Slavic linguistics

[Andrew Corin]

Dear Collegues,

    The following comments are very much in line with those posted
to the list a few minutes ago by Mark Pinson.

    If last December's caucus of linguists in San Diego left any
lingering doubt as to whether there is a broadly shared feeling of
malaise among Slavic linguists, the SEELANGS exchange of the last
two days should have removed these doubts.  Comments have
encompassed the need to save UW's Slavic Department, the need to
diversify the training of Slavic linguistics graduate students, the
relative merits of training in Slavic vs. linguistics departments, the
question of how many graduate students we want to be training, and
whether we want to be training them at all.  Other issues have arisen
as well, but these will suffice to paint a certain picture of the
profession.  You might wish to call this "Profession on the Verge of
Panic," but I would prefer to name it "Profession Which Knows Not
Itself."  This is the picture of a profession which has, to its credit,
instituted informative and useful presentations on its current state
and future prospects at its annual conventions, but which has not
regularly and systematically monitored its progress and health
through polls of its members and surveys of its programs and their
staffing, which does not have institutionalized defense mechanisms
in place to deal with situations such as the disaster at the University
of Washington, and, perhaps most fundamentally, which has not
taken the trouble to define just what it is.  This last comment applies,
of course, primarily to Slavic linguistics, but the remainder apply to
the entire Slavic languages and literatures profession.  All in all, this
is the picture of a profession which is easy prey for any
administration looking to make cuts, regardless of the reason.

    I would offer two comments in regard to the present moment.
First, despite the obvious loss of Russian enrollments and all that this
entails, the present bleak job picture results  i n  p a r t  from the
fact that the supply of job applicants and the supply of positions are
out of phase -- both periodically rise and fall, and at present the one
is reaching a maximum at the same moment that the other is
reaching a minimum.  I base this conclusion on the article in MLA's
"Profession 94" by Bertina J. Huber: "Recent Trends in the Modern
Language Job Market".

    Second, this is not a time to ask whether Slavic department
training or linguistics department training is the best way to go.
There has always been a place for linguists trained in Slavic
departments and Slavists trained in linguistics departments.  Any
extreme solution in either direction represents a panic response to
what is admittedly a serious situation, but one which requires first
and foremost study and understanding.  In other words, this is not
time to panic, it is time to organize.  We require detailed studies of
the state of our profession, an elaboration of the possibilities for
maximizing the job prospects of Slavic linguists (and other Slavists as
well!), and an institutionalized response to the type of situation
which has arisen in Seattle.  The committee which was formed at the
caucus of linguists in San Diego is a start.  As I announced on
SEELANGS in February, we have put into motion plans for both a
survey of Slavic and Russian programs, and a poll of the opinions and
feelings of individual Slavic linguists.  The survey of programs will
probably be taken over by a committee representing the entire
AATSEEL membership (which is as it should be), and I cannot yet
provide any idea as to when it might be ready or what form it will
take.  The poll (in questionnaire form) for individual linguists is
progressing.and, I expect, will soon be ready for distribution.

    This is only a start, but it is something that we all need.  The
competition for funding within colleges and universities is becoming
ever keener, and I cannot help thinking that it is the professions
which are most self-aware which will be best able to defend and
expand their positions.

    Andrew Corin

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  Andrew R. Corin
  Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures 150205
  University of California, Los Angeles, CA  90024-1502
  IDBSARC at MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU
  Office: (310) 825-1208   Department: 825-2676  Fax: 206-5263
  Home: (909) 625-3732
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