The New Normal? Contingent Employment in Jewish Studies

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Abstract

According to the American Association of University Professors, “non-tenure-track positions of all types now account for 76 percent of all instructional staff appointments in American higher education” (http://www.aaup.org/issues/contingency/background-facts). While the AJS has reported that the proportion of non-tenure track appointments in Jewish Studies is not as high as the national average, many of our departments, institutions, and our AJS members have been deeply affected by the trend toward contingent employment within the academy. This panel, sponsored by the AJS Women’s caucus, will explore some of the implications, challenges, and perhaps even opportunities of the increase in contingent academic employment. Our panel will bring together different voices from within the field to engage each other and our audience in a discussion of issues surrounding contingent employment and facing faculty in contingent positions. Our panelists approach the subject both with both personal experiences and from different vantage points within the academy. Stephen Garfinkel is Associate Provost and Assistant Professor of Bible at the Jewish Theological Seminary, Marion Kaplan is Professor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies and Skirball Professor of Modern Jewish History at New York University, Rona Sheramy is the Executive Director of the Association for Jewish Studies, Emily Katz is an Assistant Adjunct Professor of History at the University of California, Irvine, and Michal Raucher is an Assistant Professor of Judaic Studies at the University of Cincinnati. The roundtable will be moderated by Women’s Caucus co-chairs, Jessica Cooperman, Assistant Professor of Religion Studies and Director of Jewish Studies at Muhlenberg College, and Shira Kohn, Associate Dean of Graduate and Undergraduate Studies at the Jewish Theological Seminary.

Sub Unit

• Pedagogy

Moderator

• Jessica Cooperman, Muhlenberg College

Discussants

• Stephen Garfinkel, The Jewish Theological Seminary

• Marion Kaplan, New York University

• Rona Sheramy, Association for Jewish Studies

• Emily Alice Katz, Duke University

• Michal Raucher, University of Cincinnati