Passion, Burnout, and Liking What You Write
Write what you like. Dress for the job you want, not the job you have. If you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life. From Thomas Carlyle’s vision of the Victorian work ethic, otherwise known as the gospel of work, to the twenty-first century’s increasing focus on developing a comprehensive
Empathy and Education Revisited: Fight or Flight
This week, we look back at Vicky Cheng‘s December 2016 post on engaging with students in the classroom. Vicky will be back next week with more on teaching and writing. “A good teacher will lead the horse to water; an excellent teacher will make the horse thirsty first.” — Mario Cortes Inside the academic classroom,
![The "is this X?" meme. The male Asian anime character has a meteor superimposed over his face, and he gestures at an image of Earth. The meme is captioned "Is this [X]?" where [X] is an image of the eyes of the man from the commercial real estate meme.](https://i0.wp.com/broadlytextual.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/49265719_278284466202425_5489023532056707072_n.png?resize=790%2C550&ssl=1)
“It’s Lit!”: Memes, Linguistic Play, and Academic Terminology
As a first-generation immigrant who first grew up speaking Mandarin Chinese, which then became superseded by English as my entire family struggled to learn the ins and outs of this truly ridiculous language, reading student papers submitted by those wrestling with the language will always provoke a bit of extra compassion from me. Working toward
Learning Writing By Teaching Writing
Generally, there are few things that unite teachers more than a mutual aversion to grading. For some, the marking up of assignments and assigning of earned grades may be a mere annoyance; for others, the unavoidable nature of subjectivity inherent to that process, plus the amount of feedback necessary, multiplied by the time consumed makes
Developing the Writing Process: Cleaning the Litter Box, Constipation, and Other Metaphors
Most people don’t usually experience quiet moments of realization while cleaning out a cat’s litter box, but this is sort of how the writing and editing process goes: Here I crouch, sifting through environmentally-friendly litter and scooping out poops. Several paces away, my handsome tuxedo derpface sits primly, tail curled around his hind legs, silently
Back to School Shopping: Exploring Independent School Teaching
Let’s pick up where we left off, shall we? I had graduated with my PhD in English but had realized that a tenure track academic job was not for me. What does one do, then, to prepare oneself for a new career path? Again, I must echo what Staci emphasized—reach out to your networks.
We’re All Smart Enough: A Pep Talk for PhDs on the Job Market
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 parts of the work, or do not want to make certain lifestyle choices to try and get that tenure track job, has nothing to do with intelligence.
Show, Don’t Tell: Networking and Showing Up
When asked to write a series of posts on how my PhD work prepared me for a more diverse career path, I knew that I wanted to be helpful while still acknowledging the truth behind finding any sort of employment: so much of it is about luck, not skill and worth. Yes, I have a lot of skills that have made me a good fit for my current job as a tutor manager. They are not necessarily why I was hired, though. I got the job because I was in the right place at the right time. Then, I had the aptitude that allowed me to do well in the role once there. So, to that end, I’m going to discuss two related but ultimately separate things in this week’s post: 1) how to help bolster your luck on the job market and 2) which skills helped me thrive once I had a foot in the door.
On Alt-Ac Careers and Autoimmune Conditions
This month, Broadly Textual is proud to welcome back two outstanding graduates from the English Graduate program at Syracuse University (and previous contributors to the blog), Dr. Staci Stutsman and Dr. Melissa Welshans. Each week in March, our returning contributors will discuss their experiences within their PhD program, the skills they gained during their studies,
“Remarkable Boy … I Think I’ll Eat Your Heart”: Revisiting Hannibal
This week, we return to the archive for a post by Molly Cavanaugh, where she discusses the non-traditional erotics of the relationship between Hannibal Lecter and Will Graham. In the same vein as Mark’s posts, which have considered representations of gay relationships in film and television, Molly’s post contemplates the homoerotic tension created between predator