A panel discussed building social and intellectual life at liberal arts colleges.

It may have taken place on two of Berkeley’s hottest days of the year, but last week’s highly successful C3-LADO visit to UC-Berkeley drew a huge audience of nearly 50 graduate student attendees!

On September 26 and 27, 2016, UC-Berkeley hosted faculty and administrative representatives of C3 and LADO for two days of panels and workshops on topics of interest to graduate students soon to be entering the academic job market. Berkeley Dean of Arts and Humanities Anthony Cascardi welcomed faculty and graduate students to the event, which began with a panel on academic life at liberal arts colleges. Miguel Fernandez of Middlebury College moderated the discussion, which included Ngonidzashe Munemo and Christopher Goh of Williams College, Angelica Osorno of Reed College, and Abby Van Slyck of Connecticut College. They answered questions about tenure requirements, teaching evaluations, publishing expectations, and more.

Berkeley Distinguished Professor of Social Sciences Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton delivered a powerful keynote address on minority students’ unique experience with self-doubt and self-esteem, touching on both his research and personal experiences as a faculty member of color.

The first day of the visit concluded with discipline-specific workshops, in which liberal arts faculty met separately with humanities, social science, and STEM graduate students at Berkeley’s Multicultural Community Center. Students were able to ask questions related to interview formats, service work, and lab funding.

Individual and small group meetings gave students a chance to ask questions and get professional feedback.

Interested graduate students from humanities, social sciences, and STEM fields met individually with nine liberal arts faculty members, who provided constructive feedback on the students’ cover letters and CVs.

The visit concluded with a lively lunch panel of visiting faculty members who candidly discussed social and intellectual life at liberal arts colleges. Miguel Fernandez moderated a panel that included Sue Houchins and Kathryn Low of Bates College, and Ondine Chavoya and Brianna Heggeseth of Williams College.

Exciting news for those seeking teaching positions at liberal arts colleges: The Liberal Arts Diversity Officers consortium (LADO) just announced more than 200 position openings at many of their member institutions. Their comprehensive list includes open positions, including many tenure-track positions, as of the beginning of the fall semester. See the list at http://liberalartsdiversity.org/positions/.

Please note that this list is not updated on a regular basis. Those interested in applying for a listed position should check its associated application link and/or the hiring college’s website to confirm the position’s status and for full application instructions.

Rachel Hynson has joined C3 as Research and Program Associate.

Hynson, whose office is based at C3 member institution, Middlebury College, previously served as the Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in the Latin American, Latino, and Caribbean Studies Program at Dartmouth College. She earned her PhD in Latin American History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her bachelor’s degree in Spanish and Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Kansas.

As the C3 Research and Program Associate, Hynson will collaborate with leadership from C3’s eight partner institutions as they develop a national model for creating more diverse and inclusive environments in higher education. For more information, visit the Middlebury College Newsroom.

The C3/LADO visits are designed to cultivate interest in liberal arts colleges and to provide feedback on faculty job-application materials. See here for upcoming visit dates.

The two-day visits provide graduate students entering the academic job market with information about pursuing academic careers and diversifying the faculty at liberal arts colleges. Faculty and academic affairs administrators from liberal arts colleges, including Bates, Connecticut, Middlebury, and Williams are scheduled to participate in presentations, workshops, and panel discussions. A limited number of individual meetings will be available to provide feedback on job application materials, including CVs and cover letters.

While these events are designed specifically for underrepresented graduate students, including students from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds and students of color, all graduate students are welcome to attend. Registration is required.

Launched in 2012 and funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, C3-Creating Connections Consortium seeks to promote full participation in higher education by building capacity, investing in cohorts of talented graduate students and faculty from underrepresented groups, and creating and nurturing connections between organizations committed to institutional change. In partnership with the Liberal Arts Diversity Officers Consortium (LADO), C3’s member institutions include Bates College, Connecticut College, Middlebury College, and Williams College, as well as Columbia University, University of California at Berkeley, University of Chicago, and University of Michigan.