Melissa asks if there are other disciplines with many independent or feral scholars who studied the subject out of love without thinking much about the job market (or lack thereof) on the other end. Folkloristics might just be next in line after esotericism....
But seriously, people: I don't mean to be discouraging, but the chances of getting a tenure-track academic job in just about any discipline these days are not unlike the odds of becoming a professonal ball player or a concert musician. At the same time, there are opportunities in the "new normal" that weren't available to the previous generation, and there are young colleagues of mine who are making a decent living by taking advantage of them. Most involve online education in some way or another -- a field that is burgeoning on all levels, and offers a wide range of types of work. There are also a number of levels at which one might teach, including secondary school, community college and adult education. Not the university careers many of us envisioned, but it keeps body and soul together.
Best,
Sabina
Sabina Magliocco
Professor
Department of Anthropology
California State University - Northridge
[log in to unmask]
________________________________________
From: Society for The Academic Study of Magic [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Melissa Harrington [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Sunday, December 02, 2012 10:37 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] New Interview with Dr Dave Evans, "Founding Father" of this very list-serve...
Thank you for that comment Justin, I hadn't heard of the academic "vampire" till you posted that and it is the answer to something I am pondering. Regarding practitioners and academia I wonder if esoteric scholarship is one area where people like Dave (and myself) are nuts enough to give up a good day job and work through later life undergraduate and post graduate study because we love the subject rather than sensibly looking at the terrible job market at the end. I am fortunate enough to now have got a nice part time job in a psychology department that fits with my being a mum, practitioner and the rest, but I wonder if there is any other discipline that has as many "independent scholars" as that of esotericsm, who all have found a similar trajectory to that Dave describes. Someone on academia edu called themselves a "feral scholar" which I was proud to adopt as that is how I feel the independents end up, though overall I have found established scholars of all disciplines to be immensely supportive. Unfortunately I am seeing a very small number of people coming into the study of esotericsm via safe, established (ie far less "independent" ) academic routes - who would be far less worthy of an eventual job in the field than Dave - who has made a notable contribution.
Good luck Dave with your writing on magic, thank you for facilitating this forum and everything else you have done, and please do not disappear.
Thank you Ethan for the interview, it was interesting and I'll try to remember to pop back on your excellent blog every now and then.
best
Melissa.
----- Original Message -----
From: Justin McKeown<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, December 01, 2012 11:44 PM
Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] New Interview with Dr Dave Evans, "Founding Father" of this very list-serve...
I didn't find it pessimistic. Even the end bit about the current state of academia is simply stating fact. It's not limited to magic, my impression is its happening right across the humanities. Building on this, I lecture fine art and it is my general observation that - at least from the position of statecraft - the function of art in western society is to turn wealth into prestige. I would broadly extend this notion to the rest of the humanities. And, with this in mind, it is a terribly worrying sign that those in power seem not to care that they are rendering the full ugliness of the machine visible for all to see and experience. I'd therefore appeal to all of you avid practitioners who have more talents than a mere avid dabbler like myself to zap seven shades out of these vampires and get Dave and others like him an academic job again. Christ knows academia would be better for it
AMEN
Justin
Sent from my iPhone
On 1 Dec 2012, at 19:04, Alexander Hay <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:
An interesting, if (perhaps justifiably) pessimistic interview.
- Alexander
On 1 December 2012 15:34, Ethan Doyle White <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:
Hello there everybody!
I just wanted to bring to your attention a new interview which I have undertaken with Dr Dave Evans, practicing magician and academic historian, who was notably a "founding father"of this particular list-serve, over a decade ago now. For those of you interested, it can be found over at my blog, Albion Calling: http://ethandoylewhite.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/an-interview-with-dr-dave-evans.html
Best
Ethan Doyle White
London
|
