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How I learned to stop worrying and love the survey.
- Article from:
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Teaching History: A Journal of Methods
- Article date:
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March 22, 2008
- Author:
- Mercantini, Jonathan
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Copyright informationCOPYRIGHT 2008 Emporia State University. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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When I finished graduate studies with a fresh Ph.D. in hand, I set out to conquer the world of academia. (1) I counted myself among the fortunate ones. I had a full-time job, one that would enable me to give up my adjunct workload of five or more classes per semester plus all of the summer session courses available. Although my field of interest was Colonial and Revolutionary America, specifically South Carolina, I had taught more World and Western Civilization (a subtle but important distinction to many historians) than the American survey. Moreover, I had been fortunate enough to land a few upper-level courses--often in areas such as Sports and Race, fields of interest to me ...