Get a Life, PhD

Academic Life Your Lived Experience Makes You a Better Scholar What you know from your own life can become the question that shapes your strongest work. By Tanya Golash-Boza During my first semester of graduate school, I took a course on the sociology of education. Midway through the semester, we read John Ogbu and Signithia Fordham’s famous article on “acting White.” The research had been conduc…

You need an Argument Disinvestment and coercive investment in Black communities in DC have displaced and dispossessed Black residents, making gentrification through racialized reinvestment possible. I explain all those big words in the book. But, after reading through the thread, I realized I liked the arguments that use simple language better. So I tried again: The choice to use prisons and poli…

Graduate students are often tasked with leading discussion sections, yet graduate departments sometimes do not provide adequate training on how to teach effectively. During the first year in my Ph.D. program, I remember my cohort and I feeling unsure about what we needed to do in a discussion section since, for many of us, our undergraduate institutions did not offer discussion sections. Even if …

I chose to write a script instead of speaking from an outline. The talk needed to be 12 minutes or less and the best way to ensure that would happen was to write a script. As an academic, writing a TEDx script is like exercising a whole new muscle. I write all the time but had never done this particular form of writing. Learning how to do this well took a lot of time and feedback. Thus, I did som…

I have long thought about doing a TED or a TEDx talk. (TEDx events are independently organized TED events.) Thus, when I heard of a local opportunity, I applied immediately. That was in February 2020. As you can imagine, that event was canceled due to the pandemic. Once I applied, however, I started giving some serious thought to what I would say in a TEDx talk. To apply, I had to tell the organi…

When preparing an online class, videos may be the first thing to come to mind. And, videos can be a great idea. However, you certainly do not want to transform your 50-minute lecture into a 50-minute video. Instead, think carefully about your learning goals for each class session. And, think about which portions of your lecture class are best suited for video format. You can teach your learning g…

Many academics are mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted at the end of the academic year. So, the first step is to intentionally take some days off. At a minimum, take the weekend off. And, make sure you have some summer vacation planned, as you will need a real break. I plan a two-week vacation with absolutely no work every year. This year, after my writing retreat, I will spend that v…

I began my summer with a fabulous writing retreat with 21 other women in Bali. During that week of bliss, we woke up each morning, had a healthy and delicious breakfast, meditated, and then wrote until lunch. In the afternoons, we shared work with the brilliant participants, and then went on a little adventure. My goal with that retreat, which I organized with my amazing colleague, Ayu Saraswati,…

When I started writing Get a Life, PhD, my twins were eight years old and my youngest was five. Thus, much of my blog has been from the perspective of an academic mother with elementary school children. Today, seven years after I first began blogging, my twins are finishing up the tenth grade and my youngest is about to finish the seventh grade. So, what is it like to be an academic mom of teens?…

- Find a suitable journal. This is the most important step and one you should seek advice on from knowledgeable experts. Ask at least one person who has read the latest version of your manuscript if the journal you have selected is appropriate. If you are still unsure, you can send a brief (two or three sentence) query letter to the journal editor to inquire about fit. - Follow the submission ins…

However, I encourage tenure-track faculty members not only to think about achieving tenure but to be strategic and focused to ensure you are on the right path. Even if tenure is a few years off, new tenure-track faculty can take a few important steps now (other than, of course, work on publishing their dissertations, improving their courses and developing new research projects). Here are a few ex…

I have been proactive so that I can do the sort of service work that I find meaningful. For me, that means making the place I work more diverse, equitable, and inclusive. I work at the University of California, Merced. We are relatively unusual for a high-research-activity university in that our student population is very diverse. This year, 76 percent of our incoming class are first generation c…

I often hear academics worry they are not putting enough time into writing. But, how much is enough? For me, two hours of writing every weekday is more than enough time to be extremely productive. For the past ten years, I have written for two hours a day, five days a week, and taken at least four weeks of vacation every year. With that schedule, I have written more than many scholars will write …

As Get a Life, PhD is approaching two million (!!) page views, I am pulling out some of the "Greatest hits" from the archive. The post below is the most read post of all time on this blog, with over 125,000 views. I often share this post with my students as they embark on their first literature reviews. And, we read Foss and Walters' book every year in my graduate Writing and Publishing class. Wr…

This is a guest post by Noelle Sterne . Dissertation coach, editor, scholarly and mainstream writing consultant, author, and spiritual counselor, Noelle has published over 300 pieces in print and online venues. Her recently published handbook addresses graduate students’ largely overlooked but equally important nonacademic difficulties: Challenges in Writing Your Dissertation: Coping with the Emo…

This is a guest post by Inga Chira. Dr. Chira joined the faculty at California State University, Northridge in 2015 as an Assistant Professor of Finance and Financial Planning. She has a Ph.D. in Finance from Florida Atlantic University and is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP®). Inga's research is mostly concentrated around two fields: corporate finance and financial planning. Her current proje…

Guest post by L. Ayu Saraswati, an award-winning author, award-winning teacher, engaging speaker, innovative consultant, and an associate professor and graduate director of women’s studies at the University of Hawai`i. Moreover, she will co-facilitate the Creative Connections retreat with me in Hawai`i this May! If there is one thing you could do to get rid of writer’s block forever, would you do…

Many people are surprised to learn that I almost never use an alarm clock. I don’t use them because I cherish the feeling of being fully awake before I get out of bed. When I wake up and am ready to get out of bed, I can be sure that I have gotten a good night’s sleep and thus am ready to be at my best for the day. I know many academics are not getting enough sleep. I also know many academics bel…

If you want to become more creative, focused, and productive, meditation can be a great tool. Meditation will help you with focus, which will make you a more efficient writer. It will also help you to quiet your mind, which can help you access your creative potential. There are many benefits to meditation, and no downsides I can think of, so I highly recommend you try it. This article , for examp…

If you are reading this, I likely don’t need to tell you about the importance of publishing scholarly articles to get an academic position or, if you have one, to secure tenure or promotion. Instead, I’d like to offer you some tips that might help you get your research published. I am writing this post because I have reviewed an insane amount of articles over the past few months, and have noticed…