Gaetan Poix, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Though based in the US, Contingent has always published the work of precarious scholars working around the world. But the lives, experiences, and careers of those scholars differ widely, from the structure of their graduate work to the conditions of the job market in their countries to the terms used to describe precarious positions themselves.1
Contingent is now accepting pitches for an ongoing series of mini-essays about what it means for historians to do precarious academic labor around the world. We want you to explain what graduate education looks like in the country where you work, the current conditions of academic labor and how they’ve changed/are changing, and what this all looks like in your day-to-day life.2
To be considered for the series, send us a pitch of approximately 50 words on something that you think makes precarious academic work in your country distinct (e.g., ranks/titles, political pressures, a particular kind of bureaucracy, the natural environment, broader social and cultural issues that shape academic work). Along with your pitch, please include a brief bio that makes it clear where you did your graduate work and your current academic position(s). Email the pitch to pitches@contingentmag.org, and include “POSTCARD” in the subject.
For this series, we are looking for pitches from people who have completed graduate work, and who are working in precarious teaching and/or research positions in history in academic settings outside the United States. (How do we define “precarious” or “academic settings”? We don’t—moreover, we can’t, or we wouldn’t have to do this series!)
The final pieces will each be 200-500 words. The pay for each piece will be $100.
- Not that the terminology is all that clear or universal in the US either.
- If you did your graduate work in a different country from the one where you’re a precarious scholar, that’s okay! Your essay should explore what that means for your experience, especially inasmuch as it makes your experience different from peers whose schooling took place in the country where you work.