This article discusses the ways in which graduate students internalize the idea that they are their research, and argues that the entanglement of personal and academic identities ultimately does a disservice to people, especially when they try to think about pursuing careers beyond the tenure track. The author encourages people to think about their work as an…
Category: Professional Identity
Challenges to Graduate Program Innovation
Ten years after the MLA called for a transformation in the way that foreign language departments structure graduate curricula, very few departments have heeded the call. This article discusses some of the points of faculty resistance and obstacles to meaningful change.
Why Career Self-Assessments Matter
This piece features a number of helpful tools for self-assessment, which can be an important step in your career development path. These tools can help you determine areas where you excel and thrive, which in turn can lead you to career paths that suit your interests, strengths, and personality.
How I (Unknowingly) Prepared for My Museum Career
By Matthew Jaber Stiffler, Researcher at the Arab American National Museum and Lecturer at the University of Michigan. Dr. Stiffler received his PhD in American Culture from U of M in 2010. My transition from academia to the world of cultural museums was, initially, supposed to be a temporary exile. My graduate career, eight years in…
Developing and Applying Humanities Skills: From Museums to Financial Services
By Heloise Finch-Boyer, Senior Grants Specialist at Leyton UK. Dr. Finch-Boyer finished her PhD in Anthropology and History at University of Michigan in 2009. Internships aren’t just for undergrads. But when I entered the doctoral program in anthropology & history I was obsessed with other things: my field site, papers, prelims, my PhD “question”, the…
PhDs Discuss Transitioning to Careers Outside the Tenure Track
From PhD to Life is a website full of resources for PhDs looking to transition to careers outside tenure track academia. It includes this comprehensive collection of Q & A’s with people who have transitioned into various careers, from libraries and nonprofits to banks and tech startups.
Interview With Leonard Cassuto
Leonard Cassuto is the author of The Graduate School Mess: What Caused It and How We Can Fix It, a thorough diagnosis of the problems affecting graduate school programs, which tend to not adequately prepare students for the jobs they actually end up getting. In this interview, Leonard talks about the history of graduate programs, the…
Integrating Values Into Your Career
In this article, Laura Schram, UM PhD in Political Science and Director of Academic and Professional Development at Rackham’s Office of Graduate Student Success, discusses the importance of connecting your skills to your values as you think about the type of career that might suit you.
What’s the right job for bringing historical perspectives into public life?
By Amanda Moniz, PhD, Associate Director of the National History Center and Program Coordinator at the American Historical Association. Dr. Moniz received her PhD in History from the University of Michigan in 2008. If you had asked me several years ago what public history is, I would have talked about museums. Indeed, museums are leading…
Is Public Scholarship About Telling Stuff To More People?
By Cassius Adair, PhD Candidate, Department of English I love to talk at people, which is one of the reasons I speak on more panels than maybe I should. Last month I ran– literally jogged across the Diag like a tardy freshman– from academic job market training in Angell Hall to a public scholarship panel…