Welcome back! I hope that everyone had a restful and restorative break. I spent most of the holiday here in Northfield with my family, enjoying the snow while it lasted. Email traffic is always a good indicator of whether people are really unplugging, and it was nice to see messages slow down towards the end of December, with a brief burst of energy on December 22 as people tried to clear their desks, and then come to a complete stop. Well done!
Of course, jumping back in at the start of Winter Term then feels a bit frantic, with new classes to prepare, support, or adjust to for faculty, staff, and students. This is also a very busy time for me. There are a number of virtual Board of Trustee committee meetings happening in advance of the Board retreat we are holding in Boston in February, as well as meetings with both faculty and guest panelists who will be attending the retreat and participating in discussions of some key aspects of the College’s strategic direction, Carleton 2033. This week also saw the first meeting of a Campaign Steering Committee that is undertaking the first steps of planning the College’s next comprehensive fundraising campaign to support our key priorities.
Towards the end of the week, I’ll be going to Orlando to meet with some alumni and donors, and then to New Orleans to attend the Modern Language Association (MLA) convention, the major professional gathering in languages and literature. I have given scholarly papers there in the past, but this time I’ll be speaking on a panel about how college presidents are grappling with current crises in higher education. This will feel like a full circle moment for me. The MLA conference rotates annually among different cities, and the last MLA I attended in New Orleans was the year I finished my PhD and entered the job market. I still have vivid memories of nervously interviewing for tenure-track faculty positions there, including the one I ultimately got at Middlebury College. Whew! Presenting my talk should be easy by comparison.
Hope your term is off to a good start as well!
Featured in Carleton Today, January 9, 2025