Korean Job Discussion Forums

[LivePoetry]

Hi everyone,
I'm currently working at an adult hagwon in Seoul and am 6 months through my contract. I'm planning to stay in Korea for a second year after I finish this job and I would really like to get a job teaching English literature (not language) at a university. Many people here have told me that I have at least a chance of getting a position like this because I have an MA in literature (plus I will have one year of experience teaching in Korea).

I'm having trouble figuring out how to search for this kind of job opening-- in my internet searches I see lots of openings for teaching English language at universities but none for literature. I also don't see any literature positions on the Dave's ESL cafe job board. How should I look for this?? Should I contact schools directly?
(Ideally I want a position that starts in September 2011).

thanks so much for any help you can give me.

[ttompatz]

Going to be hard to find a position with a mid term start as a lit. prof.

Consider a March 2012 start and begin making contacts NOW for NEXT SPRING. Interviews and hiring will take place in Dec. 2011.

Look at places like HUFS (Gyeonggi/Gwangju), Kyunghee (Yeongtong, Suwon), et al. that offer majors in your field.

.

[lawyertood]

Not to say it will be impossible, however, it seems that you would be competing with Korea professors for that type of position. I work in the English Language and Literature Dept. at my university and a colleague has a PhD. in English Literature. Will let you know in the future if they allow her to teach a Lit. course.

[PRagic]

The only person I know to even come close to teaching lit at a Korean university was ABD in Eng. Lit.

These days, you need you Ph.D. to teach core courses at Korean universities. And even if some universitiy somewhere here would hire you to teach lit with just an MA, would you really want to work for them? You'd almost be guarenteed a crap job and crap bennies.

[Unposter]

I would try the Chronicle of Higher Education because most universities that would ADVERTISE such a position is likely to look for a real academic. That said, I do believe teaching a class could be possible at some universities in Korea. They are just not going to hire you as a Lit Instructor; they are going to hire you as an ESL Instructor who might teach a Lit class as well.

I would just look into an ESL/EFL position and then once you get one, develop a reputation and schmooz the faculty and see if you can get somebody to give you a class.

A lot of universities are opening up content courses to ESL/EFL Instructors but few will advertise for actual Lit positions.

Good luck!

[PRagic]

Too true. The person I know that was asked to teach Lit was in fact an ESL teacher. This person was also, however, ABD in Eng. Lit from a big name school.

Every other person I know teaching Lit (or anything esl outside of ESL or related content, for that matter) at a Korean university has their Ph.D.

[liveinkorea316]

sent you a PM

[PRagic]

Me? Nothing received...

[LivePoetry]

Thanks so much for the replies everyone!! This has been very helpful.

To PRagic:

could you elaborate on this?

"even if some universitiy somewhere here would hire you to teach lit with just an MA, would you really want to work for them? You'd almost be guarenteed a crap job and crap bennies."


Would the job and pay/benefits be much better if I went for a university position teaching the language rather than literature?

[PRagic]

Actually, you would more than likely be hired on as an ESL teacher and then simply be asked to teach lit. More hastle for the same pay. Larger universities these days won't hire people without Ph.D.s to teach mainstream curricula. The smaller, private universities (that would be more apt to hire MAs to teach regular courses) generally don't have a student body that can study Lit in English (funny, really, as it is ENG Lit!).

On the flip side, I do know people with Ph.D.s who have been hired on as Lit profs and THEN been asked to teach ESL classes. They were dumbfounded at the prospect, and more than a little put off.

The long and short of it is that if you want a university position in Korea outside of ESL, you're going to need your Ph.D. In many cases, even the Ph.D. won't get you in automatically as there is increasing competition for these slots; either that, or the minimum requirements are set above simply having a Doctorate (e.g. need experience, publications...).

And, yes, before people jump all over me, SOME positions, for example in the fine arts, are indeed open to non-Ph.D.s as long as they have ample professional experience and/or teaching experience. This is much the same as it is in other countries.

[FarEastProf]

Hello LivePoetry,

I came upon your post after searching the internet for advice and guidance on just this issue. My situation is similar to yours, with this difference: I used to teach ESL in Japan, and then, like you, thought I'd like to go in for some literature rather than language work. I am now coming to the end of my Ph.D. and will shortly enter the academic job market. While I don't think you absolutely must have a Ph.D. to get a lit job, it is going to become increasingly desirable. My advice to you is the following:

1. Try to teach a literature course at the school you are at now. When I was an ESL teacher, my most advanced students were just about able to handle it. Cambridge UP has produced a book series for this very purpose. Not only are some of these books good fun for an advanced ESL class, they might also be good for low-level university learners (I'm speculating there, as I'm not sure what university policy would be regarding ESL books in a 'lit' classroom). Here's an example of what I'm talking about:

http://www.cambridge.org/us/esl/catalog/subject/project/item404575/?site_locale=en_US

2. Consider getting the Ph.D. and then, like PRagic says, augment your qualifications further. I myself am going to do a 'postdoc' (basically more research) before considering Korea or Japan. While I wouldn't turn my nose up at teaching ESL, after investing several years into the doctorate I really don't want to be back where I started - basically, an ESL teacher with a few extra bells and whistles. Getting publications might provide some insurance against that, I'm hoping. If the idea of returning to your home country for a Ph.D. doesn't appeal, consider being an international student. Ireland, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and Australia all have excellent higher educational institutions. It's not like there's only the U.S. or the U.K. to choose from.

3. If Ph.D. is a dead issue, I suggest that you 'attach' yourself to a university as an ESL teacher and then, after six months or so, approach the relevant people about teaching a survey lit course, or perhaps an essay composition course. The middle ground between ESL and literature might be available for people with an MA, but I'm not sure about that. In any case, you probably couldn't expect to design your own course based around a particular writer, theme, period, country, or genre.

[MoonDuck]

I have a PhD and have been in Korea over 4 years. In all that time, I have only taught English literature once--and that was just a one-semester survey of _Tess of the Durbervilles_ at an obscure private uni in a rather provincial town.

Right now another Korean uni is considering hiring me, and I might--I just _might_--teach some lit courses there.

In all my time in east Asia, I have only taught a little lit in mainland China at key unis and in Taiwan.

There's not much of a market for lit teaching in east Asia, especially in Korea.

Haven't you noticed that the natives aren't particularly literary?

[FarEastProf]

MoonDuck,

Clearly you're ahead of the game. I was wondering whether your experience derives from contract teaching, or whether you have tried for any of the tenure-track positions at some of the wealthier private universities, or the national ones (where promotion from assistant to associate professor is at least a possibility). Feel free to avoid answering if that question's too personal. I assume your Ph.D. is in literature, or are you in linguistics?

[Swampfox10mm]

Our school has a PhD teaching lit. He was hired from America last year specifically for that purpose. Nice guy. Only teaches around 9 hours per week, though, and was a little disappointed that our school doesn't allow side work.

[FarEastProf]

Which school would that be, Swamp?