Planning and carrying out an informative, successful seminar takes a lot of organization, time, and--most importantly--planning. Holding a meaningful seminar is always a big challenge while being a compulsory course for graduate students at their early academic stage. Whether it’s your first or hundredth seminars, a few pieces of advice will help you to achieve...

As with all things great, After Grad: Teaching Careers Week (TCW) sadly had to come to an end. This week aimed to cover a variety of ways for you to think about and prepare yourself for teaching now and for when you're ready to pursue a teaching-focused career in the future. To accomplish this, TCW...

So much has changed in 2021 compared to 2020 – new vaccines, new President, new Provost, new Netflix obsession (remember Tiger King? That was like a Bridgerton and two British Baking Shows ago, right?). [ Image Description: Joe exotic, from Tiger King, removed his sunglasses and squints out at the viewer.] Pictured: You, taking in...

Do you teach? Do you want a career in teaching? Are you looking for ways to become better at teaching? Look no further, After Grad: Teaching Careers Week is here to help! This is a week-long series of panels, workshops, and presentations all centered around teaching! Teaching Careers Week takes place between May 3rd and...

Lots of universities have announced plans to reopen their campuses next fall after more than a year of virtual instruction amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes the University of California system; with COVID-19 vaccines available to students, faculty, and staff, our campus also announced that it plans to bring most students to campus for in-person...

Unclench your jaw. [ Image Description: Pumba, from The Lion King, drops his jaw.] Pictured: Pretty much every time I ask myself, “Is my jaw clenched?” – the answer is yes, yes it is, relax that jaw right now… While you’re at it, you might use your fingers or knuckles to give yourself a face...

In social support literature, there are three types of social support networks: informational, instrumental, and emotional. 1 All networks are reflective of relationships. Informational social support networks are relationships through which information is disseminated. Instrumental social support networks are relationships that provide direct and tangible support—whether that be through actions or physical resources. And, emotional...

Do you read the student evaluations of your teaching at the end of each quarter? If you said no, I’m here to convince you otherwise! First, student evaluations are a key part of how we are assessed as TAs at UCR; low evaluation scores can have consequences for future TA appointments. Also, student evaluations are...

Conferences are one of the most important ways to make human connections within our fields. But getting the most out of a conference requires us to put ourselves out there in a way that can feel awkward, intimidating, and downright uncomfortable. For introverts and extroverts alike, having a conference strategy can greatly improve one’s chances...

After Grad: Academic Pathways Week came and went like a high-speed train, but the lessons it imparted will last forever. Join me as I give a short summary of what I and other graduate students learned from this week-long series of panels, presentations, and workshops designed to support graduate students and postdocs who are taking...

COVID has spread and cause lots of tragedy in the US and around the world for almost a year. While the situation is difficult for everyone, things are particularly serious for international students who are studying abroad and far away from their families. The pressure not only coming from the living landscape but also from...

In this time where we are all working from home, being mentally and physically present with yourself is important. It is also crucial to recognize when zoom fatigue hits. I highly suggest reading my colleague’s piece on boundary-making for her advice on self-care, which touches on these very topics. What I want to add to...

Are you interested in pursuing a career outside of traditional academia? Do you ever wonder what kinds of opportunities there are outside of the confines of the campus? Do you want to understand more clearly what “transferable skills” you have attained by earning your degree? Then After Grad: Career Pathways Week is for you! CPW...

"Have babies in graduate school," a female professor suggested to me at a department seminar reception during my time in graduate school. She advised that graduate school is the best time for students pursuing an academic career to have their babies. A survey conducted by Harvard University shows more than one-in-twenty graduate students are also...

Why are boundaries important for graduate students? How is boundary-making a form of self-care? And, along these lines, what does it mean to be strategic? Before diving into these questions, I offer an anecdote about how I came to value the importance of boundaries. First-Year Lessons Coming into the Critical Dance Studies Ph.D. program, fresh...

Education has long been considered of paramount importance when it comes to achieving social justice. While modern-day learning institutions have increasingly supported social justice by empowering students and actively engaging with discourses surrounding issues of systemic injustice, the relationship between education and social justice has been acknowledged since ancient times, tracing its origin in the...

Trauma is any harmful life experience leaving long-lasting effects on our physical, emotional, and social needs. Research indicates an alarming number of college students have experienced trauma in their lives. The learning process in traumatized students is significantly impaired since they spend most of their time and energy processing their trauma. Therefore, they do not...

GradSuccess held its annual professional development event focused on the academic job market in Week 7 of the Fall 2020 term. Given the scheduling challenges of the pandemic and the universal onset of Zoom fatigue, we chose this year to spread out the panels, workshops, clinics, and keynotes over a full week instead of having...

We’ve all had the experience where, excited by the prospect of gaining new information and expanding our minds on a topic of interest, we attended a lecture, a workshop, or a discussion group and immediately found ourselves lost. You probably double-checked the program description and—yep, right there in the description it says “an introduction” or...

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has created an enormous amount of adversity for people all over the globe. Humans, especially when experiencing stress and hardship, do a lot better with the plan, structure, and explicit expectations. But any “normal” pattern has been turned entirely upside down for us graduate teaching assistants, and our students. We have...