Last Week on Post Academic (4/18-4/24)
Thanks, new and loyal readers, for bringing more traffic to the blog than ever this week–and by a wide margin! A lot of it had to do with Caroline’s wonderful interview posts with Adam Ruben for his book Surviving Your Stupid Stupid Decision to Go to Grad School. We had a whole lot of other stuff going on here as well last week, and here are some of our picks to click that might have been lost in the shuffle:
* In the spirit of Adam’s book, we looked into ways grad students can persevere the average 9.3 years they spend (trying) to get their Ph.Ds. Caroline wrote about how to improve grad student-faculty relationships and the kinds of part-time work grad students can find to make ends meet. Arnold provided some advice on more shifty ways to subsist through freeloading.
* Some more practical, concrete help to improve the grad school experience would help, though. Arnold found some possible solutions to the latest, greatest crisis in graduate education.
* Try typing “grad students” into a Google search and submitting a thesis topic to the new site IsMyThesisHotorNot.com, and see what you come up with!
* And please be a part of the Post Academic social networking experience by “fanning” us on Facebook page and following our Tweets. You can join up by pressing the virtual buttons in the right column. Or you can just drop us an old-school email–our address is in the right-hand column as well–to give us your suggestions for story ideas, more interesting interview subjects, and whatever else you feel like.
Last Week on Post Academic (4/11-4/17)
At the end of one week and the beginning of another, we catch our collective breaths on the blog and gather up links to some of the posts that have either cycled off the home page or might have been lost in the shuffle. Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and thanks for reading!
* Welcome Dr. E. Clair, our first real-life fully-employed faculty member contributor! His inaugural post is about the odds younger faculty face in trying to get fellowships and external support and how they and their fresh research are being roadblocked by established scholars.
* We covered the issue of interview protocol this week, outside and inside academia. Caroline provided some helpful “do’s” that transitioning scholars should think about when they prepare for interviews in the hamster world. Arnold excavated his personal experiences with academic interviews to offer some “don’t’s” to faculty search committees.
* And we discussed the latest numbers released by the AAUP regarding the lowest pay increase in 50 years. And here’s more context as to why the reality of the situation is probably even worse than the bad stats already tell us.
* We are always interested in debunking cultural myths about academic personality types and hyping up other unexpected pop culture analogies. Arnold explains how grad students aren’t hippies and slackers, while Caroline describes what academia and disco share in common.
Last week on Post Academic (3/21-3/27)
Thanks to all the readers for making this another great week for us at Post Academic! Here are some of the posts from the past week that might have been lost in the shuffle or have cycled off the front page by the end of the week. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
* Caroline offers some real-life hands-on advice on how to write a resume and how to get paid (if you’re a freelancer, that is).
* While Arnold takes Caroline’s real-life hands-on advice, he’s still dithering about keeping on hanging on or moving on.
* But at least health care reform passed, which should help vulnerable academics and post-academics.
Last week on Post Academic (3/14-3/20)
If you’re waiting to watch the House vote on health reform coming some time today, why don’t you check out what you might have missed last week on Post Academic? Besides the fun stuff on what (not) to wear, March Madness, and Spring Break that’s still on the home page, here’s what else we covered:
* Caroline tries to buck up prospective grad students who might not be getting great news about their applications. Arnold does the same for jobseekers who haven’t gotten the results they’ve been hoping for.
* Caroline looks at more broke-ass schools and more broke-ass folks.
* Arnold learns that the NY Times figured out that there’s this Rate My Professors thingy.
Last week on Post Academic (3/7-3/13)
Here’s a little recap of the week that just ended at Post Academic. Every Saturday or Sunday, we’ll try to tout some posts that might have been overlooked or that have cycled off the front page from the early part of the week. Thanks for making it another good week!
* We pass along some great resources for media jobs, freelance work, and academic jobs you might not be getting this year.
* We think about what prospective grad students thinking about their decisions should be thinking about. Caroline covers mentors and department culture, while Arnold addresses money matters and good/bad first impressions.
And, remember, don’t forget to spring forward on Sunday and change your clocks accordingly!
Last week on Post Academic…
Thanks for helping us make it through our first week, readers! Some of our earliest pieces have cycled off the front page (perhaps thankfully, in Arnold’s case), but here are links to the posts you might have missed because, like, you didn’t know we existed:
* Our first post! Caroline finds a lawyer who wants to sell his degree–literally.
* Caroline offers hands-on practical advice on how to use the skills you already have, such as, you know, reading carefully.
* Arnold is obsessing about applications and spam.
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