A PhD is a necessary stepping-stone to a faculty career. But it is no longer only this; a doctorate in the humanities opens the door to a wide range of fulfilling, world-changing work, including but not limited to academic teaching and research. The English Department career development program is designed with this range of opportunities in mind, putting students in position to identify the sorts of work that matches their individual values and interests, and to secure positions in those fields.
Recognizing that a PhD opens many possibilities for meaningful employment, and that knowledge about the range of careers open to humanists is a key part of the health of the discipline, the placement program hosts inclusive, structured discussions about the career tracks open to our graduates. These coordinated discussions begin in the very first year of graduate education. In consultation with a faculty advisor, each student compiles and maintains an individual development plan, which helps match their training to the sorts of careers they seek. This component of our program culminates in a series of seminars and workshops on career exploration, job-seeking in academic-adjacent fields, and the development of professional networks. Recent graduates have taken up positions in upper-level academic administration, as librarians and curators, as directors and staff at non-profit organizations, in curriculum development, as consultants and advisors in the private and public sectors, in publishing and editing roles, as grant-writers for nonprofit NGO's, and in a wide range of public-facing humanistic career paths. Many other graduates have gotten non-academic jobs for which their Ph.D. in English prepared them, whether directly or indirectly. Some of these former students are currently administrators in higher education, university librarians, staff at non-profit organizations, private secondary school teachers, editors, writers, or professionals in a variety of humanistic career paths.
Many of our students target academic careers, and our placement record for faculty positions ranks among the best in the field. Beginning in the year before they first go on the market, students participate in a multi-stage training program, built around a comprehensive series of workshops. Students are paired with faculty job-search mentors as they prepare their applications, compose and submit their application dossiers, practice interviewing, and stage job talks before groups of Rutgers faculty and students. Overseen by a large faculty committee, and involving faculty as mentors and advisors, the job-search season involves a significant proportion of the graduate faculty and staff. Nor does our commitment end with the PhD. Recognizing that the job-search is rarely a one-year undertaking, the department offers postgraduate support, including a number of fellowships comparable to starting faculty positions. Our placement record is comparable with the best of our peer institutions, such that a majority of our recent graduates have secured tenure-track appointments, including tenure-stream positions at top colleges and universities around the world.
The following is a list of tenure-track jobs our graduate students have secured in recent years, along with other academic placements such as post-docs, instructorships, lectureships, and visiting positions:
2019-2020: Tenure-track: California State University-Long Branch, Rice University, and Pittsburgh University. Other placements: University of Pittsburgh, United World College of Dilijan-Armenia, and Henry Rutgers (post doc).
2018-2019: Tenure-track: Skidmore College and University of Kentucky. Other placements: William and Mary College, Brandeis College, Rutgers University (Writing Program), Cornell University-Robert P. Dana, and University of Chicago (postdoc).
2017-2018: Tenure-track: Berkeley College. Other placements: US Air Force Academy, American University of Iraq-Sulaimani, Rutgers University (Writing Program), University of California-Berkeley, American Philosophical Society (postdoc), Henry Rutgers (postdoc), and University of Bonn-Germany (post-doc).
2016-2017: Tenure-track: University of Louisiana-Monroe, Borough of Manhattan Community College, University of Connecticut-Avery Point, and Ashoka University (Delhi). Other placements: Rutgers’ Center of Cultural Analysis, Tennessee Technological University, Douglass Residential College, Saginaw Valley State University, Princeton Writing Program, and Virginia Commonwealth University (postdoc).
2015-2016: Tenure-track: Yale University, University of San Francisco, and Lawrence Technological University. Other placements: Harvard Society of Fellows (postdoc), Bryn Mawr, Rutgers University, and Siginaw Valley State University.
2014-2015: Tenure-track: SUNY-Albany, Allegheny College, William Paterson, and Queensborough Community College-CUNY. Other Placements: University of Rochester (postdoc), New York University, Kettering University, University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, and University of Melbourne (Australia).
2013-2014: Tenure–track: Vanderbilt University, Wellesley College, Hendrix College, SUNY-Cortland, and University of Waterloo (Canada). Other Placements: George Mason University-South Korea and Concordia University (Canada).
2012-2013: Tenure-track: University of Toronto, Florida State University, Colgate University, NYU-Abu Dhabi, Longwood University, Shiv Nadar University (India). Other Placements: Haverford College, Franklin & Marshall College, University of Miami, University of Melbourne, Goddard College, Stevens Institute of Technology, North Central College-Illinois; post-docs: Emory University, University of Oldenberg (Germany); American Council of Learned Societies Junor Faculty Fellow: University of California Berkeley.
2011-2012: Tenure-track: University of South Carolina, University of Southern California, San Francisco State University, University of Maryland, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Hanyang University (South Korea), and University of Delhi (India). Post-Docs: Carnegie Mellon University, Washington University, and University of Texas-Austin.
2010-2011: Tenure-track: Wayne State University, Bentley University, University of Texas-San Antonio, UCLA, Drew University, Rhode Island College, Inha University (South Korea), New Community College, CUNY, Raritan Valley Community College. Post-Docs: American Council of Learned Societies New Faculty Fellowship, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Fordham University. Other Placements: University of Nebraska-Omaha.
2009-2010: Tenure-track: University of Vermont, St. Louis University, Pomona College, Trinity Christian College, University of Georgia. Post-Docs: Rice Humanities Center, University of Pennsylvania Humanities Forum, University of Pennsylvania Teaching Fellowship, Fonds québécois pour la recherche sur la société et la culture-Columbia University. Other Placements: Seton Hall University, Montclair State University.
2008-2009: Tenure-track: St. Mary's University College-Calgary (Canada), Point Park University-Pittsburgh, University of Chicago, University of Alberta, Rutgers University-Newark, Buck's County Community College, LaSapienza University (Italy), University Orientale-Naples (Italy), and Masaryk University (Czech Republic). Other placements: Lawrence University.
2007-2008: Tenure-track: North Carolina State University-Raleigh, Trinity University, Hunter College-CUNY, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, St. Joseph’s College-Long Island, Grinnell College, DePaul University. Other placements: Macalester College-St. Paul, Temple University, Oberlin College, Boston University, Lawrence University.
2006-2007: Tenure-track: Trinity University, University of Central Missouri, Edgewood College, College of Staten Island, University of Missouri-Columbia, Auburn University, Portland State University. Post-Docs: California Institute of Technology, University of Alberta (Canada). Other placements: University of Georgia, Cornell University, University of Oklahoma, Harvard Society of Fellows.
2005-2006: Tenure-track: Yale University, Dartmouth College (plus post-doc at Stanford); Dartmouth College, Boston University, Villanova University, CUNY-York College, University of Memphis, St. Johns University, University of Nebraska–Omaha, South Carolina State University, Wheaton College. Other placements: Macalester College, Union College, St. Johns University, Monmouth University, Harvard Writing Program, Yale Writing Program.
2004-2005: Tenure-track: Harvard University, York University (United Kingdom), McMaster University (Canada), Ohio State University, Fordham University, St. Johns University, George Washington University, Texas A&M, Florida Atlantic University, University of Southern Mississippi, University of North Texas, Montclair State University, The College of the Bahamas. Other placements: Seton Hall University, Santa Monica University, Bryn Mawr College, Connecticut College.
