By Karen Kelsky - Chronicle Vitae. I’m applying for my second tenure-track job. What are things I need to be careful of?
When you have a tenure-track job and are applying for another one, there are two sets of challenges to be aware of. First: Should you disclose the search to your current department? If so, how? Second: What kind of credit toward tenure or previous service will you get from the new department?
(Of course, it goes without saying that all the other challenges of the typical job search apply here too.)
Regarding the question of when and how to tell your current department: This depends on your circumstances. See more...

By Chronicle Vitae. Dead-Department Syndrome. Q (from sulla): When I arrived at my current institution, I certainly wouldn't have described the departmental culture as lively. However, if I spent a whole day working in my office, I would have seen perhaps half of my departmental colleagues. Fast forward to now, and it's unusual for me to see more than one or two—often, the same one or two—each day. My colleagues have simply stopped showing up to the office, for the most part. We're in the humanities, and they seem to be publishing, so they must be working from home. See more...

By Jacqui Shine - Chronicle Vitae. I’m not much for proxy wars among nation-states or for feats of heroic athleticism, so the Winter Olympics largely escaped my notice—except for one thing.
At the moment, we’re avidly revisiting a range of cultural phenomena on their 20th anniversaries (right now, for example, Gary Sinise is on my television, talking about playing Lieutenant Dan in Forrest Gump). And at the intersection of nostalgia and Olympic fever, much attention has been given to an anniversary of dubious distinction: the 1994 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. You know, the one in which Jeff Gillooly, the husband of Olympic hopeful Tonya Harding, engineered an assault on rival skater Nancy Kerrigan after a practice session. See more...

By Kelly J. Baker - Chronicle Vitae. When I used to teach, I did an exercise that required students to analyze my gender performance (thank you, Judith Butler). Students judged how feminine, masculine, or androgynous I was by paying careful attention to my appearance, affect, and personality. To make it easier for them, I wore a skirt, flowery tops, sparkly accessories, high heels, and more make-up than usual. By exaggerating my femininity, I helped them realize how pliable and deployable gender can be. See more...