As I write, I am wearing 4 layers of clothing and staring at pictures of sunny beaches to counter these cold, dark, wet, windy days of October. In this edition of Adjunct Matters / Adjuncts Matter, I want to introduce another member of the WCCFT Executive Committee, Jennifer Gurahian.
Jen is an adjunct instructor of Cultural Anthropology and the Secretary of the WCCFT. Interestingly, our parents worked together on Town Board issues in Somers, N.Y., although we did not meet until joining the Executive Committee in 2021.
“I am a Cultural Anthropologist,” Jen told me recently, “with an area specialization in Armenian/Soviet Studies, which unfortunately comes in very handy in the last year. My understanding of what college professors do, however, came not from my training in graduate school, but rather from my undergraduate education at the University of Chicago, where almost all college classes were taught by full professors (who loved teaching undergraduates), and there was nary a textbook in sight. Our classes were seminar style, and as one of our most beloved professors (Jonathan Z. Smith) used to say, ‘Answers come and go, but a good question stays around forever (paraphrased).’”
“After graduating from college,” Jen continued, “I went to the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic where I became ‘adopted’ by the state, so I could study at the State University of Yerevan. Being in a small republic on the geographic and demographic edge of the Soviet empire was like going through the looking glass and then looking back out at the world I’d left. The culture shock and subsequent re-entry shock led me to study Anthropology. I returned to Armenia during periods of dramatic renegotiation with the Soviet ideal. I wrote, implemented, and analyzed survey data for CARE International and the World Bank. I interpreted for foreign journalists in the war zone of Nagorno-Karabagh (Artsakh), and I lived at the Mother See of the Armenian Church as the country representative for the World Council of Churches. I learned first-hand how ethnocentric bias affected the delivery of humanitarian assistance.”
Turning her attention to our work in the classroom, Jen continued: “I love teaching our students. We share an appreciation of having a foot in two cultures – one here in the United States, and one in the country of our parents and grandparents. At first, students in my classes are all about the essentials: ‘What’s on the test?’ ‘How will we be graded?’ ‘What’s the right answer?’ There is often a period of mild rebellion and disenchantment when I tell them we’re going to be focusing on developing questions, because in the social sciences, where everything can count as data, the paradigm you use to sort that data is crucial. This could be termed as the ‘But what’s going to be on the test?’ phase. At some point, however, almost mystically and magically, there’s a shift. ‘Wait, I’m trying to figure out how to say this.’ ‘It depends on how you define your terms.’ and my favorite: ‘It’s that thinking thing she’s been telling us about all semester.’ At those times, I am pleased with the world.”
Like Jen, I am now entering the second year of a 2-year term on the Executive Committee. I am also beginning my second semester on the WCCFT Negotiation Team. My experience with the WCCFT has been both rewarding and frustrating. It has been very rewarding to work with and meet a fantastic community of people. I am glad to inform and assist adjuncts and full-time faculty with a variety of issues. But it often seems that positive change that favors our working conditions occurs in geological time. And, well, being a “full-time” adjunct at several colleges is often akin to those dreams where you need to accomplish the 12 labors of Hercules, but you’re stuck running in place.
This year, I will continue to keep our faculty informed about WCCFT-related matters and opportunities. I am a pipeline between you and the WCCFT for adjunct concerns, so please write to me with any union-related concerns you have. And, while Jen Gurahian is leading the efforts to recruit more adjunct members to our union, I play a part by spreading the word through various venues. On this note, for those of you who are members, Thank you! If you are not already a WCCFT member, please join at http://www.sunywccft.org/membership-form/ . The greater our numbers, the more effectively we can conduct our work.
In future issues of FTConnect, I will provide WCCFT updates relevant to adjunct faculty and I would like to highlight our professional achievements. Please reach out to me at ericdwccft@gmail.com for any union-related concerns and/or to send me news items for future issues of FTConnect.
In solidarity, Eric
Eric C. De Sena
WCCFT Adjunct Representative
Member of the WCCFT Negotiation Team