For more than a decade, the AMS has expressed concern about the state of post-PhD job opportunities, and through discussions and activism, strong voices and leadership have emerged among part-time faculty. The AMS has made it a priority to provide resources and dedicate sessions to the issues facing the contingent labor force, and in turn, AMS has profited immeasurably from these different perspectives on teaching, scholarship, and life in the academy. More recently, conversations have turned to the impact of musicologists who have made their mark as scholars, researchers, teachers, and/or writers in the public sector. This panel brings together musicologists who have built careers in the creative industries. A workshop will allow participants to consider ways in which PhD and MA programs can better prepare students for a range of pursuits and social justice issues.

This session's topic has a particularly feminist epistemology, given that seeking a career in the creative industries is, in itself, a dismantling of the academy's linear, patriarchal construction. In addition, many of the individuals who will present their narratives in this session contend that working outside of the academy allowed them more freedom and creativity than staying inside its disciplinary walls.