A tiny ripple in the realm of American higher education occurred last week as a result of National Adjunct Walkout Day. Here in Berlin I felt a passing sense of solidarity with all those faculty who agitated for better terms of employment. Having endured close to fifteen years of sub-par working conditions as a Montana State University adjunct, I was cheered by the prospect of better pay, job security, and benefits for my colleagues back in Bozeman and the rest of the country.
The walkout day came at a time when I am preparing to walk back in to university teaching in Germany. I’ll be co-teaching a seminar at Humboldt University’s Berlin Perspectives program next semester. Since undergraduate education is free in Germany, I shouldn’t have been surprised to discover that I’ll receive substantially less pay than what I earned as an adjunct in the States. That’s okay. The seminar is on Jewish migration to Germany, a topic I’m already deeply engaged with and eager to facilitate with a group of international students in Berlin. My co-instructor is a Jewish Studies professor who is giving me a crash course on Germany’s higher education system.
So far I’ve learned that attendance at classes is not mandatory and that students tend to come and go as they please. German professors seem to have a higher academic ladder to climb than their counterparts in the States, in many cases needing the habilitation, a process which can require doing something like a second dissertation. I’m still confused by German academic ranks and titles, but I do know that I’ll be a Lehrbeauftragter, a nice German word for an adjunct.
I’ll also soon find out what it’s like to teach at a German Hochschule. These higher education institutions are not high schools, but specialized colleges that offer vocational and technical degrees. Although I won’t earn as much as a German autoworker or an American adjunct, I’m looking forward to walking into my first classes.
Donna Swarthout 