Teacher-scholar-curator-administrator-artist: Survival Tips from a Long-distance Generalist

Generalist positions are becoming a higher-education reality. Rather than bemoaning this state or pretending that these are only temporary “stepping-stone” positions, we should face this reality by changing the narrative. Twenty-first century academia requires skills in interdisciplinarity and collaboration, precisely what a generalist art historian is positioned to contribute to our students and institutions. How then to survive, and even thrive, when our discipline and evaluation committees still operate from entrenched perspectives that value high-impact scholarship from narrow expertise? I have found a way to thrive as a published scholar within my sub-disciplines, a generalist teacher within a teaching-intensive institution, and a gallery director, with over ninety exhibitions under my belt. Along the way I have led courses abroad, taught freshmen writing seminars, and launched collaborations from a wide range of disciplines across my university, in addition to leadership and administrative roles.

I will address survival first, sharing start-as-you-mean-to-go techniques in getting one’s teaching and scholarly career off the ground. Operating in “survival mode,” however, is not a long-term strategy for a fulfilled and thriving life. Long-term strategies and habits are best established early in one’s career. The heart of my presentation, therefore, will walk through various survival and project-management strategies that I have amalgamated from creative industry business plans, life-long productive artists, and long-distance athletes. Along the way, I will share some tales from the trenches on how to bring your passions to the fore and advocate for why art history and generalists matter more than ever.