Professional Development Book Reviews

From Hortulus

Hortulus presents books related to graduate study or the job market that we believe may be helpful for our readers. This summer we would like to introduce you to Dr. Gregory Colón Semenza's Graduate Study for the 21st Century. If you would like to contribute a book review, please email it to submit@hortulus.net.

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Gregory Colón Semenza, Graduate Study for the 21st Century: How to Build an Academic Career in the Humanities. New York: Palgrave Macmillon, 2005. Pp. xvi, 319. $23.95.

Many graduate students continue to be regarded as "apprentices" despite the fact that they are expected to design and teach their own classes, serve on university committees, and conference and publish regularly. The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that the attrition rate for American Ph.D. programs is at an all-time high, between 40% and 50% (higher for women and minorities). Of those who finish, only one in three will secure tenure-track jobs. These statistics highlight waste: of millions of dollars by universities and of time and energy by students. Rather than teaching graduate students how to be graduate students, then, Graduate Study for the 21st Century prepares them for what they really seek: a successful academic career.

Five characteristics distinguish Graduate Study for the 21st Century. First, this is a book designed solely for graduate students who wish to become professors on the tenure track; it does not spend time on alternative career paths for terminal M.A.s or Ph.D.s. Second, the unique focus on building a professorial career means that this book dedicates a significant amount of attention to professional development issues, including publishing, attending conferences, and job searching. In a straightforward and non-condescending manner, it emphasizes how a smart and informed "streamlining" approach to graduate study and teaching can lead to both a meaningful (and relatively short) graduate career and the sort of professional accomplishments that will make you a standout on the job market. Third, Graduate Study for the 21st Century is the only guide that recognizes the specific needs of students in the humanities. It does not assume that the concerns of a history student (or professor) are the same as those of an individual specializing in chemistry or engineering. Fourth, this book deliberately counters the tendency of the aforementioned guides to present an image of graduate school as unrelated to and unaffected by the brutal realities of late 20th-century and 21st-century politics and corporate economics. One gets the impression from previous graduate school guides that academe is no different today from what it was fifty or seventy-five years ago. Finally, this book operates at a level of detail simply not found in any of the aforementioned works. Focusing in depth on such important practical matters as selecting the right seminars, making the most of exams, and constructing effective CV’s, teaching portfolios, and job applications, the emphasis of this book is very much on how to succeed in graduate school.

–Gregory Colón Semenza