AuthorMelissa Welshans

We’re All Smart Enough: A Pep Talk for PhDs on the Job Market

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A woman character in an office is talking to herself, as well as her shoulder-consciences. Woman: "Ahh! I don't know what I'm doing! I'm an imposter!" (poof!) Shoulder conscience 1: "You're not an imposter, Cecilia! Think of how much you've accomplished!" (poof!) Shoulder conscience 2: "Yeah, but how much of it was luck or circumstances?" Woman: "Uh, who are you guys?" Shoulder conscience 2: "We're like Gollum from 'Lord of the Rings' but for overachievers."

I begin this blog post with the title “We’re All Smart Enough” because, as has at least been part of my experience of graduate education, there is a perception that only the best and brightest get the coveted tenure track job in higher education. But I’m here to tell you—if you’re in a PhD program, you are one of the best and the brightest. You ARE smart enough. And deciding that you do not enjoy...

Revisiting Unruly Instruction

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A cropped scan of the cover of Kathleen Rowe's book Unruly Woman. It features realistic art of a fat blond woman wearing a low-cut sleeveless red dress, pears, and a white fur stole, laughing and leaning in a dominating sexual position over a white man in a white shirt and black tie

This week, we dive into Broadly Textual’s archive, from its days as Metathesis, to revisit a piece of important work by now-Dr. Melissa Welshans. Her post, written in 2014 during her time in the English PhD program, addresses the same issues discussed by Natalie El-Eid in her first contribution this month, and reflected in the poem contribution by Rhyse Curtis last week: how do we navigate a...

Get your Hands off my Boobs: Mansplaining and (Gay) Male Privilege

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In my previous blog posts, I sought to demonstrate the way in which the critical thinking skills I have developed from the Humanities aid me in understanding the world in which I live. From my students’ teaching evaluations to the trash I see on the street, our daily experiences are open to interpretation through critical reflection. My final post offers a similar reflection on a personal...

Leave your Message, not your Trash

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On a frigid yet sunny day in January 2014, I happened to find myself a couple of blocks away from the annual March for Life in Washington, DC. I was in the capitol visiting the Folger Shakespeare Library for some research, and had arrived early in the morning for a long day of archival exploration (or, let’s face it, geeking out over old books). As the day went on and I occasionally stepped out...

Unruly Instruction: Pedagogy, Feminism, and the Unruly Woman

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Hello world! It is a pleasure to be the blogger this month for Metathesis and I look forward to sharing my thoughts on a few different topics with our readers. Don’t forget—if you like this blog YOU, TOO could be a contributor. Check out our CFP here For my first post I thought I would share a (very) condensed version of a paper I presented at Syracuse’s annual Future Professoriate Program...

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