What Mike Does (or will do): Career Goals?

Today, I went to new student orientation for graduate students at Mizzou. This setting was strangely familiar. We had a continental breakfast, with all the students milling around the lobby of the academic building looking a bit nervous. I rested, coolly, against a pillar and watched the whole fracas. We had an orientation presentation with various speakers talking about resources available to grad students and a raffle (no, I did not win). Finally, there was a grad student fair, I wandered around a bit, and I left. Deja vu....

Oh yeah, I did this exactly three years ago at UK.

When it comes to grad school, I am an old hat now. I've been there and done that. I have a different perspective. I didn't feel nervous. I didn't really benefit from the event either. I should have slept in. Of course, I understood that every grad school administrator (university and departmental) assures you they will be available to help every step of the way, but once the semester starts, they are cogs in the bureaucracy that is modern education. They'll be cold and annoyed and really only get in the way.

This time around, I'm not here to figure myself out or to choose an area of study. Those things ought to be set by now. I still don't know my career path, but I know what I want to study. I know what skills and credentials are required. A Master's student enters the program ready for an intense exploration of the discipline; a Ph.D. student enters to learn how to be a productive part of the discipline.

Many of you who know me have no idea what I'm doing here (to be honest, I'm not always sure). If you've bothered to read this far, you probably have an inkling, but I'll detail it anyway. I chose the University of Missouri for the deficits I found at UK. Specifically, Mizzou has a specialty area called "Culture and Identity," which is precisely my field of study. As a doctoral student, I'm required to select two specializations. My second is up in the air, but I will likely choose "Social Inequalities" or "Social Movements, Political Sociology, and Public Policy." Here's why:

My Master's thesis, as some of you may know, explored strategies taken by Christian Hardcore musicians to manage their sense of self given a sometimes contradictory set of expectations from Christians and Hardcore fans. What I most learned from this project was that I am excited about the prospect of young people working together to build community and push important values through the culture they create and participate in. Popular culture often represents those values we think are important and has the effect of binding people together who share some of those values (usually this is just a taste in music or film, but other times, it can be social or political idealism). I will likely drop Christian Hardcore as a topic of research (largely because I don't believe in religious ideals). But I take away from this project a better understanding of why I want to be a sociologist.

There are two main reasons people get excited about sociology (not to say these are exclusive categories). The first kind is the scientist and/or philosopher who wants to understand the nature/purpose/mechanisms/consequences of social behavior. This ranges from the interaction between individuals to the relationship of social institutions in society as a whole (politics, economy, media, education, etc). Though there are some tensions between these two scopes, good sociologists study both individuals and the structure of society. This is where I started....where sociology first sparked my interest (combined with psychology). I usually focus on what's called microsociology, sociological social psychology, or interactionism (the part that studies individuals).

But I learned quickly about the second reason people gravitate toward the discipline. Sociology tends toward contemporary liberal/progressive politics. In particular, the field values social justice; that is to say, the belief that all individuals ought to enjoy the same rights and freedoms regardless of gender, race, social class, age, sexuality, etc. The most fiery figures in our discipline have a political bent (Karl Marx and C. Wright Mills as the iconic examples). They believe that their research has the ability to transform and benefit society in some way. The graduate students who enter with politics on the brain often could care less about a generic understanding of social life unless it relates to battling inequality.

*cough*militant-Marxists-who-dominate-discussions*cough*

As I've made my way through sociology, I've come to be less interested in the abstract/theoretical nature of society and have found that social justice excites me in a way that makes my work feel worthwhile (outside of the university).

But you can't study everything. You need an outlet and trajectory for those politics. We all have to find our niche, so I use my past research interests to fill this gap. I have always been interested in popular culture and often the sort of culture consumed by young adults (16-25). Of course, the youth population struggles with its own discrimination and harmful stereotypes. Society in general has a tendency to be skeptical of young people in groups. They are seen as deviants, hoodlums or even criminals. This is especially true for "alternative" styles, which most readily accept liberal/transformational ideals (and in the United States, have the luxury to explore new lifestyles because their livelihood does not depend on their participation in the economy). I see this exploration as a great potential for more general social change (music is a clear historical example...Punk, Jazz, Hip Hop, Hippies, etc.). So, in the end, my thesis research involved the formation of a Christian Hardcore community that formed to encourage young people toward a particular ideology and analyzed the strategies in place that both reflected and spread those ideals (if you want to know the specifics, you can read the thesis).

Anyhow, after all this....my general research and political agenda involves the creation and facilitation of youth activism through popular culture in local and/or web-based communities. Who knows what I'll actually research? I may retain my focus on music, or I might shift to film or perhaps video game subcultures that are involved in civic engagement and activism. The ultimate goal for me is to locate or create a space where young people are socialized in a justice-based value system through identification with popular culture. We all learn from the culture we consume....I just want people to learn what I think is important, hah. These ideas are as much about new forms of pedagogy/education as anything. Though I don't think I will ever be a great teacher in the traditional sense, I feel like my goals demand some educational component (or else I am just another disconnected academic who studies but does not actually participate in the social world).

If I succeed here, I will be open to explore both academic jobs and public/civic work involving youth non-profit organizations or community policy development. My ideal job would be to work with a community center that uses films, concerts, video games, and other arts to increase community involvement. I might hold a position where I hold voluntary seminars to critically evaluate cultural choices and organize social justice involvement programs for young people. Of course, that would require the pre-existence of a venue for this endeavor and/or other people willing to invest in its creation. One of my most under-valued skills is my social organization abilities (gleaned from years of pulling Mikey out of his house). Once I make connections, I can put things together like nobody's business (I'm not sure what that expression really means). Realistically, it will probably never happen, but I can push myself in that direction.

I guess I'd be okay with a professorship, but it's quickly becoming my secondary career path.

Well, congratulations if you made it through this mess.

Christ, I can't imagine anyone read all this. Oh well. :)

-Mike