The scholar in the computing center: dead end or golden opportunity?

An interesting phenomenon with farreaching consequences for American education (and probably therefore for education around the world) has begun to evolve. More and more academics with excellent credentials--Ph.D.s in subjects like English, history, or archaeology--are begin denied appointments in the departments in which they should be employed. Their inability to obtain appointments may, of course, result simply from the chronic mismatch in American universities between the need for young faculty and the available candidates for such employment. But even while they cannot achieve the type of position they have diligently trained for, these same highly trained specialists are being appointed to a new type of position: humanities computing consultant.