As you probably know I have gotten some flack about having diverse interests.
But overall the answer to a question on diversity in scholarship on the Chronicle forum was that some isn’t bad. Too much is, but not some.
One person gave good advice about tying everything together. We’ll see how I can manage that, but…
Humanista said:
I just wanted to agree with the advice that has been given here. The articles that I culled from my dissertation are published in solid, peer-reviewed journals, but by a long shot my most prominent publication so far is a forthcoming article in a prestigious journal that everyone in my field reads. The topic is completely unrelated to my supposed area of expertise. No qualms about listing that article on my CV! One of my grad school profs always talked about the need for “Beethoven in your briefcase,” by which he meant that it’s fine to publish about obscure topics, but one should have a secondary area (or two) of research in an area of general interest for virtually everyone in one’s field. It shows your intellectual breadth and willingness to engage in larger debates within your discipline.
Earlier posts on worries about too much diversity in research areas:
On Writing Book Reviews. Which I should have reread before I wrote today to CEA’s person about reviewing a book. It fits within my personal worldview and it seemed highly readable and on classroom experience, so I liked it. But I didn’t put my relevant expertise in there.