By Matthew Woodbury Trevor Kilgore is an Academic Advisor and Coordinator for Department Advising at the University of Michigan’s College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. He received his PhD in History from the University of Michigan in April 2018. The University of Michigan offers a dizzying array of academic programs across more than a…
Category: Success Stories
Epiphany at the Altar
By Matthew Woodbury Dr. Lehti Keelmann received her PhD in the History of Art in 2016. She is the Assistant Curator of Western Art at the University of Michigan Museum of Art. Walking past formal 18th-century portraits, intricate Tiffany lamps, and an exhibit of stunning fashion photographs, it’s easy to see why Dr. Lehti Keelmann finds…
A linguist in tech: designing healthcare conversations
By Shana Melnysyn Dr. Joseph Tyler received his PhD in Linguistics in 2012. He is a Conversation Designer at Sensely. How do you talk to a computer? How does it listen and understand your words? How do you make a computer produce utterances that a human can understand? Dr. Joseph Tyler addresses these questions every day in…
Answering a Calling in a High School History Classroom
By Shana Melnysyn Dr. Gene Cassidy is a high school history teacher at Miss Porter’s School. He received his PhD in History from U of M in 2015. Every morning when he wakes up, Dr. Gene Cassidy feels like he “won the lottery.” He absolutely loves his job as a high school history teacher at…
Composing Your Career: From the “What” to the “How”
This is a follow-up post by Meg Ahern, who recently began a new position as a learning specialist at USAID LEARN. Dr. Ahern completed her joint PhD in Women’s Studies & English at U of M in 2012. I’ll start with a confession. In my previous post, I wrote about how useful an academic doctorate can be…
Career Linguist
Career Linguist is a blog showcasing professions that linguistics PhDs pursue beyond the tenure track. It tracks the professional journeys of people in fields as diverse as consulting, language advocacy, and social media marketing. The blog also includes helpful advice on career transitions and lists current job postings, both of which may be of interest…
A Digital Humanities Project in Tibetan Studies
By Shana Melnysyn Dr. Alex Gardner is the Executive Director and Chief Editor for The Treasury of Lives, a digital humanities project that comprises “a biographical encyclopedia of Tibet, Inner Asia, and the Himalayan region.” Dr. Gardner received his PhD in Asian Languages and Cultures from University of Michigan in 2007. Dr. Alex Gardner began…
Unexpected Careers
This article from Chronicle Vitae profiles three humanities PhDs working in careers beyond the tenure track. Each of these professionals talk about their paths to their current careers, and give advice about things to keep in mind when pursuing a professional path that presents different challenges and opportunities than those you may have prepared for in…
Bringing Humanities Training to Professional Storytelling and Public Engagement
By Estevan Rael-Gálvez, PhD. Former State Historian of New Mexico, Executive Director at the National Hispanic Cultural Center and Sr. VP of Sites at the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Dr. Rael-Gálvez, writer, strategist, and principal of the consulting firm Creative Strategies 360°, received his PhD in American Culture from the University of Michigan in…
A Linguistics PhD in Instructional Consulting
By Shana Melnysyn Dr. Chris Odato, an Instructional Consultant at Keene State College, received his PhD in Linguistics at the University of Michigan in 2010. Dr. Chris Odato is an Instructional Consultant at Keene State College in New Hampshire, where he works closely with faculty on course design and professional development. After a few years…