All The Things You Should Have Learned In Grad School And More
I don't know about y'all, but my grad program was a little lacking in the "how to be a professional academic" training. Sure, I read hundreds of books and articles on my topics of interest, synthesized and analyzed material for my dissertation, and TA'ed more classes than I can count -- but the big questions still remained:
These questions sat at the back of my mind throughout my graduate experience, but really became pronounced when it was time to actually finish the dissertation and move on to a more professional, academic stage of life.
Please note, though, that this is very humanities-centric. I'm a historian by training and trade, so that's what I know (and what I've sought out to learn). There's a chance that this information might be useful for you if you come from other areas of academia, but I honestly don't know. Take what you need, leave what you can.
I'm no expert here. I've only begun my "after the PhD" journey (in fact, as I'm writing this, I'm in my last semester of my PhD). So I am in no way the most qualified person to be giving advice. But, what I can do, is share with you the things I have learned along the way from the people who have been so gracious and giving of their time, expertise, experiences, and support. To pay it forward, if you will.
So that's what we're doing here: learning how to do this together.
- What are comps and how do I survive them?
- What is pedagogy and how do I know what mine is?
- What happens after grad school?
- What kinds of jobs are available for someone like me?
- How do you apply for a job?
These questions sat at the back of my mind throughout my graduate experience, but really became pronounced when it was time to actually finish the dissertation and move on to a more professional, academic stage of life.
Please note, though, that this is very humanities-centric. I'm a historian by training and trade, so that's what I know (and what I've sought out to learn). There's a chance that this information might be useful for you if you come from other areas of academia, but I honestly don't know. Take what you need, leave what you can.
I'm no expert here. I've only begun my "after the PhD" journey (in fact, as I'm writing this, I'm in my last semester of my PhD). So I am in no way the most qualified person to be giving advice. But, what I can do, is share with you the things I have learned along the way from the people who have been so gracious and giving of their time, expertise, experiences, and support. To pay it forward, if you will.
So that's what we're doing here: learning how to do this together.
(NB: All resources here have been compiled from a number of sources -- I have given credit where possible and received permission from individuals who I have received information from to share their work here. If you see your work here and credit is not properly given -- please contact me and I will either credit you or remove your work, whatever you wish!)