supply, demand, and Slavic studies

[David J Birnbaum]

As much as I agree with many of Bill's arguments concerning the need for
the rest of our profession to defend the Slavic Department at the
University of Washington, I have grave reservations about one of his
arguments, and I think it represents an issue that our profession needs
to discuss more openly. My reservations have nothing to do with the
crisis in Washington, and concern, rather, general employment trends in
our profession.

> This
> comes at a time when many senior people such as myself have retired or are
> planning to retire, and the need for a well-trained supply of replacements
> is obvious.

In 1994 there was exactly one job advertised for a Slavic linguist
(University of Arizona). And while the situation is better in Russian
literature and Russian language (for which linguists can and do apply),
we all know excellent people with excellent training, excellent
publications, and excellent language skills who are unable to find
work. From where I sit, the market is flooded with Slavic linguists,
and excellent people who should have jobs are going without them.
Those of us who are training and graduating PhDs need to recognize that
we are preparing many of these people for jobs that do not exist.

I would like to see this problem addressed by increasing demand, rather
than reducing supply. But until we begin to see some movement in this
direction, I am very, very worried about the future that awaits my
graduate students.

--David
==================================================
Professor David J. Birnbaum      djbpitt+ at pitt.edu
The Royal York Apartments, #802  http://www.pitt.edu/~djbpitt/
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