Teaching in the Basement of Old Main

I just finished reading "In the Basement of the Ivory Tower: Confessions of an Accidental Academic." Because I teach as an adjunct, I thought it would be interesting to read about Professor X's experiences as an adjunct instructor of English composition and literature.

Some chapters were interesting; however, most of the interesting parts involved general statistics, information and data about college admission policies, tuition rates, class placement procedures and the like (none of which has to do with Professor X's adjunct experiences).

Some chapters I simply skimmed. There were too many details about Professor X's class readings and assignments. I had these classes freshman year and was not reading the book as a refresher.

When Professor X did share experiences that were specific to adjuncting, I felt like I could have been in his shoes, in those classrooms. Too bad there weren't more of these experiences in the book.


From http://xkcd.com/