Earlier this month I presented a small part of my research at the National Women’s Studies Association conference in Montreal, Canada. The conference took place in the wake of the devastating election results. The timing of the conference couldn’t have been better. I needed to get out of D.C. and not worry about turning onContinue reading “When You Present Critical Findings About Your Friend at a Conference…and She’s in the Audience”
Category Archives: Academia
The Dissertation Is My Olympics. The Olympics Is My Dissertation
Thank goodness for the Rio Games. Just when I was falling into a rut with my doctoral work, the Summer Games begun. It’s early to feel burnt out considering I just started the dissertation journey. Perhaps defending my proposal only a few months after giving birth and then moving to the other side of theContinue reading “The Dissertation Is My Olympics. The Olympics Is My Dissertation”
Crowdfunding Your PhD?
Doctoral work is a privilege. And PhD programs are saturated with people of privilege. Despite the increasing rate of student diversity (in all manners of the word), a vast majority of us PhDing come from relative degrees of privilege. It seems oxymoronic to consider oneself an underprivileged (and I’m writing largely in terms of SES)Continue reading “Crowdfunding Your PhD?”
My Five Book Rule
Now that I’m officially out of the coursework and exam prep phase, I get to read for (academic) interest and dare I say, fun! I don’t buy or have a lot of stuff—an economic reality of being a grad student and hating clutter—but I do like having a lot of physical books. Over the yearsContinue reading “My Five Book Rule”
Loving Research Even When It Sometimes Doesn’t Love You Back
Research is really exciting. From my undergrad, master’s, and (now) PhD programs I’ve had the privilege to dabble in several kinds of research methods: statistical analysis, content analysis, experimental design, ethnographic work, focus groups and key informant interviews, oral history, archival research, survey implementation and analysis, program evaluation, build environment assessments, and etc. Research projectsContinue reading “Loving Research Even When It Sometimes Doesn’t Love You Back”
Passing the Qualifying Exams
If we analogize the PhD journey to climbing an Everest-like mountain, I’m heaving to catch my breath right now. I just passed my qualifying exam. After reviewing two hundred (plus) books—divided into three reading lists (“Gendering American Studies,” “Body Politics,” and “Contemporary Life Narratives”) that culminated in a week long examination where I wrote threeContinue reading “Passing the Qualifying Exams”
Writing About My Friend, the Olympian
There’s nothing like signing up for a writing course to kick my ass into writing gear. Some people are self-motivated and determined to pump out pages without externally imposed deadlines and accountability. I’m not that type of person. I respond well to external pressure and deadlines, especially from an authority figure or someone scores smarterContinue reading “Writing About My Friend, the Olympian”
PhD Exam Prep: It Begins
It’s time. Since day one of my PhD program I had spent too many moments fretting over the qualifying exams and doubting how I could ever read, discuss, and write about ~200 books in time. We didn’t read this copiously in the social sciences and I wondered if switching to the humanities was too loftyContinue reading “PhD Exam Prep: It Begins”
Guest Post: The One-Body Problem
Originally posted on Tenure, She Wrote:
by @scidoctress I hold immense respect for my female friends and colleagues who are struggling to advance their own academic careers alongside a spouse’s. I’ve watched brilliant women find a plethora of creative solutions to the “two-body problem,” as it’s termed, from negotiating spousal hires to commuting great distances…
Word Searches and Database Management
As we’ve entered the second half of the semester, I’m increasingly thinking about how to arrange, present, analyze and set up my project for the Digital History course. This document introducing tabular data analysis provides some interesting options and considerations. I’m working with about 30-35 magazine articles from the 1940s to 1960s. They are eitherContinue reading “Word Searches and Database Management”
On Spatial and Geographical Tools
As a spatial and visual learner, I’ve been curious about GIS (Geographical Information Systems) since I first learned about it during my time as a public health program evaluator, several years ago. Although our evaluation team never built a GIS database (while I was there), we discussed its potential in relation to some of ourContinue reading “On Spatial and Geographical Tools”
“Change of Life” Pathologizing Menopause
In my Digital History course we’re moving onto the “doing” or hands-on part of the course. It’s a bit overwhelming but also incredibly exciting. In many ways I feel as though my imagination is the limit for this project, and then I return to reality. Taking two other demanding courses and teaching Mondays, Wednesdays, andContinue reading ““Change of Life” Pathologizing Menopause”
Digital Humanities and the Future of my Academic “Work”
Although, I have problems with David Bell’s tendency to over essentialize an issue against print monographs in the academic sphere, I do find the conversation about new ways to view academic “work” exciting. I’m especially interested in bridging the knowledge and accessibility gap between academic research with the public, so some of Bell’s arguments forContinue reading “Digital Humanities and the Future of my Academic “Work””
Information Technology: Friend or Foe?
It wasn’t until this week I really started appreciating the academic crossroad I currently exist in. This predicament is in reference to how the digital age is inevitably shaping and challenging the world of learning and what we consider academic quality work. As a doctorate student I need to start concerning myself with publishing papersContinue reading “Information Technology: Friend or Foe?”
Online Identity Crisis
I’ve grappled over this issue before – how to create/maintain my digital identity. In hindsight, I wish I wrestled with this online from the get-go rather than in my head and notebook (or in a course assignment requiring me to blog on the topic). For starters I would have spent more time productively blogging thanContinue reading “Online Identity Crisis”
Yuka Polovina 