Our grad program is eliminating theory as major field

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Our grad program is eliminating theory as major field

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Fabienne

This is not a conversation we have had, but we should have it. Theorists simply don’t get tenure-track placements here. They do get VAPs sometimes and keep stringing those together for a few years. I assume one or two eventually got a TT, but I’m not our placement director, so I don’t know.

Same here, but based on feedback from our job market candidates the theory field is so clogged with people coming off of multi year fellowships and VAPs that our ABDs are even disadvantaged in that spring market now. This is not a problem for our other fields, though that could be happening soon given the depressingly long list of universities with hiring freezes.

Our Americanists and IR people get jobs. Not always in academia, but they consistently find good careers. Our theorists mostly fade away after a one year VAP and we lose track of them.

1 year ago # QUOTE 6 YEA 1 NAY !
Hettie

We are still offering political theory as a subfield for undergraduate degrees and as a second field for graduate students, but we now have a supermajority in the executive committee to eliminate theory as a first field for PhD students. Our theorists have been dragging down our already middling placement for many years because there are so few opportunities in that field. Now with the additional tightening of the academic job market, we don't see how we can ethically offer this concentration with no real chance of a career at the end. The other major fields, comparative, IR, and American, all place with some frequency and they at least have non-academic opportunities. The same can't be said of the theorists in our experience. Is anyone else's department having these conversations?

We have been thinking along these same lines. Instead of formally eliminating the option of theory as a first field for our graduate students, we have just informally decided to stop admitting theory students into the program for now. We will revisit the idea in another couple of years.

1 year ago # QUOTE 4 YEA 1 NAY !
Emerald

The thing theorists don't get (which is weird because they are smart) is you do not have to do theory as a separate field. You can do American or IR or Comparative and be a theorist. And do better theory work as a result.

1 year ago # QUOTE 6 YEA 7 NAY !
Martine

The thing theorists don't get (which is weird because they are smart) is you do not have to do theory as a separate field. You can do American or IR or Comparative and be a theorist. And do better theory work as a result.

Exactly. Don't do some stale re-interpretation of Machiavelli. Take on a real topic in American, IR, or Comparative and apply theory to it. If you have any balls that's what you would do.

1 year ago # QUOTE 4 YEA 8 NAY !
Emerald

If you have any balls that's what you would do.

They don't. That's the problem. Theorists are scared if real politics so they have invented a subfields for apolitical introverts. Sad.

1 year ago # QUOTE 4 YEA 5 NAY !
Emmy

Only real theory is formal theory anyways

LOL !!!

1 year ago # QUOTE 1 YEA 0 NAY !
Ewart

Theory prides itself on being the least "scientific" subfield, which I applaud. It is also the least "political" subfield (how many angels can dance on the head of a pin behind Rawls' veil of ignorance?). So it has no place in political science.

1 year ago # QUOTE 3 YEA 6 NAY !
Machiavelli

The people who think you can do what theorists love doing by being comparativists have no idea about theory nor about comparative

1 year ago # QUOTE 5 YEA 4 NAY !
Ewart

The people who think you can do what theorists love doing by being comparativists have no idea about theory nor about comparative

You cannot do an interpretation of an interpretation of an interpretation of Machiavelli. You have to do something related to politics. Which you can't, so you are unemployed.

1 year ago # QUOTE 1 YEA 8 NAY !
Fran

This is not a conversation we have had, but we should have it. Theorists simply don’t get tenure-track placements here. They do get VAPs sometimes and keep stringing those together for a few years. I assume one or two eventually got a TT, but I’m not our placement director, so I don’t know.
Same here, but based on feedback from our job market candidates the theory field is so clogged with people coming off of multi year fellowships and VAPs that our ABDs are even disadvantaged in that spring market now. This is not a problem for our other fields, though that could be happening soon given the depressingly long list of universities with hiring freezes.

Our Americanists and IR people get jobs. Not always in academia, but they consistently find good careers. Our theorists mostly fade away after a one year VAP and we lose track of them.

We had one theorist get a tenure track job at a directional 4 years ago. That’s it. But if you look at our placements page it appears as if we place our theorists since we list of of these VAPs that many of them get for one year or maybe two before they leave academia. I think most of them become stay at home moms and dads.

1 year ago # QUOTE 2 YEA 1 NAY !
Cleveland

It is also the least "political" subfield.

No true at all. It's by far the most activist.

1 year ago # QUOTE 2 YEA 1 NAY !
Dolph

Isn't everything theory?

1 year ago # QUOTE 1 YEA 1 NAY !
Obiwan

It's because they are so disadvantaged and need affirmative action in thr major journals. Now that we are taking that away, that low ratio of job successes will drop close to zero.

1 year ago # QUOTE 1 YEA 4 NAY !
Graham

We are still offering political theory as a subfield for undergraduate degrees and as a second field for graduate students, but we now have a supermajority in the executive committee to eliminate theory as a first field for PhD students. Our theorists have been dragging down our already middling placement for many years because there are so few opportunities in that field. Now with the additional tightening of the academic job market, we don't see how we can ethically offer this concentration with no real chance of a career at the end. The other major fields, comparative, IR, and American, all place with some frequency and they at least have non-academic opportunities. The same can't be said of the theorists in our experience. Is anyone else's department having these conversations?

I suppose you could continue to offer the field, but be absolutely clear with your students that this is not a path to a career. If they still want to do it because they married a lsuccessful person and they can stay home, then fine.

1 year ago # QUOTE 1 YEA 2 NAY !
Onesime

We are still offering political theory as a subfield for undergraduate degrees and as a second field for graduate students, but we now have a supermajority in the executive committee to eliminate theory as a first field for PhD students. Our theorists have been dragging down our already middling placement for many years because there are so few opportunities in that field. Now with the additional tightening of the academic job market, we don't see how we can ethically offer this concentration with no real chance of a career at the end. The other major fields, comparative, IR, and American, all place with some frequency and they at least have non-academic opportunities. The same can't be said of the theorists in our experience. Is anyone else's department having these conversations?

An increasingly common strategy is to keep theory courses at the undergrad level and cover the courses with lecturers.

10 months ago # QUOTE 0 YEA 2 NAY !
Isa

We are still offering political theory as a subfield for undergraduate degrees and as a second field for graduate students, but we now have a supermajority in the executive committee to eliminate theory as a first field for PhD students. Our theorists have been dragging down our already middling placement for many years because there are so few opportunities in that field. Now with the additional tightening of the academic job market, we don't see how we can ethically offer this concentration with no real chance of a career at the end. The other major fields, comparative, IR, and American, all place with some frequency and they at least have non-academic opportunities. The same can't be said of the theorists in our experience. Is anyone else's department having these conversations?
An increasingly common strategy is to keep theory courses at the undergrad level and cover the courses with lecturers.

win win win:
-positions for PT folks on the market
-better outcomes for our grads (since PT grads drive placement down)
-full course offering at the UG level

10 months ago # QUOTE 3 YEA 3 NAY !
Caden

It is also the least "political" subfield.

No true at all. It's by far the most activist.

It also appears to be leading the post-covid job hiring spree. Now USF?

10 months ago # QUOTE 2 YEA 0 NAY !

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Our grad program is eliminating theory as major field

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