On the way out...
Students from my final two classes are turning in their term papers this afternoon. Then, I have a week to get them all graded and final grades submitted. Then, it is over. Nearly forty years teaching overall.
I taught first at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) as a PhD student (1974-79), then four years at the University of Melbourne in Australia (1979-1983), then two years as a visiting professor back at UIUC (1985-87, one year at the University of Northern Iowa (1987-88) --- then, back to Urbana-Champaign in 1988.
When I first arrived back here, I took a job as an Assistant Editor with the University of Illinois Press, since academia did not look like a realistic option. However, the way things worked out --- "fate" might be the way my best friend would explain it --- I ended up in the UIUC Political Science Department as the Undergraduate Advisor and I was able to teach courses in the department as well. So, for the past twenty-five years, my working life has been filled with the concerns of students, both as their advisor and their teacher. I consider it to have been the best of both worlds.
Now that is all coming to an end. I am hopeful that I might be able to write and/or work on translations in my retirement, but the first priority will be helping to take care of my mom. She is 93 years old, and her dementia makes life difficult for her. Want her final years to be comfortable and with her family.
Opening a new chapter....
I taught first at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) as a PhD student (1974-79), then four years at the University of Melbourne in Australia (1979-1983), then two years as a visiting professor back at UIUC (1985-87, one year at the University of Northern Iowa (1987-88) --- then, back to Urbana-Champaign in 1988.
When I first arrived back here, I took a job as an Assistant Editor with the University of Illinois Press, since academia did not look like a realistic option. However, the way things worked out --- "fate" might be the way my best friend would explain it --- I ended up in the UIUC Political Science Department as the Undergraduate Advisor and I was able to teach courses in the department as well. So, for the past twenty-five years, my working life has been filled with the concerns of students, both as their advisor and their teacher. I consider it to have been the best of both worlds.
Now that is all coming to an end. I am hopeful that I might be able to write and/or work on translations in my retirement, but the first priority will be helping to take care of my mom. She is 93 years old, and her dementia makes life difficult for her. Want her final years to be comfortable and with her family.
Opening a new chapter....