This network welcomes all those American Studies scholars whose work extends beyond the realms of traditional academia: You might be working as a writer, analyst, journalist, teacher or artist; you might be building a freelance career to supplement temporary or part-time academic contracts. You might also find yourself in a precarious position between contracts or funding, or maybe you are simply considering alternative career paths as an option for the future.
This is a new network, so I’ll be interested in discussing our priorities and aims collaboratively. These might include:
- Informal peer support and exchange: Preparing papers and conducting research while unaffiliated can feel isolating, so I hope this network can offer an alternative academic home of like-minded researchers in similar positions
- The practical side of things: Not being affiliated with a university department poses challenges – from financial matters of (lacking) funding to references and the tricky time management of fitting conferences and other academic events into a professional schedule. What could BAAS do to lower these practical hurdles?
- Academic Recognition: So-called ‘Independent’ Scholars might hold additional qualifications and expertise above and beyond their academic qualifications; they might also have a publishing or research record equal to full-time academics. Nevertheless, they might be marginalised in the academic discussion or in the hiring process for academic positions. I’d be interested in sharing experiences, and collecting ideas for what BAAS could do to help counteract this.
- Unique strengths of scholars working beyond the university: We are confronted with an environment in which arts and humanities courses in the UK face cuts; I’d be interested in exploring how scholars working beyond academia can offer their unique perspectives to help change the conversation around the societal relevance of the arts and humanities.
Please drop me an email at katharina.donn@baas.ac.uk if you’re interested in joining – I am looking forward to hearing from you!
Katharina Donn (BAAS Alternative Academic / Independent Scholar rep)
