Michael Schulze-Oechtering

Candidate statement

Lecturer of American Cultural Studies (Western Washington University). Since I entered my Ph.D. program in UC Berkeley’s Department of Ethnic Studies in 2009, the Association of Asian American Studies (AAAS) has been my professional home. As a Contingent Faculty Board Representative, I will bring over a year of experience as a contingent faculty member to the position. Upon completing my dissertation, I started working as a part-time, non-tenure track lecturer in the College of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University and the Department of Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley. As a result, I had to confront many of the class realities that contingent faculty face: low wages, an overwhelming workload, and a lack of stable employment. I am eager to bring my experiences as a contingent faculty member to the executive board. Firstly, I believe a culture shift needs to occur in academia, where contingent faculty are seen as more than cheap labor, but as intellectuals with active research agenda. If elected, I will work to create spaces in the association to have these urgent discussions. While critical conversations occur, contingent faculty still need to pay bills. Therefore, I also plan to develop an “emergency fund” that contingent faculty can apply to in times of economic need.