Professional Development

Top Ten DON’TS for Conference Presentations

I both love and hate conferences. I love them because of the free-flowing ideas and high energy. I love them because of the networking opportunities. I love them because they force me to finish critical pieces of my own research projects. Conferences are exciting, intellectually stimulating, and productive. They can also be advantageous for budding […]

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Handling Personal Crises in Academic Life

On September 19, 2016, I received news so shocking that the world stopped. I was walking across campus when the text came through. For a few seconds I am not sure what happened. I remember the sky flashing blue above me; I remember the sound of falling water from the nearby fountain. I had been

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For Graduate Students Wanting Excellent Job Recommendations (and because I am trying to not think about the election…)

I submitted eight letters of recommendation this morning. I submitted three over the weekend, and have about eight more to submit by November 15.Writing student recommendations for graduate school, for grants and fellowships, and for jobs is part of my job as a tenured professor. It is a great deal of work. But it is

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Surviving Rejection on the Academic Job Market

I still remember checking my watch and thinking vaguely about what I would eat for lunch. It was around lunchtime, so normally there wouldn’t have been anything odd about my wandering thoughts. Except that I was in the middle of a job interview for a tenure-track position. I knew from the direction of the conversation

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Make a Good Impression at Academic Conferences (Please!)

It was sunny and warm today in Texas without a snow cloud in sight. I wore short sleeves and left all my coats and scarves at home. And, most importantly, I didn’t have to worry about slipping on a sludgy sidewalk. For me, a native Texan, the almost 80-degree weather was a relief after spending

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