1. Thursday, October 23, 2014

2. Stanford, 1994, BA in Modern Thought & Literature, MA in Humanities Joined for-profit education start-up (almost went to Harvard Law School) Chief Operating Officer of a wholly owned subsidiary of The Washington Post Company in 1999; quit the day after 9/11 Northwestern, 2008, Ph.D. in Comparative Literary Studies (home department: RTVF/Screen Cultures) Applied to 12 jobs, received 3 offers (1 Visiting Lectureship [1 year] at a UC, a T-T position at Columbia College Chicago, and UCB) Worked at Columbia College Chicago for 1 year while UCB offer finalized Assistant Professor in Berkeley Center for New Media & Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies Published in Cinema Journal, Modern Drama, International Journal of Communication, Performance Research [forthcoming], other journals, essay collections; book forthcoming from MIT Press Just completed tenure review (will hear in summer 2015) A BIT ABOUT GAIL

4. CHALLENGES: “The constant reminder that academic positions are scarce and/yet we lack real-world experience to find work/relevancy elsewhere.” STRESS

5. CHALLENGES: “Making time for networking.” “Prioritizing what to do this year.” “Finding enough time in a day to work on the dissertation after all other teaching, research, life duties are met.” “Balancing research and teaching.” “How to manage my time between differing responsibilities.” (from multiple- choice menu) TIME MANAGEMENT AND MULTITASKING

6. WHAT YOU HAVEN’T MASTERED YET (from multiple-choice menu): How to get essays published in great journals (including how to decide where to submit essays). (3 votes) “I'd be very curious to hear about the journal publication process, knowing which are the most reputable journals in a given field and sub-field, and how to get a sense of who some of the important but maybe not super-famous or even just famous scholars in a field are.” How to organize and run an event (symposium, conference, lecture series, film screening, etc.) How to write a great dissertation. How to choose what conferences to go to (and get in). ROUNDING OUT SKILL SET

7. CHALLENGES: “My mentor is on sabbatical! AAAAAAACK!” “Finding additional faculty members from my department that are interested enough in my own research areas for me to work with.” “I feel like I try to not go in and talk too often because I don't want to take up my committee's valuable time, but then I end up feeling a little out of touch about my research.” “How can I navigate the very different methodologies and areas of interest among my committee members and assert my own research goals? I sometimes feel like I'm being pushed in different directions.” MANAGING UP

8. CHALLENGES: “I need to be legible in a field that is not my home discipline.” “Assuming that fields provide the necessary backgrounds for our dissertation, which makes us legible to academic markets: How does one structure a field (for the QEs) that is both interdisciplinary and yet legible to disciplinary positions?” “Coming from BCNM and similar interdisciplinary programs/backgrounds, what is the best way to market yourself, and how do you determine which kinds of departments you might find a home in?” BUILDING THE CV/ESTABLISHING REPUTATION/SELF-BRANDING

9. “It's been shared that service-projects will not service you in obtaining an academic job. As current graduate students, what should we primarily focus on to be eligible and competitive for the academic job market?” “Are there any general markers that students can use to gauge their own ‘progress’ leading up to going on the market? In other words, a certain number of publications/presentations, etc.?” “Getting started with my dissertation while also recognizing the importance of getting multiple publications in the pipeline.” “How to make a name for myself prior to going on the market.” CV/REPUTATION/BRANDING (CONT’D.)

10. CHALLENGES: “Where to look for all the best job and postdoc postings.” “Given the scarcity of jobs, does it make sense to position ourselves in relationship to a desired job at a particular university, or more generally?” “How to survive a skype interview.” THE ACADEMIC JOB MARKET

11. CHALLENGES: “How to figure out a ‘plan B’.” “Which sectors/industries value "qualitative research" and critical analysis skills that we are trained to do? How do you find/apply/obtain such positions?” “Why would anybody in tech want to hire a PhD? How do you market yourself? How do you get the technical skills needed on top of all the other time commitments of being a PhD student?” THE JOB MARKET OUTSIDE OF ACADEMIA

12. “I don't think I know what opportunities exist outside of academia. It's hard to know how my skillset translates to non-academic spaces. In addition, I would love to learn about how to think about non-academic jobs that can be done while I'm in school.” “What non-academic jobs are available to me?” Non-academic job market (cont’d.)

13. “How often are junior faculty members denied from tenure and what are the most common "explanations" for denials?” “How do you stay on the cutting edge of your field? Sometimes my research interests take me places I feel are unexplored, but hardly the "hot" item of the moment. This can sometimes make me feel a bit isolated.” “1. What are the publishing expectations? 2. What are the service expectations? 3. Are non-tenured tenure-track faculty treated any differently from an administrative perspective than tenured faculty?” A CAREER IN THE ACADEMY: THE EARLY YEARS

14. “What was your first post PhD gig? How did it prepare you for where you are now?” “How can you balance teaching and mentoring with doing enough research and getting published? How can you be a great teacher while still making enough time for your own work?” “Any advice on developing a work/life balance is always beneficial. Sometimes it important for us to be reminded of why those who are faculty continue to do this. How do you create time to write? Any thoughts on the writing process and how to move from literature reviews to making original contributions to a field of literature would also be appreciated.” ACADEMIC career (cont’d.)

15. “How can I avoid getting stuck in adjunct purgatory?” ACADEMIC career (cont’d.)

16. Too afraid to ask/confident (arrogant) enough to think I didn’t need professional development. First generation of the interdisciplinary Ph.D. Changing profession The neoliberal university pushes down responsibility to campus depts/units and demands less eccentric, more well-rounded and socially skilled individuals who can manage and direct people and organizations as well as teach and do their own work. Professors today must be community leaders. NOBODY TAUGHT ME THESE THINGS, EITHER