It was so nice to
'come home,' after four very interesting, even fascinating, years of cross-cultural experience ... now family, regular showers,
real TV, but no Al Jazeera english (shame!), salad bars, more sane roads, gov't by Mattel, a U.S. that is hated when it was
once admired, a media that once shined as a beacon, new work challenges, and beautiful places galore.
We were convinced that we wanted to continue teaching; our experience in Bulgaria, at least in the classroom,
had been positive and we felt that this was an area in which we could contribute. Like so many creative endeavors -
public broadcasting would be a comparable arena - academics are a club. I recall the difficulties my father had as an
academic in the 1960's: the gamesmanship of tenure, the sabbatical hustle, publish or punt, good teaching as esoterica.
Much is still in evidence, enhanced by "student as customer," and its corollary, "evaluation by customer/student."
This was especially important
as we looked for employment targets ... should they be the comfort of small liberal arts colleges, or a more challenging environment.
We ended up at the latter, Savannah State University, a Historically Black College or University (HBCU) with more than a century
of important work behind it. But it's still struggling ... with reduced State financial commitment, inadequate support
for the administration, an appalling demand from faculty of four courses per semester plus many extra demands that ensure
a lesser educational process, and marginal facilities. Of course, this presents serious challenges for professional
instruction, on top of the usual academic tension between the theoretical and the practial/professional.
Happily, we're both now full-time
professors, after a younger faculty member moved on to Navy Officer Candidate School. And we truly adore the city of
Savannah ... the history, the services, the climate, and the lovely home we've been able to rent on an island between Savannah
and the ocean. It's our refuge, and it makes us very happy.
What we have not yet been able to do is translate the depth
and range of our experience, both in media and internationally, into a useful business of media advice and project development.
That's next. It's also an interesting question: Is there more important work to be done teaching, or exploring
and developing new techniques and projects to empower new publics in mediated communication?
