Wednesday, 17 September 2008

• Currently Reading For the May Queen By Kate Evans see related

  Women in Charge - Meet Dr. Kate Evans

   Today it is my pleasure to introduce Dr. Kate Evans, Lecturer of Creative Writing and English at San Jose State University. Dr. Evans is also a published poet and author.

  1)        Can you briefly describe your job/position? Tell us a little bit about your company.

   

  I'm a lecturer in the College of English and Comparative Literature at San Jose State University.  I teach creative writing, literature and composition courses.  SJSU has almost 30,000 students.  However, I don't teach in large lecture halls. I have about 25 students in most classes.  The student population is very diverse, which I love.  We have a wonderful speakers' series, which brings a number of high-profile writers to campus every year for free events that are open to the public.  I was involved in co-directing the series last year, when we brought such writers as Dorothy Allison, ZZ Packer, Kimiko Hahn and Salman Rushdie.  This year includes Junot Diaz, Ana Castillo, Terrence McNally, Mark Doty and Sandra Gilbert. I'm teaching a course in which we study the work of the visiting writers. It's wonderful for students and faculty to be able to meet and listen to the writers they study.

   

  2)        How long have you been in this position? Did you move into this spot from another position in the same company? What did it take to advance to this spot?

   

  It's complicated.  I taught in the English Department back in the early 1990's, after receiving my M.A. there.  I left to go teach in Japan.  After that I got my PhD in Education at the University of Washington in Seattle.  I then returned to SJSU as a full-time, tenure-track professor in the College of Education.  I did that for three years, feeling like I wasn't doing what I really wanted to do.  What I really wanted to do was write and teach writing.  So, to follow my bliss, I demoted myself from Professor to Student!  I received my MFA in creative writing from SJSU and then was hired three years ago to teach again in the English Department.

   

  3)        Are there any other factors that you know of that might influence your reception by others? (ie: ethnic, family connections, school alumni, age, etc.)

   

  The fact that I'm an out lesbian makes my experience at SJSU richer and more complicated.  In general, I feel quite supported by the faculty and students.  Many students have told me how much my being "out" is important to them because they are gay or have gay family members or friends.  I have had a few homophobic students "complain" to the Department Chair, who recognized the comments as prejudice. 

   

  The cover of my poetry collection features a picture of two women kissing.  I've been featured in the campus paper as one of several actively out gay professors.  My fiction features many queer characters.  I have a novel (For the May Queen) coming out this month that has a few "queer surprises" in it.  My first book was a study of lesbian and gay teachers. My partner of 14 years and I recently married (legally!) in California.  So my lesbian orientation is an important part of who I am as a person and a writer--and I'm glad to be in the Bay Area which is generally more queer-friendly.

   

  4)        Have there been any negatives because you are a female in this spot? Is your salary on par with other personnel, specifically males, in this or similar positions? Do you feel that you receive the respect and cooperation your position is entitled to?

   

  Most of the Department Chairs and higher administrative positions on campus are held by men.  Every once in a while I hear some talk about this, but I'm not sure if anything's being done actively to work on this inequity.  In addition, the make-up of the faculty and administrators does not come close to representing the cultural and linguistic diversity of our students.

   

  One of the biggest problems is the inequity between tenure-track and adjunct positions.  This is a problem system-wide, in which there are more tenure-track male professors and more adjunct female professors.  Adjunct professors (both female and male) tend to teach the more time-intensive courses and make a lot less per class than tenured professors.  Adjunct professors who may teach as much or more than tenured professors get less desirable office space, less choice in terms of classes they teach (even if they have more experience than tenured professors), and so on.

   

  There is also much more attention given to tenured professors' activities. For example, a few years ago a (male) tenure-track professor who'd been in our department for four years announced he was leaving to teach elsewhere.  Several going-away parties were thrown for him.  That same year, an adjunct (male) professor who'd been teaching in our department for more than ten years left, and his years of service to the campus were not noted in any way. 

   

  We currently have a very supportive Department Chair who values the work of everyone in the department.  He has given me good classes to teach and an excellent schedule.  It's wonderful to feel valued "even though" I'm "only" a lecturer.

   

  5)        What advice would you give to a young woman who might be looking at your type of position/career in the future?

   

  Love what you do and do what you love.  Find allies whom you can support and who will support you.

   

  

  Faculty picture - San Jose State University

  Kate Evans is the author of a poetry collection, Like All We Love (Q Press, 2007), and a book about lesbian and gay teachers, Negotiating the Self (Routledge, 2002). Her stories, poems, and essays have appeared in such journals as North American Review, Indiana Review, Santa Monica Review, Cream City Review, Harrington Lesbian Fiction Quarterly and Seattle Review. She has been nominated for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, a Lambda Literary Award, and Pushcart Prizes in Fiction and Creative Nonfiction. A recipient of both an M.A. and an M.F.A. from San Jose State, and a Ph.D. from the University of Washington, she is especially interested in queer literature, contemporary American and British literature, and the art and craft of creative writing. A former journalist and high school teacher, she also taught English in Japan, and literature and writing courses at U.C. Santa Cruz. With Kelly Harrison, she is the Co-Director of the Center for Literary Arts.

   

  Being and Writing - a blog by Kate Evans

   

  Click here to read the first chapter of For the May Queen.

   

  

  order For the May Queen from Vanilla Heart Publishing

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