Surviving the First Years of Teaching: A Roundtable Discussion

Session Abstract

This panel discussion will address one of the most difficult challenges members of the early career and graduate student community face: learning how to prepare and teach classes while balancing a myriad of other obligations, from dissertation writing and the job market to publishing, service, and family. Though graduate students and contingent or tenure-track faculty each face unique circumstances, all confront the reality that effective teaching is time consuming and can be difficult to balance with other tasks essential to success in academic careers and personal lives. Contributors to this panel will share their experiences and advice based on having survived the first years of teaching in different kinds of positions, from contingent lectureships while on the job market to tenure-track jobs at institutions with different degrees of emphasis on research, teaching, and service. After brief remarks from each of the panelists, the chair of the panel will pose questions to facilitate discussion within the group and field comments and questions from the audience.