Labyrinth from The Tower by Dr. B. (Durrell Bowman, Ph.D.)

1.
(Spread too thin; …)
I’m a first generation university graduate, having earned a Music and Applied Studies Co-op Honours B.A. My work terms included positions as a music instructor, computer science tutor, and technical writer. I then did my M.A. in musicology, including teaching and research assistantships, in addition to other jobs.

2.
Next, I completed a highly-ranked Ph.D. program in musicology, working at the humanities’ intersection of cultural studies and popular music studies. My dissertation contextualized and interpreted the post-countercultural music of the Canadian, progressive/hard rock band Rush. I had substantial funding and additional income from fellowship opportunities in research, technology, and teaching, as well as other employment income.

3.
I then did part-time choral library work, writing, editing, computer support, choral performing, and university teaching. Over nine years at seven institutions all across North America, I developed and taught several dozen university courses, including two years in temporary, full-time positions.

4.
In addition, I published scholarly book chapters and journal articles and presented numerous academic conference papers—none of which paid me anything. I applied for hundreds of tenure-track and other academic jobs and was occasionally short-listed, but I did not land in a continuing, full-time position.

5.
After my last teaching assignment, I spent a year studying IT. My four-month work term included creating and writing web-based program notes for a music festival and developing the new, web-based musicology dissertations database. I then did some part-time IT work for several years, while also going through bankruptcy and living on welfare.

6.
I moved on to complete a Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) degree. In my eight-month work term, I served as a cataloguer and user services technician for the Parks Canada National Library. I also did independent website work and volunteered in several libraries, but I also did not land in a continuing full-time position in either IT or LIS.

7.
While exploring IT and LIS, I also co-edited and contributed three chapters to a published book: Rush and Philosophy: Heart and Mind United. In addition, I wrote two sole-authored published books: Experiencing Rush: A Listener’s Companion and Experiencing Peter Gabriel: A Listener’s Companion. However, I earned only about $1500 for the many hundreds of hours I spent working on those three books.
(I’m spread too thin.)

• Progressive Rock
• Rock
• pop rock
• St. Jacobs