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I am a non-tenured, junior faculty member at a small college on the East coast. I teach in the English department; currently I have three intro-level composition and literature courses. I am the only Republican/pro-life member of my department.My syllabi are subject to review by senior faculty members -- who often teach highly specialized, sparsely-populated "seminars" that may meet four times a semester.

In the past year, I've been told to drop several classics and substitute "more timely" material -- including television/movie-based fan fiction and blogs (!). I've been told that grammar and spelling errors are irrelevant in the face of the "innate, ingrained language knowledge" of the student. I've been told that my attendance policy is outdated and enforcing it is "too fascist and combative."

I need my job. I like teaching -- for every three dozen slack-jawed, directionless, bovine, "I'm only here because I want to party" idiots, there are two or three people there who really want to learn. (Interestingly enough, they are usually recently separated from the military, or took a few years off to work in the "real" world before they came to college.)

I'd quit in a heartbeat if I could find a job I liked as much, or that paid a decent salary.