In 2009, 16 and Pregnant premiered on MTV, closely followed by the spinoffs Teen Mom and Teen Mom 2. Because of their controversial portrayals of teenage mothers, the shows have received ongoing media attention. While some argue that the programs could play a factor in reducing the number of teen pregnancies, others claim the shows exploit young women and glamorize their situations. Among these debates, there have been surprisingly few in-depth discourses that discuss the roles such shows have on teenage audiences. In MTV and Teen Pregnancy: Critical Essays on 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom,...

Contributors argue that the key to innovative teaching and scholarship lies in institutional support for the contingent labor force, and they encourage contingent faculty to organize self-mentoring groups, create venues for learning/disseminating their experiences and findings, and connect scholarship to service and teaching in novel ways.