CATCHING UP WITH PAIGE HERMANSEN (PH.D. ’16) ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH AT
WESTFIELD STATE UNIVERSITY

As we start the Fall 2019 semester, we check in with Paige Hermansen (Ph.D. ’16), an Assistant Professor of English at Westfield State University. In this interview, Paige updates us on some of her professional highlights for the past year, offers advice to English graduate students who are going on the academic job market, and recommends a must-hear podcast.

What has been the most interesting professional experience you’ve had in the past year?
 
I’m an Assistant Professor in the English Department at Westfield State University in Westfield, Massachusetts. Westfield is nestled near the Berkshires in Western Massachusetts, an absolutely gorgeous area of New England, and Westfield State is a small state college with an enrollment of about 5,500 students. I absolutely love my job, especially the supportiveness of my colleagues in the department.
 
My institution takes undergraduate research seriously and encourages faculty to collaborate with our students as they conduct research in their fields. Over the past year, I’ve had the opportunity to facilitate undergraduate research by our English Education majors. Two of my colleagues and I accompanied one of our standout students, Ashley Linnehan, as she presented her Senior Honors Project research about honoring linguistic and dialectical diversity in university writing centers at the 2019 College Composition and Communication Conference (CCCC) in Pittsburgh, PA.
 
Further, last month, I was invited to serve a one-year term as a member of the 2020 CCCC James Berlin Dissertation Award Selection Committee, which is an award given annually to recognize outstanding work by doctoral recipients in composition studies. 
What is the most crucial advice–especially with regard to developing or promoting one’s professional skills–that you can give our current graduate students in English before they go on the academic and/or alt-ac job market?
 
I found my current job after two (mostly unsuccessful) runs on the job market, and I know it’s almost impossible to follow this advice, but be patient and realistic about the academic job market. I don’t need to tell you how slim the pickings are or how stiff the competition is for jobs, but it bears emphasizing: It’s tough out there. That being said, don’t let anyone scare you out of it if your heart’s set on it. It’s possible to land a job, particularly if you expand where you’re willing to go geographically. And explore the wide world of possibilities out there: international teaching jobs, community colleges, high school teaching or administration — there are tons of options.
What is one author, book, website, or movie you’d recommend, and why?
 
Can I recommend a podcast? I have a long commute and podcasts are my favorite way to pass the time while driving to work. I’m obsessed with this wonderful podcast called Reply All, hosted by PJ Vogt and Alex Goldman. They call it “a podcast about the Internet,” but it’s really more than that — the hosts explore technology and pop culture, weird internet mysteries, bizarre behavior on social media, and more. Learning about robocalls has never been more interesting. 

Paige Hermansen Visiting with Students
on the Westfield State University Campus