Blogging and Tenure

Over the years, a lot has been written about the risks of blogging during your pre-tenure years.  See, most recently, Verity Winship, "Blogging without Tenure."  Well, I blogged quite a bit as an untenured faculty member.  And fortunately, earlier this week I was recommended for promotion and tenure by my Indiana colleagues.  It is unlikely that blogging damaged my career because (I am told) the vote was unanimous. 

As a blogger, I want to publish the following section of my P&T personal statement, so that others that come after have at least one concrete data point to consider:

3.  Writings for the Legal Professions and Empirical Legal Studies Blogs

My inclusion of blogging under the scholarship heading is not meant to test the proposition that blog posts are scholarship. Rather, blogging has generated a wide range of professional opportunities for me and enhanced my visibility among legal academics. Since the spring of 2006, I have been a regular blogger with the Empirical Legal Studies (ELS) Blog. In June 2008, I also joined the Legal Professions Blog. Collectively, I have more than 200 blog postings, a substantial number of which discuss issues related to my legal scholarship. Many of my ideas for scholarship originally appeared in some form on the ELS Blog and were further refined by reader comments.  Several references to my work in the mainstream media were the result of reporters perusing the blogs. I believe that blogging has been a very good investment of time and has generated increased visibility for Indiana Law. A complete list of my posts is located in Attachment 7.

So there you have it.  I blogged because I wanted to be fully engaged in the world of ideas.   I also followed a few simple principles, which I will continue to follow:  (a) don't post half-baked ideas that attack serious ideas -- bake them fully, and then post; (b) blog about ideas I want to specialize in (with a few exceptions), which creates synergies with serious scholarship; (c) treat other people will respect and be ready to concede when someone else has the better of the argument or evidence -- getting it right is more important than being right. 

Of course, Dan Drezner remains a cautionary tale that goes in the other direction ... though Dan came of the process with his self-respect and a tenured job at another school within few short weeks.   Despite the folklore, intellectual timidity is not necessarily the best strategy for getting tenure or, more importantly, being comfortable in your own skin.

Two of my valued colleagues at Indiana who joined the faculty with me in 2003 also got the good news this week -- we went 3 for 3!

Comments

[Jim Chen]

Congratulations, Bill! This is a very richly deserved honor.

[John Steele]

Congrats, Bill, and congrats to UI Law.

If I recall correctly, one of your posts received praise from Loyola 2L and you said that, perhaps, L2L's praise might find its way into your tenure file. But I suppose that's not what swung the difference!

Kidding aside, it's well deserved.

[Brian]

Congratulations on the tenure vote!

I am not sure we should generalize much from your case when it comes to blogging. First, you blogged almost exclusively on areas related to your scholarly interests and skills. Second, your blog postings revealed you to be intelligent and interesting, which distinguishes you from the vast majority of legal academics who blog. Third, you avoided antagonizing your academic colleagues with either your intellectual or politcial views (how you resisted, I don't know, but it was wise!). So the moral I draw from your case is: if you're smart and you can communicate your research and expertise on a blog, and this research and expertise will be interesting to other legal scholars, then blogging will help you greatly.

I also don't think Drezner is much of a cautionary tale. Drezner, I gather, did indeed blog about his areas of research and expertise, and what it revealed was that he was not very intelligent or interesting. I strongly suspect that's the main explanation for his tenure fortunes, though it has obviously not prevented him from finding an attractive place in the academy. But it wasn't his blog that took him down; I suspect it was the merits.

[Josh]

Congratulations Bill!

[Christine Hurt]

Congratulations! I'm very happy for you.

[dave hoffman]

Congratulations Bill! A well-deserved recognition of your work.

[Nancy Rapoport]

Delighted to hear the news, Bill--mazel tov!

[Eric Goldman]

Congratulations, Bill. This is terrific and well-deserved news. I might add that in your case, blogging may have been an asset. It's been a terrific way to increase your exposure and disseminate your ideas. Keep up the terrific work. Eric.

[Ann Bartow]

Congrats, well deserved and no doubt a huge relief.

[Rebecca Tushnet]

Congratulations. Your description of the role of blogging for an untenured professor is very similar to mine, though you are much braver than I am in sharing your statement.

[Jeremy Noel]

Congratulations. It's an honor you've definitely earned, and I know; I took your corporations class a few years ago. You're a great professor and IU students are lucky to have you.

[Bill Henderson]

Thank you all for your kind comments. I am flattered. Bill H.

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I am not sure we should generalize much from your case when it comes to blogging. First, you blogged almost exclusively on areas related to your scholarly interests and skills. Second, your blog postings revealed you to be intelligent and interesting, which distinguishes you from the vast majority of legal academics who blog.