TCP 2021-1: Perfect Enemies
Perfect Enemies: Rob and Daniel catch up after another long hiatus. Points on perfection, online fatigue, and Daniel's ever growing hair.
Mar 04, 2021•57 min•Season 2021Ep. 1
The Contingent Professor | Tenure? They still do that? | News, Commentary, and Interviews for PhDs Trying the Professor Life
The Contingent Professor | Tenure? They still do that? Join Contingent Nation as we take you into the bizarre reality of surviving and thriving in 21st century academia, where tenure and tenure-track positions are being "re-evaluated." Designed for new and mid-career faculty - heck, all faculty - looking to break free of the Adjunct title or navigate the tenure/promotion/re-appointment process, which includes research, teaching, advising, service, working with colleagues, and dealing with administrators that have their own agendas. Contingent Prof Daniel and his Department Chair Rob provide news, commentary, and interviews with academics trying to live the Professor Life. (Yes, even highly educated people make poor choices.)
Last refreshed: ⓘ
Follow this podcast in the Metacast mobile app to refresh it and see new episodes.
Podcasts are better in Metacast mobile app
Don't just listen to podcasts. Learn from them with transcripts, summaries, and chapters for every episode. Skim, search, and bookmark insights. Learn more
Episodes
TCP 601
Cov-Ed. Daniel and Rob talk (remotely) for the first time since lockdown. Listen to them catch up, talk covid, and discuss issues related to teaching and community in the bizarre year of 2020.
Aug 04, 2020•50 min•Season 6Ep. 1
TCP-502
Empty Halls. Daniel and Rob sit down to talk about the trend of working outside the office during "business hours" to get things done, and what it means to university culture. (Standard disclaimers)
Dec 06, 2019•43 min•Season 5Ep. 2
TCP 501: 5 Student Types
Daniel and Rob do some overdue venting as a new academic year moves along. From getting to do a faculty search to isolating 5 student classroom types. A little catharsis goes a long way. (Standard disclaimers)
Sep 27, 2019•39 min•Season 5Ep. 1
TCP 409: Just a Blurb
Just a blurb. Daniel and Rob try to make a blurb for another podcast and fall into an episode ranging from past lab experiences, to debriefing another end of semester, to new attempts at online programs. Needless to say, the blurb didn't pan out. (Standard disclaimers: especially the part about our views and our employer’s views. They aren't equal.)
May 21, 2019•58 min•Season 4Ep. 9
TCP 408: Bleeping New Material
Bleeping New Material. Daniel and Rob with a new SD card and an almost end of semester podcast. When do you stop introducing new material in class? And what's the point of academic publishing? (Standard disclaimers: especially the part about our views and our employer’s views. They aren't equal.)
May 17, 2019•41 min•Season 4Ep. 8
TCP 407: Copywrite Error
Copywrite Error. Bonus Episode. Daniel starts ranting and Rob grabs the microphones for a shortened episode about figure captions and attribution in books. Daniel notices a "write error" on the recorder and tries to save the episode. (Standard disclaimers: especially the part about our views and our employer’s views. They aren't equal.)
Apr 12, 2019•32 min•Season 4Ep. 7
TCP 406: Spring Break
Spring Break. Daniel and Rob finally have some time right before spring break to chat up on what's been happening during the semester. Daniel talks about what it's like to teach a no-prerequisite quantitative reasoning course, while Rob is keen to speak on the college admission scandal. (Standard disclaimers: especially the part about our views and our employer’s views. They aren't equal.)
Mar 17, 2019•56 min•Season 4Ep. 6
TCP 405: Listen to my podcast
Listen to my podcast. Daniel and Rob squeeze one last podcast into the year. In this episode they talk about the many roles of the professor, student evals, with a quick Q&A from student X or Y, and Rob's welcome message to new faculty--which involves telling them to listen to the podcast. (Standard disclaimers: especially the part about our views and our employer’s views. They aren't equal.)
Dec 23, 2018•1 hr 3 min•Season 4Ep. 5
TCP 404: Pop-up Podcast
Pop-up podcast. Rob makes Daniel make a podcast. In this episode they talk about pop-up courses and a controversial one that caused a slight national stir. What place do these have in different fields and do contingents dare run them? (Standard disclaimers: especially the part about our views and our employer’s views. They aren't equal.)
Oct 31, 2018•40 min•Season 4Ep. 4
TCP 403: Attention span and other things
Attention span and other things. Daniel and Rob make another podcast! This time about the attention span myth (TED talks? Blah) and a little bit about how your brain processes information. Plus, Rob gets distracted by his phone. (Standard disclaimers. Especially the part about our views and our employers' views. Not necessarily the same.)
Sep 20, 2018•38 min•Season 4Ep. 3
TCP 402: Pre-semester Rambling
Daniel and Rob find some time before the semester to podcast about winding up a new academic year. Standard disclaimers.
Sep 08, 2018•46 min•Season 4Ep. 2
TCP 401: Don’t be a hater.
Daniel and Rob dust off the mics to wind down another semester. (Standard disclaimers.)
May 10, 2018•47 min•Season 4Ep. 1
TCP 302: Student as Consumer
Daniel and Rob catch up as the semester starts and work through some rust to talk about the student as consumer model. (Standard disclaimers.)
Feb 28, 2018•46 min•Season 3Ep. 2
TCP 301: We’re Back/Quantitative Matters
Daniel and Rob start a new season talking about the end of another semester and trials and tribulations of trying to get a new class enrolled. The big theme for this episode is the role of math testing in determining class placement and why it matters to departments outside of mathematics. They end with a small preview of the upcoming season. (Standard disclaimers.)
Dec 21, 2017•55 min•Season 3Ep. 1
TCP X01: Writing books is so much fun (and other riffs)
Daniel and Rob come together for an in-between season podcast to catch up. Keeping the riff to about an hour this time, Daniel and Rob talk about what it takes to write a book, what you can try to negotiate if you are lucky enough to secure a tenure-track contract, and briefly about the BLS and what we can tell our students about employment potential based on current hiring stats. Standard disclaimer (eg. opinions our own, meant to entertain).
Nov 20, 2017•1 hr 8 min
TCP 210: The Russia Episode
Rob takes over the show and talks about Russia every chance he gets. Daniel tries to refocus on more academic topics, like promotion, more student engagement, and potential teaching activities. With only moderate success. Standard Disclaimer Applies.
Jul 27, 2017•1 hr 11 min•Season 2Ep. 10
TCP 209: Navigating controversy in and out of class
Daniel and Rob sit down to talk about controversial and taboo topics faced in the workplace and in the classroom by adjuncts, non TTs, and TTs. They spend a good chunk of time talking about an adjunct account and the learning style myth, ending with a top 10 of topics to consider. (Standard disclaimers apply.)
Jul 01, 2017•1 hr 42 min
TCP 208: Yo Bro/Classroom Etiquette
Daniel and Rob, stemming from a not so great student evaluation, discuss the state of etiquette in the classroom and (perhaps) the need for more detailed and explicit guidelines for how students should expect to behave in the class and out. Everything is laid out, from salutations, to email form, to the employer's desire for better soft skills from recent graduates. (Standard disclaimers apply.)
Jun 06, 2017•1 hr 34 min
TCP 207: Teaching and research trajectories on and off the tenure track
Daniel and Rob start out the summer break with a discussion on how to plot out trajectories for research and teaching and the implications for those on and off the tenure track. After the regular back forth on the topic, they finish off with a little bit on tenure myths. (Standard disclaimers apply.)
May 28, 2017•1 hr 20 min
TCP 206: Attendance Issues and Student Engagement
Daniel and Rob sit down to talk about the noticeable decline in attendance as the semester wanes and discuss strategies on how to combat that effect, looking at k-12 and higher ed examples. But first, they highlight some of the goings on in higher ed with respect to adjunct wages and state system shenanigans. (Standard disclaimers apply.)
Apr 27, 2017•1 hr 13 min
TCP 205: What do deans do?
Daniel and Rob cut a mini-episode where they talk briefly about what academic deans actually do. It's brief because even after reading about it, they still don't know. (Standard disclaimers apply.)
Apr 11, 2017•18 min
TCP 204: Mentors/Going Rogue
Daniel and Rob sit down during spring break to talk a bit about mentors and their importance, as well as the growing trend to go academic rogue and what that means (inspired by the blog postings of a rogue linguist, Alison Edwards). But first, Daniel can't help but clue Rob in on academic twitter and a firestorm that happened when an undergrad said something about granting extensions. (Standard disclaimers apply.)
Mar 30, 2017•1 hr 17 min
TCP 203: Know Thyself
Daniel and Rob carve out a little more time to continue their talk about the annual review process, with some additional discussion spent on goal setting and the departmental review process. But first things first, Daniel finds literature to support his problem with multitasking.
Mar 18, 2017•1 hr 29 min
TCP 202: Catching Up/Teaching Tips
Daniel and Rob catch up during a small break in another hectic academic semester to rant a little about the ups and downs of the annual process, before talking about tips Rob collected at a workshop for teaching and engaging students using different modes and strategies. (Standard warnings/disclaimers apply.)
Mar 09, 2017•1 hr 38 min
TCP 201: A Different Kind Of Contingent Story
Daniel and Rob talk with Michael Boudewyns, a professional actor/storyteller and lecturer in the theatre department. An engaging and unscripted take on Academia from the perspective of a creative. (Standard warnings/disclaimers apply.)
Feb 09, 2017•1 hr 17 min
TCP 109: Onboarding Adjuncts?
Daniel and Rob fit one last ep into 2016 and discuss the really bizarre world of normalizing adjunct status at the institutional level by processes and methods known as onboarding. Daniel and Rob go back and forth trying to figure out if this is a good thing or if it further exploits a precious resource. Special end of year outro for those that manage to get through the podcast! (Standard warnings/disclaimers apply.)
Dec 25, 2016•1 hr 6 min
TCP 108: Professor Millennial
Daniel and Rob wind down the fall semester with a revisit to the Millennial topic. This time they talk about anti-Millennial productivity hacks and discuss the entry of Millennials into the Higher Ed ranks. Longer episode to decompress after an equally long fall semester. (Standard warnings/disclaimers apply.)
Dec 15, 2016•1 hr 12 min
TCP-107: Short Week Sillies
Short Week Sillies. Daniel and Rob catch up before the Thanksgiving break and psychoanalyze a random web post that Daniel had printed out, stuck on his door, but never actually read. (Standard disclaimers apply.)
Nov 22, 2016•35 min
TCP 106: Internships, Schminternships
Episode 106: Internships, Schminternships. Daniel and Rob talk about the (old) new buzz in undergrad education: internships. What are they really? How have they changed? How do Millennials view them? Are Adjuncts interns? (All jokes in good fun, not meant to offend.)
Nov 15, 2016•1 hr 3 min
Hosted on Libsyn
For the best experience, listen in Metacast app for iOS or Android