first year as professor of English

Lang’s book is a welcome guide/companion for any early career (especially first-year) professor, regardless of discipline (I am fortunate to share the author’s field, English), for a number of reasons.

Lang writes honestly about the fears and anxieties—as well as the accomplishments and rewards—of being a first-year college professor. With refreshing candor, he discusses the challenges he faced with his students (both in an out of the classroom), navigating his way within the departmental hierarchy, finding his niche in his new private and professional home, endeavoring to balance his campus life (teaching, advising, service, engagement) with his home life (wife, two young children, personal illness), and developing a career plan, including a path to earning tenure and/or strategic job shifting.

Thankfully, he acknowledges that, although readers might share many of his experiences, certain contextual factors—such as the size and nature of his institution, his career goals, his pedagogy, his family life—make his situation unique…as will be true for his audience as well. Consequently, he offers abundant practical advice that can be modified as needed along with a brief but valuable list of resources for innovative and effective teaching. Highly recommended—you’ll be glad you read this hybrid memoir/handbook. ( )

I enjoyed this book. As creative nonfiction it has a nice balance of humor and information. I'm currently considering a career change to academia and this book gave me a some insight into that goal. ( )

Lady Wombat says:

A brief recounting of the author's first year as a tenure-track Assistant Professor at Assumption College in Worcester. Much of what Lang was surprised by (that he's not yet a great teacher; that there are political divisions within his department) might be of interest to someone who hasn't taught much. And there are a few good teaching tips to be gleaned from his account (if people are talking in class, don't stop what you're doing; just walk over and stand next to them while you continue to teach and they'll get the point that their behavior is becoming disruptive). But for someone who spent several years working in the Searle Center for Teaching Excellence at Northwestern, I expected a bit more. I was also turned off by Lang's occasionally arrogant tone, and often privileged attitude toward work.