In this post: A reflection on the UCU strikes, past and upcoming content, and what the f*ck we are supposed to do with all this mess, including a list of what I'm reading.
Post-PhD's live fireside chat this Wednesday at 5:30 PM ET
In this post: A reflection on the UCU strikes, past and upcoming content, and what the f*ck we are supposed to do with all this mess, including a list of what I'm reading.
Last week: Dr. Tashima Thomas gives Unsolicited Academic Advice on trusting yourself, your methodology, and finding your tribe.
What to expect this Wednesday at Post-PhD's 2nd ever fireside chat
Dear co-conspirators
With the #UCU strikes going on in the UK (if you haven't been paying attention to this, start now– the University and College Union is on strike and academic Twitter is all about #Solidarity and so should you!), Truckers in Canada saw what Jan 6 was in the US, and while it took them a year, they finally went "hold ma beer, watch this," and the internet went wild as Ottawa shut down. And Harvard professors showed the entire profession's true colors with their open letter b.s., so far 2020-2 is a mess. So messy.
So, as a balm for the weary liberal scholar's soul, come to Post-PhD's live fireside chat this Wednesday at 5:30 ET to discuss both the above madness and how despite all of it, we still love what we do. Bring a glass of wine or cup of tea (whatever your preference) and relax for a chill, intimate conversation centered around solidarity and love, despite the absolute mess education is in.
For those of us who can’t be free of academia and its exploitative demands, or those of us who have left academia to forge our own path as a writer (only to discover that it’s like academia irl in terms of workload and pay), it’s the small things that keep us going.
Those quiet moments are when we find a critical link in our research to our writing. Or that brief spark in a student’s eyes when you see them become truly illuminated by a concept.
So, as we watch book banning, armed gunmen on HBCU campuses, and politicians spew hate and rhetoric in the name of “America’s children,” let’s block all that out and turn inward:
What do you wish you could gush about with others, either in spite of OR because of this hot mess we find ourselves in?
This week's fireside chat is all about finding hope in a hopeless place, to quote the greatest feminist philosopher of all time, Rihanna.
In solidarity,
Allison
What I'm reading:
Harvard University's definition and research on groupthink: Feb 5, 2016: Groupthink: Throughout our history, human beings have sorted themselves into groups. By why did groups form in the first place?" by Ann Hall.
Pair that with a glass of wine and this article:
Irina Dumitrescu's "The Frenzied Folly of Professorial Groupthink: A dust-up over an open letter signed by star scholars reflects a troubling trend." The Chronicle of Higher Education. Feb 16, 2022
Constance Grady's "How the new banned books panic fits into America's history of school censorship" What's at stake? Who gets to control the story of America. Vox. Feb 17, 2022.
Jamelle Bouie's "You Just Can't Tell the Truth About America Anymore: The teaching of history is under siege" NYT. Feb 18, 2022.
Jamelle Bouie's "The Backlash Against C.R.T. Shows That Republicans Are Losing Ground." The suppression and subversion of Black history in favor of an inauthentic rendering of the American past have a long history in and of itself. NYT. Feb 04, 2022.
Michelle Goldberg, "The Giddy, Terrifying Siege of Ottawa." NYT Feb 17, 2022
DonateLast, but not least: Sara Ahmed Quotes That Are Getting Me Through This Mostly Sane^^
Need a sharp, obsessive dev-editor to help you finish that manuscript or article? Learn more about my dev editing.
Want me to come t speak at ya? Learn more about speaking events here.
P.S. Are you a fan? Believe in the project of Post-PhD? The best way you can ensure that Post-PhD stays up is by sharing with others because sharing is caring (no, seriously)!
