Bringing the rusty brain out of the closet and crankin' it up

Yesterday I went to MIT and interviewed for a job! Then I got the job! Albeit it's a temporary job, but at least I'll be doing something intellectually productive for the next two months or so and get paid for it. I will be interviewing Asian American faculty at MIT on issues of race and diversity as part of a larger study pushed by the Provost, after MIT got some very bad press when an African American faculty did not get tenure and went on a hunger strike. Interestingly, Asian American faculty were not initially considered in the pool of interviewees as they are not a underrepresented minority in terms of MIT faculty (or students for that matter). However, people in the administration have since complained that if the study only focuses on the views and experiences of underrepresented minority faculty, no one will listen to it . . . (eye roll). So now my friend, who is a visiting scholar at MIT called upon to design this study (the institute's not so nuanced understanding of race has been driving her bonkers) has been called upon to interview both White and Asian American faculty. So that's where I come in - the Institute wants an interviewer-interviewee match (I mean, we won't talk about how silly that really is, considering that some of the faculty are probably South Asian and may not even identify as Asian American, etc.). But I am excited by this work, maybe it will get me excited about my own work again. The best part is, I will get paid, and who knows what this could lead to . . . . .

For the first few minutes of the interview, I had the hardest time getting my words out. I was so flustered - haven't talked about my own research in what seemed like years, let alone my "style as an interviewer". I mean, most of my chatter amounts these days amounts to, "Nathaniel, don't do that" or "Nathaniel, come to Mama!" So I am excited for a plethora of reasons - I even went out and got a pair of "professional" pants since my clothes are all just falling off of me!