Category: Blog Posts

If you haven’t listen to Episode 21 yet, you can do so here or check out other episodes you may have missed here. Movin’ on up! General Tips: Try and do online training before the first week of class (FERPA, Inclusion/Diversity, etc.) Take notes! Enter in campus police numbers in your phone (emergency and non-emergency)…

In honor of the many fellow academics who are or have recently achieved their new higher degree, this episode is about the stuff we wear when walking across the stage to receive it. Today’s academic regalia draws inspiration from European influence, and was standardized in 1985 by the “Intercollegiate Code on Academic Costume” which was…

If you haven’t listen to Episode 18 yet, you can do so here or check out other episodes you may have missed here. Getting your job market materials ready is a job in and of itself. We will give you some tips and share some links below. On later shows we will do a deep…

Aka “Rachel got a new job” Aka “Kristen records while sick” This episode is all about getting in front of the press in its many forms –  the camera, the microphone, or the good old pen and paper of the many journalists seeking the expert knowledge of the academic.  Each member of the Didactic Trio shares their…

Here’s an episode we think you’ll really like. In this one, we talk about networking (specifically at conferences) with our guest Kristofferson Culmer, doctoral candidate in Computer Science, doughnut graduate, and networking expert. We talked strategies for meeting and connecting with people at conferences, such as: Start with smaller regional conferences or more topic-specific conferences,…

If you haven’t listen to Episode 15 yet, you can do so here or check out other episodes you may have missed here. Have you every been an adjunct? We all have! The bulk of this post is based on a recent article on the Washington Post (you can find the link to it and…

For those of you in academia, have you ever thought of quitting? What does that actually mean? Well, that’s something we tackle this episode (listen here). In this case, what we mean by “quitting” is leaving that imaginary path towards the ideal of a tenure track job towards some other pursuit. In this episode, Zach…

If you haven’t listen to Season 2 yet, then check out Episode 12 here or check out other episodes you may have missed here. Season 2 is here!!! Didactic Trio Update: Rachel managed to get mono (aka– the kissing disease!) as a newlywed and has been sick since the middle of December, so she is…

If you haven’t listen to Episode 11 yet, you can do so here or check out other episodes you may have missed here. How to Survive the Holidays! Final Episode for season 1…. I heard somewhere that most podcasts don’t make it past the 7th (I think?) episode. Well lucky for you guys, we are…

This episode was bittersweet, because it was done without our sweetie Rachel.  And we’re not at all bitter that she chose to get married and what not instead of doing a podcast 😛.  Luv ya, Rachel! Kristen and Zach talked about their various workout milestones in this episode.  For Kristen, it was running a half-marathon. (!!!)…

If you haven’t listen to Episode 9 yet, you can do so here or check out other episodes you may have missed here.   This episode is inspired by a listener email! See we do listen!! Here is her question: I am looking for, “strategies to make up for (what I feel) is an inadequate…

First off, YAY for Kristen! She turned in her dissertation proposal last week!   Now on to the show… 🙂   We all have a lot on our plates, but it’s not always the right thing… This may seem like a more trivial topic, but eating, or not eating, is a part of everyone’s day…

What’s it like to date as an academic?  Our various experiences: Kristen has dated two people throughout graduate school, and likes to maintain her independence to achieve her academic goals. Rachel wins.  She’s dated one person throughout graduate school and into post-doc life, and will be marrying that amour soon! Zach’s had a rocky road,…

If you haven’t listened to Episode 6 yet, you can do so here or under “All Episodes”!   Can we actually achieve “balance”? That is one of most difficult questions to answer in academia! I struggle with balance every single day, as do my co-hosts. When we were chatting, Zach said that the work of…

What makes a student troublesome?  How much of that definition is wrapped up in how they act, versus how we as teachers react?  Are their troubles personal, or connected to larger social issues?  We start out the show by, as a trio, by sharing  some stories of students that have really caused us headaches.  Be…

If you haven’t listen to Episode 4 yet, you can do so here or check out other episodes you may have missed here. (Special thank you to Doug, Kevin, Jeff, & Candace for sharing their experiences)   Does grad school make us anxious or do anxious people go to grad school? While the jury may…

If you haven’t listened to Episode 3 yet, you can do so here or under “All Episodes”!   I really wish I knew… In honor of the (way too quickly approaching) 2018-2019 academia year, we thought it would be good to give the new grad babies (affectionally called, of course) some advice based on what…

If you haven’t already….listen to our episode here! You give an academic one simple task: We asked Zach to do a bit of research on education and congress people! Here is what he found: From the Congressional Research Service, the 2018 congress looks like: 18 Members of the House have no educational degree beyond a…

…Like, what are you doing?” – Kristen If you haven’t listened to our first podcast, do so here! Those who know me well are often painfully aware of two things. Let’s call them “strengths” for now. First, that I love to quite literally, “act things out.” In a meeting once, the department chair was talking…