During my time at Churm's House [2], I would occasionally feature brief interviews/profiles of people that I call "Adjunct Heroes," college instructors working off the tenure track, who nonetheless provide outstanding teaching, service, research, and publishing.
There's a lot of talk about the "problem" of adjuncts, in the big picture, "look at how many of them there are!" sense. I hear criticisms of adjuncts that suggest they are somehow (because of any number of factors) deserving of their status.
There are inspiring stories [3] of people who have pulled themselves on to the tenure track, which suggests it can happen for anyone with the appropriate amounts of pluck and guile.
I don't believe this to be true. I believe that we live in a system where we have created a permanent academic underclass, and I'd like to present some of those people as individuals, rather than a collective "problem."
If you'd like to read about previous adjunct heroes, you can do so at these links:
Russell Hein [8]
If you know an Adjunct Hero, please send their name and contact information to biblioracle@gmail.com.
--