Possible Questions

After all the discussion in the first three weeks of class about workload, the 40 hour week, time management,  working on projects, etc., I think that I'd like to focus my individual blogging and final project on labor issues and their intersections with Rhetoric, Composition, and the Mind.  Yes, this is still vague, but I have some more specific ideas for questions that I might consider pursuing.  Here are some of my big questions that I'd really like to understand more:

• How can psychological discourse be used to change minds about exploitative labor issues, more specifically the adjunct issue in Higher Education?

• What are some of the psychological impacts of being an adjunct in the field of Rhetoric and Composition, or in the academy at large?  How does embodying this occupational space impact the mind?

• In larger examinations of labor, what have psychologists suggested that those in low-paying, unstable employment positions do?  i.e., Are there tools for dealing with these situations that psychologists suggest, or do psychologists suggest leaving the semi-exploitative position?

• How do we understand exploitation psychologically?

• What can be done to manage workload for adjuncts?  For example, what can Writing Program Administrators do when developing a program to reduce workload and stress for adjunct instructors? Or for all instructors?

• What does psychology offer students who are learning to write in regards to managing workload and stress?  For example, what else is there other than Boice?

• Would it be possible for me to interview instructors to find out more about how they cope with their workloads?  Or, could I look at a current documentary, Con Job, and examine the narratives presented by adjunct laborers within the film to discuss how these positions impact the mind?

Yes, I have lots of questions.  I'm still just figuring out where to go with them and how to narrow.  What would you suggest pursuing this semester?  What sounds reasonable to pursue for the next 12 weeks?  What will add the most to my thinking about issues of Rhetoric, Composition, Labor, and the Mind?

Also, I want to clarify that I (mostly) understand the complexity of the term "Adjunct Laborer."  Yes, adjunct only means "a thing that is added to something else as supplementary and not the essential part," and this is a vague description.  I've also considered using the term Contingent Laborer, Part-Time Laborer, etc.  However, contingent really describes groups of workers who work on a non-permanent basis, but this isn't always the case with the kind of workers I'm thinking about--some do work permanently.  Part-Time also isn't the best word because some of the laborers I'm talking about work full time.  I prefer to use the word contingent because it suggests more of a social space than a job description--these positions are not considered as essential, but supplementary, thus being considered low in value. The reality, though, is that these positions are valuable and things could not stay the way they are without them.

I'd also appreciate some help thinking about other terms to use. Ideas?