The Importance of Teaching at Washington University: Our Students Need Heroes, Mentors Who Set a Worthy Example

I read with interest the article in Student Life ("Climbing the Academic Ladder," Sept. 27, 2006) well-written by the student reporter, Josh Goebel, but clearly reflecting the University's point of view. This was most probably intended as a response to, "Students Protest Removal of Lecturer's Job," in the same issue (please see also "Lecture Positions Valuable to Students," Sept. 29, 2006). As one of the affected Lecturers, I must respond.

The title, referring to an "academic ladder," suggests a hierarchical, competitive model of academia, setting the tone for this "just-so story" propagated, ironically, by the two anthropologists quoted in the article. The Lecturer's Policy, and the position of senior lecturer, is not mentioned, nor is the possibility of earning tenure for college teaching, until recently practiced by several top-rated schools (e.g. The University of Chicago, Washington University in St. Louis).

The article insists on the importance of the Ph.D. degree and notes that this may take from four to six years, depending on the discipline. My discipline, Indology, requires much more time. A degree earned four to six years after college graduation would usually not be taken seriously, because it takes much longer to achieve basic competence in the necessary languages. Even so, universities put pressure on graduate students in these disciplines to finish their dissertations too soon, leading inevitably to spurious, ideologically driven work, for the sake of quick academic success.