The Gradhacker Podcast

Alex Galarza, Andrea Zellner and Benjamin Sawyer discuss recent articles on the GradHacker blog and discuss posts from /r/GradSchool subreddit. Alex is then joined by Tim Lepczyk to discuss his work at eduhacker and digital humanities in general. About the Guests Tim Lepczyk is a Fellow in Digital Humanities at Hendrix College and the main force behind Eduhacker. Links mentioned in or relevant to the episode: “Accepting Setbacks: Surviving When Your Dissertation Changes” by Katy Meyers “Thesis Hatement” by Rebecca Schuman “You’re F*****, and You’re Probably to Blame” by Karen Gregory Rebecca Schuman’s Response to Criticism of Thesis Hatement “What maddening responses do you get when you tell someone you’re a grad student in your field?” from /r/GradSchool subreddit Download the .mp3 Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes! Gradhacker’s music is “Salty, Nascent, Just for Me” by scottaltham / CC BY-NC 3.0  

Andrea Zellner, Benjamin Sawyer, and Alex Galarza discuss recent articles on the GradHacker blog and discuss posts from /r/GradSchool subreddit. Alex is then joined by Greg Colón Semenza to discuss Dr. Semenza’s book Graduate Study for the 21st Century: How to Build a Career in the Humanities. About the Guests Greg Colón Semenza is Associate Professor in the Department of English at the University of Connecticut. Links mentioned in or relevant to the episode: “Seven Reasons to Write From the Start,” by Kaitlin Gallagher “Teaching with Google Docs” by Stephanie Hedge “What is Being a TA like?” from /r/GradSchool subreddit “Friends, comrades, how do I gut a monograph?” from /r/GradSchool subreddit “Under-qualified for grad school?” from /r/GradSchool subreddit Download the .mp3 Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes! Gradhacker’s music is “Salty, Nascent, Just for Me” by scottaltham / CC BY-NC 3.0  

Andrea Zellner, Ben Sawyer, and Alex Galarza discuss recent posts on the blog and start a new segment where they respond to questions from the /r/GradSchool subreddit! Alex is then joined by guests Jason Heppler, Miriam Posner, and Tim Carmody to discuss graduate training and #altac career paths. About the Guests  Jason Heppler is a Gradhacker author, a PhD Candidate at Nebraska, and works currently as a Academic Technology Specialist in the History Department at Stanford. Miriam Posner is the Digital Humanities Program Coordinator at UCLA and received her PhD in Film Studies and American Studies at Yale. Tim Carmody is a Senior Writer covering technology at The Verge and formerly at Wired. He received his PhD in Comparative Lit and Lit Theory at UPenn. Links mentioned in or relevant to the episode: “Training grad students for a new scholarly landscape” Stop Being Polite and Start Getting Real: Professional Education for Professional Humanists Memory to myth: tracing Aaron Swartz through the 21st century How do you deal with the fact that nothing you do in graduate school is impressive or surprising? – from /r/Gradschool (TA advice) What is the best way to deal with students who unfairly complain about their grade? – from /r/Gradschool The Humanities, Unraveled – Michael Bérubé Download the .mp3 Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes! Gradhacker’s music is “Salty, Nascent, Just for Me” by scottaltham / CC BY-NC 3.0  

In today’s podcast, GradHacker development editor Benjamin Sawyer interviews Michigan State University Graduate School Dean, Karen Klomparens about things to consider when applying to graduate school. Benjamin then joins Andrea and Alex for a conversation on recent GradHacker articles. About the Guests: Karen Klomparens is Associate Provost for Graduate Education and Dean of the Graduate School at Michigan State University. Links mentioned in or relevant to the episode: Sucstress in Grad School by Kaitlin Gallagher Shaping Department Culture by Rob Gee Writing Your Statement of Purpose by Stephanie Hedge Financing a Graduate School Education: 4 Important Questions by Myra Ann Houser On the Art of Selecting a Graduate Program by Benjamin Sawyer When Rejection is a Good Thing by Andrea Zellner The editors at Gradhacker would like to extend a special thanks to Dr. Klomparens for taking the time to provide us with insight on applying to graduate school. Download the .mp3 You can now subscribe to the podcast on iTunes! Gradhacker’s music is “Salty, Nascent, Just for Me” by scottaltham / CC BY-NC 3.0

In today’s podcast, GradHacker author Julie Platt interviews Malea Powell to get insight into the current job market. Andrea reveals her complicated relationship with Prezi, and Alex discusses the merits of podcasts and exercise in this week’s rundown of recent GradHacker stories. About the Guests: Malea Powell is Associate Professor of Writing, Rhetoric and American Culture (WRAC) at Michigan State University. Links mentioned in or relevant to the episode: Julie Platt: A Work Soundtrack Jason Heppler: Digital Distractions: Podcasts Katy Meyers: Prezi: A Dynamic Presentation or Nauseating Experience? Megan Johnson: The Lonely Life of the Academic Stephanie Hedge: How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Dissertation London School of Economics: Public Lectures and Events Podcast Download the .mp3 You can now subscribe to the podcast on iTunes! Gradhacker’s music is “Salty, Nascent, Just for Me” by scottaltham / CC BY-NC 3.0

To cap off our crossover week with ProfHacker, Alex sat down with this week’s contributors for an insightful conversation about their approach to maintaining a productive schedule. Building on this week’s posts, Alex reviews the authors’ suggestions for improved workflow and poses some follow-up questions on the technology and techniques they suggested in their contributions. About the Guests: Stephanie Hedge is a PhD Candidate in Rhetoric and Composition at Ball State University and a contributing author at GradHacker. Caitlin Holton is a graduate student in the Department of History at the University of Guelph. Natalie Houston is an associate professor in the Department of English at the University of Houston and a regular contributor to ProfHacker. Jason B. Jones is a professor in the Department of English at Central Connecticut State University and a founding editor of ProfHacker. Links mentioned in or relevant to the episode: Caitlin Holton: Productivity and My Menu Bar Heroes Natalie Houston: My Productivity Rules Stephanie Hedge: Working on the Go Jason B. Jones: Five Reasons to Think About How you Work Download the .mp3 You can now subscribe to the podcast on iTunes! Gradhacker’s music is “Salty, Nascent, Just for Me” by scottaltham / CC BY-NC 3.0

Alex and Andrea discuss a number of recent Gradhacker stories, including different approaches to academic conferences. Alex interviews Sharon Leon as a part of his continuing series focused on the digital humanities. Finally, Alex sits down with Rachael Cayley to discuss writing strategies and her blog, Explorations of Style. About the Guests: Sharon Leon is Director of Public Projects, Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at George Mason University. Rachael Cayley is Senior Lecturer in the Office of English Language and Writing Support in the School of Graduate Studies at the University of Toronto. Links mentioned in or relevant to the episode: Andrea Zellner: 3 Things You (Probably) Didn’t Know about Google Scholar Stephanie Hedge: Successfully Navigating Conferences Alex Galarza: Develop and Implement a Course Blog Download the .mp3 You can now subscribe to the podcast on iTunes! Gradhacker’s music is “Salty, Nascent, Just for Me” by scottaltham / CC BY-NC 3.0

Alex and Andrea discuss a number of Gradhacker stories and are joined by Amy Rubens to discuss classroom participation. Alex interviews Kimon Keramidas as part of a new series discussing the digital humanities. Finally, Alex sits down with Chad Black and Rob Townsend from the Research Division of the American Historical Association. Links mentioned in or relevant to the episode: Amy Rubens – “The Tricky Business of Grading Participation” Andrea Zellner – “I’m Going on an Information Diet” Jason Heppler – “AHA Forming a Task Force on Digital Scholarship” Download the .mp3 You can now subscribe to the podcast on iTunes! Gradhacker’s music is “Salty, Nascent, Just for Me” by scottaltham / CC BY-NC 3.0

Alex and Andrea interview fly solo this episode, discussing a number of Gradhacker stories. Links mentioned in or relevant to the episode: Jennifer Travis – “Adrift on a Lonely Sea” Kaitlin Gallagher – “Getting Through a Mid-Degree Crisis” Amy Rubens – “Exit Strategies” William Pannapacker –  Couple articles / interview on NOT going to grad school. Download the .mp3 You can now subscribe to the podcast on iTunes! Gradhacker’s music is “Salty, Nascent, Just for Me” by scottaltham / CC BY-NC 3.0

Alex and Andrea interview Ethan Watrall and Amanda French to discuss THATCamp; what is it and why should grad students care? The hosts then discuss a number of Gradhacker stories. Links Mentioned in or relevant to the Episode The declared ‘Death of the Unconference‘ and Amanda French’s insistence that ‘The Unconference is Alive’ Katy’s “Stoicism in Grad School”, Julie’s “Perils of Perfectionism”, and an anonymous entry on “Dealing With Abuse in Grad School” Andrea’s post on dealing with the dreariness of the job market: “Fighting HEARSE: Higher Ed Apocalypse Reading SyndromE“ Terry’s popular piece on Stripping Down the Writing Process Alex’s recent post on why you should to go THATCamp and Chris Alen Sula’s reflection on a talk given by Tom Schienfeldt on THATCamp as a scholarly society. Download the .mp3 You can now subscribe to the podcast on iTunes! Gradhacker’s music is “Salty, Nascent, Just for Me” by scottaltham / CC BY-NC 3.0