Reviews

How to Build a Life in the Humanities: Meditations on the Academic Work-Life Balance by Giuseppina Iacono Lobo, Simon Yarrow, Kristen Poole, Michael Bérubé, Joseph Fruscione, Linda Woodbridge, Valerie Wayne, Claire Bond Potter, Margaret Sönser Breen, Eric Lorentzen, Sean Grass, Iris V. Rivero, Alex Galarza, Anne Trubek, Kristen R. Ghodsee, Rob Jenkins, Cathy J. Schlund-Vials, Brendan Kane, Christina M. Fitzgerald, Natalie M. Houston, Anthony Grafton, William Pannapacker, Greg Colón Semenza, Brenda Jo Brueggemann, Karen J. Renner, Claudia Calhoun, Garrett A. Sullivan Jr., Barry V. Qualls, Stephanie Kerschbaum

siria's review against another edition

4.0

There are lots of guides out there on how to get through grad school and how to find the ever more elusive tenure-track job, but this is one of the few books that address how to approach life as an academic in the humanities. (Or how to walk away from it—there are also contributions from people who've retired or who've chosen to leave tenured jobs.)

As with all essay collections, some of the contributions here are stronger or more immediately personally applicable than others—I found the chapter on post-retirement life a tad smug in the current job market (I retired from an Ivy League and renovated a second home before travelling around the world! Now I have the freedom to get prestigious fellowships whenever I want!) and the one on faith a bit disingenuous. Others had me nodding in agreement: on graduate school, on imposter syndrome, on the fear of being an "academic spinster", on being a medievalist from a working-class background. (That last actually had me fist-pumping in agreement.)

If you're an academic in the humanities (or have ambitions to be one), I'd recommend at least dipping into this.

ejdecoster's review against another edition

3.0

I recommend browsing; some essays just weren't relevant to me, and I assume other people. Still a good resource overall for perspectives on lives in the humanities in and around the academy.