You’ll have to work out who they are. For the old guard, just don’t believe a word they say. Listen very carefully to the gossip they float and try not to contribute to it yourself. As I noted already, resist being drawn into alliances. But stay chipper too. Cheer for the hothouse liberal arts college party line — hey, maybe you actually believe in that kind of education. Be very pliable too. They want junior faculty who won’t make trouble. They don’t love serious research profiles. Most (not all) of the department is low-range plodders whose research ambitions died before they got started, and there’s a lot of tolerance for stupidity and chest-thumping instead of quality scholarship. Basically, no one has a good time before tenure, and if you make tenure, you may also turn into one of the trolls who live there. There’s a lot of misery – try not to get infected by it. I should note that these observations do not apply to other departments. Plenty of people have a fine experience working at Davidson. Make friends with folks in other departments. They’ll be sympathetic. The upper administration is very conservative and dopey, but they generally stay out of your way, as long as you’re not a trouble-maker.---This poster seems to have a problem with liberal arts institutions in general which seems to be clouding his/her judgment of the school. Davidson is not an R1 and so you shouldn't be upset when big time scholarship doesn't come out of it. Sorry, but the poster only said something very brief about the scholarship thing. 95% of his or her post had nothing to do with scholarship. For what it's worth, I interviewed with another Davidson Dept. in 12/09, and it was a really lovely, dynamic interview with thoughtful questions--definitely my most enjoyable interview. They seem very organized and efficient. The comments above refer to the English Department only. There may be other disfunctional departments at Davidson, but there are many very good departments where one could find a warm welcome and receive excellent treatment. English may also put on a pretty good show for interviewees, but be very wary if you end up with a job in that department. [Department] 
English
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