I have to admit I'm not sure what a "primary employer" is in Hector Avolos' article. Does this exclude divinity schools and private religious colleges?
I know there are many with doctorates in Hebrew Bible and New Testament studies who cannot find jobs but his sole place to look for possible positions is extremely limited. There are 8 seminaries and over 50 PCUSA colleges all of which hire people in Hebrew Bible and New Testament studies. And the PCUSA has few schools compared to the Roman Catholics.
So what exactly is a primary employer? And which are the famous 9? Is Rice a primary employer?
Dear Pastor Bob, The category "primary employer" is not mine. It is a category used by the American Academy of Religion, and so I wanted to be as accurate as I could be in describing their job categorizations.
Usually, in posting jobs, an employer might list a "primary field" and secondary fields they seek in candidates. Thus, it may mean that "Hebrew Bible" or "New Testament" is the primary field being sought.
It does not have to do with whether a college is public, private, religious or non-religious.
Since the employers change from year to year, then there is no "famous nine" if that means some unchanging category.
If you have access to the AAR website, then you will see the current job openings and the individual employers listed.
Dear Pastor Bob, Regarding your statement: "There are 8 seminaries and over 50 PCUSA colleges all of which hire people in Hebrew Bible and New Testament studies."
Seminaries usually advertise in the AAR employment newsletter, and so they would be part of the AAR statistics if they did so.
It may be the case that there are 8 PCUSA seminaries and over 50 PCUSA colleges, but that does not mean that they have that many openings in Hebrew Bible or New Testament every year.
If one looks at the quality of the jobs, in terms of pay, academic freedom, and job security, then religious colleges do not always offer the best sorts of jobs.
4 comments:
Jim West has a concise comment on this spat:
http://jwest.wordpress.com/2008/09/06/its-all-about-equal-time-avalos-responds-to-koester/
I have to admit I'm not sure what a "primary employer" is in Hector Avolos' article. Does this exclude divinity schools and private religious colleges?
I know there are many with doctorates in Hebrew Bible and New Testament studies who cannot find jobs but his sole place to look for possible positions is extremely limited. There are 8 seminaries and over 50 PCUSA colleges all of which hire people in Hebrew Bible and New Testament studies. And the PCUSA has few schools compared to the Roman Catholics.
So what exactly is a primary employer? And which are the famous 9? Is Rice a primary employer?
Dear Pastor Bob,
The category "primary employer" is not mine.
It is a category used by the American Academy
of Religion, and so I wanted to be as accurate
as I could be in describing their job categorizations.
Usually, in posting jobs, an employer might
list a "primary field" and secondary fields
they seek in candidates. Thus, it may
mean that "Hebrew Bible" or "New Testament"
is the primary field being sought.
It does not have to do with whether a college is public, private, religious or non-religious.
Since the employers change from year to year,
then there is no "famous nine" if that means
some unchanging category.
If you have access to the AAR website, then you
will see the current job openings and the individual
employers listed.
I hope that clears up the confusion.
Dear Pastor Bob,
Regarding your statement:
"There are 8 seminaries and over 50 PCUSA colleges all of which hire people in Hebrew Bible and New Testament studies."
Seminaries usually advertise in the AAR employment newsletter, and so they would be part of the AAR statistics if they did so.
It may be the case that there are 8 PCUSA seminaries and over 50 PCUSA colleges, but that does not mean that they have that many openings in Hebrew Bible or New Testament every year.
If one looks at the quality of the jobs, in terms of pay, academic freedom, and job security, then religious colleges do not always offer the best sorts of jobs.
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