New Path

I enjoy teaching and doing research; however, as an adjunct professor, there is usually only ever time to do the former. There is honor in that, and teaching is fun, but this kind of life also entails serious pecuniary worries that are not conducive to the life of the mind that we academics so value. Thus, I was thinking about what I could do outside the university.

Now I have found one surprising answer. Pleasantly, I can continue working with historians, and, at the same time, I am able to combine history with another strand in my biography, working with English. And I can do these things in an environment where a lot of German is spoken, integrating yet another element of my life into my current position. I feel very fortunate to have begun working as an editor at the prestigious German Historical Institute (GHI) in Washington, DC, whose many activities include academic publishing. The job is officially only 30 hours per week, so I shall also continue to teach, but on a much reduced scale. Having the ability to continue doing so also makes me feel fortunate.

With this new employment situation, it is quite possible that I will be able to talk once again about a little research in my free time later this year, but that remains to be seen. First things first—doing good work for the GHI and doing justice to my students, of whom I have many, since I began another Western Civ. section before being offered the new position.

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