Slavic linguistics

[Charlotte Wallace]

This is well stated.  I would, however, beg to differ with the job
opportunities for undergraduates in the field.  They are more diverse and
interesting that ever.


Charlotte Wallace
Slavic Department, DP-32
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195
206-543-6848

On Tue, 11 Apr 1995, Andrew Corin wrote:

> 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
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>   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
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>