A new article from Chronicle Vitae discusses important considerations for doctoral programs going forward: “There is no reason that strategic preparation cannot coexist with the intensive intellectual commitment of Ph.D. study. Indeed, those two things must work in tandem if Ph.D.s are going to be in a position to use their knowledge and training for…
Category: Graduate Program Innovation
PhD Innovation Grants at Duke University
Duke University’s Versatile Humanists at Duke program, funded by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, offers PhD Innovation Grants to departments “to develop and test curricular changes designed to enhance the preparation of graduate students for careers inside and outside of academia.” These grants are a great example of the many innovations…
Reimagining the Humanities PhD and Reaching New Publics – Simpson Center for the Humanities, University of Washington
Reimagining the Humanities PhD and Reaching New Publics—launched in July 2015 with the support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation—has three basic components. First, it develops connections between the University of Washington and two-year colleges in the Seattle District. Second, it offers summer fellowships for doctoral students to pursue public scholarship projects. Finally, it provides…
The Future of the Humanities PhD
This article discusses several well-known problems facing PhD programs in the humanities, including high attrition rates, long time to degree, and an unbelievably competitive job market. The authors propose radically altering doctoral education to meet the challenges of a changing world and to bring PhD training into the 21st century.
On the Usefulness of Graduate Student Internships
A history PhD student at the University of Mexico writes about her skepticism when she first learned about internships for graduate students offered through the American Historical Association’s Career Diversity Initiative. When she realized the potential benefits of connecting with historically-minded people and institutions, using historical expertise to enhance public dialogue and cultural preservation, and…
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.
Professional Development at Northwestern University
The Graduate School at Northwestern University offers small grants for departments, faculty, and graduate students for a range of professional development initiatives. Some involve redesigning graduate curricula or designing new programming, and others support graduate students directly through paid professional development opportunities.
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…
Reforming Doctoral Education, 1990 to 2015: Recent Initiatives and Future Prospects
This report was commissioned by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to provide an historical overview of initiatives to reform graduate education in the last 25 years. It is intended as a resource for administrators, faculty, students, and others interested in graduate education.
Bass Connections
Duke University has launched a university-wide initiative to develop connections across disciplines and create a new model for education by helping students apply what they learn in the classroom to pressing problems in the world. The site contains course descriptions that offer models for tackling issues of popular concern through collaborative and applied research.