This blog is now CLOSED

Dear all,

Thank you for participating in a (mostly) civil discussion of this year's job market and the field of Classics more generally. We have now closed the blog for comments. It remains to be seen whether we will continue it next year, or hand it off to others. No doubt next year will be unlike any other year before. Indeed, there may not be a job market to speak of. There's no sugarcoating it. Until then, take care. Valete.

Interviews/Campus Visits (January - April 2020)

State of the Field

Please move your debates around the state of the field, its politics, and politics more generally here.

Interview Season Comments (November - December 2019)

Please refrain from filling this thread with non-job related comments. Irrelevant comments will be deleted. There is now a new thread for general academia and "state of the field" (or world) rants.

Application Season Comments (September - November 2019)

August 2019 Comments

Please read the rules of the blog posted below. They will be enforced by the moderators. A new post will be begun each month for ease of navigation, rather than having one never ending list of comments.

Note: It has been suggested by one member of the community that rather than use this platform again that we transition over to a Subreddit feed. We agree that Reddit would be far superior to this site. However, we (the moderators) are not Reddit users, and creation of a Subreddit requires an account of 30+ days in age and other criteria for that to happen. If any experienced Reddit user wishes to help us and create a Subreddit that we can moderate or co-moderate, please email us. Until that time until we can create a Subreddit, we will use this site.

A new (actually moderated) Novae Famae Volent for the 2019-20 season

This blog, Novae Famae 2.0, is intended as a successor to the original Famae Volent and Novae Famae, two blogs allowing anonymous commentary on the Classics job search and the profession more generally. The first blog closed after ten years in June 2018 due to incivility among some of its users; the new one descended into even more chaos, trolling, racism, misogyny, and hateful speech in general. Nevertheless, this successor blog has been created due to a belief in the value of such a space, since new job candidates and old, still need a place to ask questions they might not otherwise ask, to air their anxieties, to call out committees for specific (and justified) things, or for a change: to praise them, too. Cheers and jeers from the wiki are better discussed at length here, rather than in the wiki. 

Such a space is only as useful as we as a group make it, however. There will be much more moderation (at least twice a day)--we will not abandon it to the wolves this year, as whoever set up Novae Famae did last year. We hope that our users will speak and treat one another and our other colleagues with decency and respect. We also encourage consideration of what this new space should look like, and in particular how it should differ from the old FV and NF. If you would like to be involved in this project more closely, please feel to email us at novaefamaemoderator AT gmail.com. Also email us if you think a post needs urgent moderation.

Presented below are the rules and information from the original FV in updated form.
In order to access the wiki you must be a member, so an account has been established which everybody can use, anonymously. The log-in email is: classicswiki@gmail.com
The password is the first phrase commented upon by Austin in his Little Red Oxford commentary on the sixth book. Enter this two word phrase as oneword. If you would prefer to open a WikiDot account of your own, and would like access to the Classics Wiki hosted there, the password to gain access is the same. 

We experienced a very frustrating rash of wiki vandalism in 2009, which is why we have had to resort to a less-than-open site for our wiki. Apologies for making you go through this step, but it has proven to be worth the hassle. 

Etiquette:
In order to encourage as many voices as possible this site will be completely driven by the comments sections. It will only be as useful (and civilized) as you all make it. We would suggest, no, rather insist, that you sign up for a Blogger ID so that you can edit your comments (and later delete them if need arises) and so that people will be able to respond to your anonymous online persona rather than a series of "anonymous" posts. This will also allow us to moderate in a more deliberate manner. Of course, feel free to post under your own name as some have done in the past, but be respectful of those who may not be in a position of power or job security to do the same.

Do not list names on this site. As hires are announced in the spring and summer the wiki will be filled in by those made offers, and who are willing to post such information on the wiki. Generally, if you know who has been hired for a specific position, wait until they have made it public knowledge and signed their contract; do not jump the gun; if your information is third, fourth, fifth hand, then refrain from posting it. By May it is usually acceptable to post names if the successful candidates have not. 

Any comments which reveal the names of junior (defined as pre-tenure) or marginalized scholars, directly or indirectly by posting TMI will be deleted post-haste. Names are only helpful in certain circumstances, where a person or persons are named in a neutral or positive way.

Most importantly, please, please, please maintain a supportive and helpful environment! Applicants and Search Committees are all in this together, even though it often does not feel that way. This process is brutal enough without exacerbating it by impugning the methods and motives of others. Remember, we are all present and future colleagues. Let's not live up to this site's now not-so-recent poor reputation as a hot bed of white nationalists, racists, misogynists and bigots! Many are likely not a part of our community, but some probably are. There is no place for hateful speech, slander or any other such discriminatory practice on this site.

This space was created as a way for information sharing, not as a platform for launching unsubstantiated and slanderous rumors. Humor is good. Good-natured kvetching is good. Helping each other out with tips is great, and getting well-informed and well-intentioned advice from those who have gone through this wringer is truly awesome. We can all learn a great deal from each other, applicants and non-applicants alike, but only if we strive to maintain a thoughtful and graceful conversation. We should continue to discuss difficult and challenging topics, but let us try to do so in a way that shows respect for our audience and a humble regard for our own place within it!