Here comes the MLA job hunt...

I am not going to put in 120 applications like I did last year. (In the end, I only got one offer, but it was a hell of an offer.)

I came across an amusing sample advertisement at Rate Your Students:

Middle-of-the-road State University is seeking applicants for a full time, continuing faculty position in Medieval literature. However, applicants should demonstrate expertise in at least two other areas (open disciplines). Preference will be given to candidates who can teach undergraduate and graduate courses in literature of the Pacific Rim, or have substantial web building experience, and/or can lead summer seminars in either our Shakespeare program or the high school level expository writing camps.

Middle of the Road faculty members are often called to work on teaching teams that work closely with students. Faculty enjoy a high degree of freedom to determine the subject matter, pace, emphasis, classroom strategies and modes of evaluation in all courses, but first time instructors also meet with a mentoring team on three occasions each semester to present assignments and evaluations.

How sad. How true. How strange.

HJ