From Student to Scholar: A Candid Guide to Becoming a Professor

Steven M. Cahn's advice on the professorial life covers an extensive range of critical issues: how to plan, complete, and defend a dissertation; how to navigate a job interview; how to improve teaching performance; how to prepare and publish research; how to develop a professional network; and how to garner support for tenure. He deals with such hurdles as a difficult dissertation advisor, problematic colleagues, and the pressures of the tenure clock. Whether you are beginning graduate study, hoping to secure an academic position, or striving to build a professorial career, Cahn's insights are invaluable to traversing the thickets of academia.

Steven M. Cahn is professor of philosophy at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, where he served as provost and vice president for academic affairs and then acting president. He has taught at Dartmouth, Vassar, New York University, the University of Rochester, and the University of Vermont, where he chaired the department of philosophy. His numerous books include Fate, Logic, and Time; The Eclipse of Excellence: A Critique of American Higher Education; and God, Reason, and Religion.