The Academic Life

A Conversation with Dr. William Germano Welcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear about: Important questions to ask yourself before getting started on revising A review of the basic options for the post-defense dissertation Hurdles a manuscript must clear in the scholarly publishing process How voice operates in scholarly writing The importance of book and chapter titles What good...

Welcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear about: The science that explains our busy minds What mindfulness is The difference between mindfulness and meditation How changing our habits is a small-step by small-step process A discussion of the book Bettter Daily Mindfulness Habits: Simple Changes with Lifelong Impact Today’s book is: Better Daily Mindfulness Habits: Simple Changes wi...

Welcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear: Why it is so important to have the conversation about “Equity in Higher Education” and why now is the time to do so What equity means; for whom, and what equity entails in thought and action What it means to perform equity as a routine practice in higher education What makes individuals equity minded Today’s book is: From Equity Talk to Eq...

Welcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear about: Dr. Bacal professional and academic rejections How success and rejection are part of the same path The importance of having a supportive person or a support system Why rejection is part of the hidden curriculum A discussion of the book The Rejection that Changed My Life  Today’s book is: The Rejection that Changed My Life, featuring...

Welcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear about: How a devotion to efficiency can become unhealthy Why leisure time (a.k.a. doing nothing) is essential How to reclaim our time and humanity · A discussion of the book Do Nothing: How to Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving Today’s book is: Do Nothing, by Celeste Headlee, which examines how in searching for ways to...

Welcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear about: How rejection is normal and even inevitable Skills to help you learn from and move through rejections toward your goals Why you need to develop your capacity for patience How asking people about their own rejections can help normalize yours A discussion of the book Win or Learn Today’s book is: Win or Learn: The Naked Truth About Tur...

Welcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear about: How multi-tasking and reactivity drain productivity Why skills you used before you turned 20 don’t work for your maturing brain Which attention management skills can solve your time management problems How mindfulness can help A discussion of the book Attention Management Today’s book is: Attention Management: How to Create Success a...

Welcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear about: A process focused approach to completing a dissertation and other academic writing The function of a dissertation and how it’s often misunderstood The importance of the research question The shift from student to scholar How delaying writing saves time The differences between fast writing, editing, and proof-reading Our guests are: D...

Welcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear about: The Emerson College Prison Initiative The Bard Prison Initiative How students apply to, enroll in, and attend college while in prison Challenges faced by incarcerated students Engaging effectively with incarcerated students Our guest is: Dr. Mneesha Gellman, an Associate Professor of Political Science in the Institute for Liberal Art...

Welcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear about: Dr. White’s journey to earn a PhD in tuba The Baltimore School for the Arts The importance of having a village The hidden curriculum Why teaching and mentoring are equally important for educators to do A discussion of the book I’m Possible: A Story of Survival, A Tuba, and the Small Miracle of a Big Dream Today’s book is: I'm Possibl...

Welcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear about: The hidden curriculum of the final year of the PhD program Writing your dissertation when you still have so much left to read about Why the final year of grad school is uniquely challenging How to determine if you should stay in your program or leave Why finishing your degree causes both relief and grief A discussion of the book Your...

Welcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear about: What the two-body problem is Dr. Kelly Baker’s experience on the academic job market as a wife and mother How gender bias can play out in academic job searches Why the three-body problem is a more accurate framing of this issue How Kelly reimagined herself and her skill set for jobs outside the professoriate Kelly and Chris’s advice...

Welcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear about: The hidden curriculum of transforming yourself from student to teacher Accepting and embracing your nerdy/geeky/introverted self Challenges faced by introverted teachers Prep [for yourself, your syllabus, and your course] Engaging effectively with students A discussion of the book Geeky Pedagogy: A Guide for Intellectuals, Introverts...

Welcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear about: The other hidden curriculum: the support and care strategies necessary for being well in academia Systemic and structural barriers Undiagnosed academic challenges, and personal traumas guest and host have faced Why we all need support How to support someone in tough times and why “help” needs to be customized the book Being Well in A...

Welcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear: How part of the hidden curriculum is the support networks you need to create for yourself; How you create that by “finding your people” and what qualities to look for in those people; Determining whether they belong in an advisor, mentor, thought partner, or academic friend role, and ways those relationships may transcend time and institut...

Welcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear about: Nancy Thayer’s path through college and graduate school, her work as a professor, how she hit a glass ceiling in academia, her decision to pursue writing as a full-time career, her life on an island off the coast of Massachusetts, and a discussion of the book Girls of Summer. Our guest is: Nancy Thayer, the New York Times bestselling...

Welcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear: --how Maura Nevel Thomas became an expert in time-management skills --why you need to use your to-do list differently than you think --how to determine your priorities --why life-hacks don’t help --and why being productive and being busy aren’t the same thing. Today’s book is: From To-Do to Done: How to Go From Busy to Productive by Master...

Welcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear about: Dante Stewart’s path through college and into his current graduate school, playing football for Clemson, why former college athletes need to advocate for current student players’ rights, why he chose to go into the seminary at Emery, his grandmother, and a discussion of Shoutin’ in The Fire: An American Epistle. Our guest is: Dante S...

Welcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear about: Megan Fraser’s job collecting and curating a Punk Rock archive, her current work at the Research Institute for Contemporary Outlaws, the outreach necessary for inclusion, the ethics of acquisitions, the complexity of preservation concerns, and why not everything can be saved. Our guest is: Megan Hahn Fraser has worked as the Assistan...

Welcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear about: Bethany Johnson’s simultaneous journey through graduate school and motherhood, her struggles with infertility, the history of birth-care access, why Black women have worse maternal health outcomes, the consequences for pregnant people in a pregnancy-surveillance culture, and a discussion of the book You’re Doing it Wrong: Mothering,...

Welcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear about: Dr. Dana Malone’s inspiration for researching in her own backyard, why she chose to do qualitative research for her dissertation and her first book, how she managed her insider/outside status, what bracketing is, using feminist research ethics, and how she dealt with gatekeepers. Our guest is: Dr. Dana M. Malone, a dynamic scholar-pr...

Welcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear about: Professor David Smith’s path to becoming a chemistry professor Why he’s passionate about making science inclusive and representational His husband’s death Being an academic and a single parent How sharing stories about food and cooking dinner helps him process his grief A discussion of his book Tw-eat: A Little Book with Big Feelings...

Welcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear about: Andrea Laurent-Simpson’s path in and out of and back into graduate school The story of her college dog, who became her family Why she became interested in looking at her pets as family members How her human kids reacted to her research project What her in-person research taught her about human-animal interactions Our book is: Just Li...

Welcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear about: Dr. Liz Faber’s long road from completed PhD to dream job Why academia said she was a failure The financial reasons she worked two academic jobs at once The importance of speaking out about pay-scale and departmental inequities Putting kindness in the classroom Why you have to define your own success Our guest is: Dr. Liz W Faber, an...

Welcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear about: The field of reproductive health studies The data on contraceptive access and effectiveness [even when used correctly] Why we need to trust women What happens when a pregnant person seeking an abortion is turned away The long-term outcomes for people who have had abortions The consequences for people denied abortions A discussion of...