The Good Enough Professor

Recently I’ve noticed a rising conversation among higher ed folks about the impact of prolonged stress on our bodies. This is a conversation we need to have in higher education, and we need to center the research and voices of critical disability studies scholars and disability justice advocates, who have been reckoning with these issues for a long time. In this episode, I explore how we might bet...

Join me and my co-editors Susan Hrach, Katie Linder, and Kitty Maynard for a behind-the-scenes discussion of our new book, Transformative Coaching for Faculty and Staff in Higher Education:  Powerful Tools To Address Institutional Challenges .  We talk about the collaborative experience of writing the book, our shared belief that coaching can transform higher ed, and why coaching matters now.  And...

Social media makes self care look easy, beautiful, and unattainable.  What if we could release the aesthetic of perfection and half-ass our self care instead?  In this episode, we explore practical, low-stakes approaches to several evidence-based self care practices:  journaling, gratitude, meditation, and creativity.  If you’re skeptical of self care, or despair of finding time or energy for self...

What tiny shifts could create more spaciousness and satisfaction in your academic life?  The breathing space between semesters is a great time to get a bird’s-eye view of your everyday life, on and off campus.  In this episode, I guide you through my “Wheel of Academic Life” tool for figuringout your own tiny change, and I share some examples of gentle and meaningful kaleidoscope shifts. Find the...

A conversation with Liz Norell about her new book, The Present Professor:  Authenticity and Transformational Teaching .  We talk about why presence matters in our teaching, how trauma disrupts learning (for our students and for us), and what might unfold when we soften in our academic lives.  Liz shares her playful approach to building communities, and her commitment to practicing yoga as a tool f...

A discussion with Chinasa Elue, grief researcher and grief coach, about the many ways that grief shows up in academic life.  We talk about assuming that grief is present on campus and embracing the awkwardness of tending to grief, and we explore what grief leadership could look like on campus (and why academic leaders should cry if they feel like it).  Chinasa shares the small actions we can take...

What could be possible for us if we let go of productivity as a goal?  In this episode, I reframe productivity in terms of being rather than doing, consider the “Laziness Lie,” and daydream about alternative measures for success this semester. Find the transcript for Episode 14, “What could we be instead of productive?” here. Mentioned in this episode:  Devon Price, Laziness Does Not Exist (2021)...

A conversation about expansion, exploration, and honesty at mid-career with fashion professor Arti Sandhu.  Arti’s Instagram @sideways_toupee is a playful personal project and a serious scholarly discourse on embodiment, image-making, globalism, and place in contemporary fashion. We talk about how the work of @sideways_toupee has raised uncomfortable tensions around mid-career, the urge to create...

Thoughts on the inevitable awkwardness of returning to campus and feeling a little too visible at the beginning of Fall semester. Find the Transcript for Episode 12, “Visibility & Vulnerability in the New Semester” here.  A few more ideas for sensory rest, adapted for academics from Saundra Dalton-Smith’s Sacred Rest.   Sign up here to get on the list for my newly-redesigned email newsletter !...

In this season of institutional annual reports, let’s focus instead on our lived experiences of academic life this year.  In your Shadow Annual Report, we’ll use the framework of empathy, embodiment, and empowerment to dig into the realities of how you showed self-compassion, what it was like to live in your body, and how you expressed your needs and wants this academic year. Find the Transcript f...

An honest and hopeful conversation with Brooke Hofsess, artist, scholar, and leadership coach.  We talk, laugh, and dream about re-making academia, the deep power of choice, the fun of chairing (really!), and finding our brilliance amid the scarcity and burnout of higher education.  And I get a mini-coaching session from Brooke on my own leadership challenges!  Bonus:  count how many times we say...

What would it be like to approach overwhelming times of the semester with self-compassion?  How might we experience overwhelm differently if we supported our basic needs and gently questioned expectations?  Today we explore what to do when you’re overwhelmed:  how to set aside self-blame, expand our capacity, reduce our obligations, and pause to reflect.  Plus, I discuss what I did when I got over...

Today I’m taking on academic grind culture through the lens of anti-dieting. I explore how we can mobilize the anti-diet critique of diet culture to better understand how the values, promises, and practices of academic grind culture keep us stuck in cycles of overwork. Based on anti-diet principles, I offer three alternatives for creating new ways of being in academia. Find the Transcript for Epis...

In this episode, I answer your questions about the challenges of the new semester and share my take on how to put your wellbeing and what matters to you first when you are prepping a new course, coping with dysfunctional gate-keepers, feeling like your best-laid plans get derailed by mid-semester, and staying tuned in with yourself. Find the Transcript for Episode 07, “Support for the New Semester...

The end of the fall semester is a brutal time for academics.  In this episode, I share a process for re-claiming our full selves as we transition to fall break.  We’ll reflect on and practice releasing urgency, slowing down, restoring connection, imagining the break, receiving joy, and finally, greeting yourself.  Also expect some talk about fluffy dog bellies. Find the Transcript for Episode 06,...

Join me for a thoughtful conversation with Mariglynn Edlins, academic, artist, social scientist, mother, and amazing human being.  Mariglynn reflects on curiosity and creative exploration, the challenges of integrating different parts of ourselves, and what can happen when we focus on process rather than outcomes.  We talk about open access as a teaching philosophy and a parenting strategy, how cr...

When you encounter tough times in your writing, how do you respond?  In this episode, I discuss three writing challenges that you can expect to pop up:  when you feel disconnected from writing, when you are lost in the fire swamp of anxiety and despair, and when writing feels like a slog.  I share a LOT of strategies for connecting with your emotions, your body, and with others during these moment...

In this episode, I share my humane approach to an important but troubled aspect of our academic lives:  writing.  I offer my framework for creating a sustainable writing lifestyle by focusing on three aspects of your Self:  your emotions about writing, your embodied experience of writing, and your human need for connection during the writing lifestyle.  With attention and care for your feelings, y...

In this episode, I share my Good Enough Professor Manifesto and describe what matters to me in higher education. You’ll hear my perspective on the marketing of “academic excellence” in higher ed, the realities of faculty precarity, and its consequences in our daily lives. And I’ll share my conviction that we can make meaningful change in academia, both individually and collectively. Find the Episo...

What’s “Good Enough”?  And who am I? In this first episode, I introduce myself and my concept of “Good Enough” in academic life.  You’ll hear about the three influences that shaped how I approach the work of supporting faculty through the rhythms and realities of academic life, and why I think “Good Enough" is important in the do-more, excellence-obsessed culture of academia.  You’ll get a se...

Overwhelmed academic, I see you!  Higher education can feel overwhelming & isolating, but you are not alone.  In this podcast, we’ll re-imagine academic life together. I’m an associate professor, art historian, and life coach for academics, and in this podcast, I’ll share thoughtful reflections, useful resources, and gentle support for navigating the rhythms of academic life.   Find the Traile...