Author: Jennifer Polk
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Daveena Tauber, Consultant, Transition Q&A
Dr. Daveena Tauber earned her PhD in English from Rutgers University. She consults with graduate programs and graduate writers in the U.S. and internationally on issues related to scholarly writing. You can find her at Scholar-Studio.com. What did you hope for in terms of employment as you completed your PhD? I had every intention of being…
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Striking for a better now, and a better future
This week’s post for University Affairs is my contribution to the debates about the strikes happening here in Toronto, and especially the situation at the University of Toronto, where I do my PhD in the Department of History. I quote from a marvelous open letter written by an English professor, and from a memoir I…
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Kara Santokie, Executive Director, Transition Q&A
Kara Santokie earned her PhD in political science from the University of Toronto. Formerly a professor, she is now director of Toronto Women’s City Alliance, where she works towards the inclusion of women’s voices in municipal politics. Her work has led her to be featured in the Toronto Star, NOW Magazine, CTV News, CP24, and the CBC,…
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Book review: The Unruly PhD
The Unruly PhD: Doubts, Detours, Departures, & Other Success Stories by Rebecca Peabody is a collection of first-hand accounts and interviews with people who’ve travelled in, through, and beyond graduate school. After a brief introduction by Dr. Peabody, an art history PhD who works at the Getty Research Institute, the book is divided into three sections.…
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CFP: Beyond the Professoriate, 2 & 9 May 2015
Were you at Beyond the Professoriate last year? No? Well, you can come this year! The Call for Panellists and Presenters is now out. We’d love to hear from you if you’d like to talk about your career trajectory (be a panellist on 2 May) or deliver a presentation to help PhDs in career transition…
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Michael Ryan Hunsaker, Special Education Teacher, Transition Q&A
Michael Ryan Hunsaker earned his PhD in 2012 from University of California, Davis in neuroscience. His research was to develop behavioral methods to evaluate neurodevelopmental disease in rodent models as well as to evaluate neuropathological consequences of genetic disease. He’s now a 2nd-5th grade special education life skills teacher in Utah. Find him online at Why…
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Tips for surviving the academic job search season
On Tuesday evening I spoke at an event on imposter syndrome organized by Grad Minds, a student group at the University of Toronto. One audience member asked about how to keep her spirits up at this time of year, when academic hiring is in full swing. Or, should I say, academic rejection is in full…
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Reflect back to move forward
Instead of making New Year’s resolutions, I’m going to reflect back on what I did and didn’t do this past year, and explore how I feel about those things. Those reflections will highlight things that are important to me, and suggest future priorities and action steps. Here are some questions to help you do the…
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The PhD is a passport
This wonderful phrase and metaphor for understanding what a doctoral degree is — a passport to many different career and life paths — comes from this wonderful TEDx talk by Nadia Jaber. She’s a PhD candidate in molecular and cellular biology at Stony Brook University in New York State. Nadia’s talk is entitled Reimagining the PhD.…