Fighting to be Different in the Academy

Abstract

My entry into the academy was different than many of my colleagues who enter as tenure track faculty, or with dreams of the tenure-track. Like a growing number of faculty, I came to the university as an adjunct. I was not quite aware of what the particular differences between tenure track and non-tenure track even were before I began teaching. Being naive taught me a lot about reality in the academic world. It also exposed the tensions and politics of being an academic and an activist.