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...
We have all had the experience of trying to finish one task while having so many more tasks that need to be completed. We are so distracted by everything around us that it causes us to feel overwhelmed and even more stressed. Recently I watched a Ted Talk by Andy Puddicombe on the idea of...
When I was younger my mum and I loved to watch old movies together. One of our favorites was The Sound of Music. If you’re not familiar, The Sound of Music is a Rodgers and Hammerstein movie musical in which a free-spirited novitiate named Maria is asked to serve as a governess for a wealthy...
Fall of 2020 proved to be a big challenge for the entire graduate student body. Hours upon hours of screen time through Zoom or other platforms gave rise to a feeling of exhaustion and isolation. But fear not, for the Graduate Student Resource Center (GSRC) is continuing our regular wellness programming in an online world...
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...
Do you want a career in academia? Has the story of doom and gloom in the academic job market gotten you down? Do you just want to know what opportunities are out there? Then Academic Pathways Week on Nov 16-20 is for you! Academic Pathways Week is organized by GradSuccess as the Fall quarter’s “After...
The ability to find new research topics is an essential skill that should be obtained before you achieve your doctoral degree. It is, however, universally acknowledged that finding a new topic for your research is not easy. Rarely, professors may ask whether you are interested in some specific topics. If yes, you may be assigned...
Grad school can give you freedom you didn’t have in undergrad: freedom to pick up new skills on your own timeline, freedom to explore your interests more deeply, freedom to design and carry out your own research. Faculty advisors and mentors provide varying degrees of oversight, but in general, it’s up to you to set...
Here at the UCR Library, we include digital humanities under a larger umbrella of digital scholarship: using digital tools or methods for your research, teaching, or other scholarly activities. UCR Library is currently working to scale up support for digital scholarship for students and faculty across all colleges and schools at UCR. We’d like to...
Proactively creating content that allows learners to engage with materials, regardless of accessibility needs, preferences, and academic preparedness, is essential to universal design. It is also important to be aware of one’s assumptions, given that accessibility needs can be permanent, situational, or change throughout the term, and visibility of needs can vary. Creating content with...
[Image Description: A woman sitting at her kitchen table looking stressed, surrounded by dirty dishes, boxes, and papers.] Pictured: Likely a familiar scene at this point COVID-19 has had many effects on our lives and work. To prevent the spread of the virus, we must wear masks, maintain social distancing, not dine in restaurants, and...
The first day of classes can be daunting for your students and for you. With the move to online instruction, it can be even more challenging to get to know your students and develop rapport with them. Icebreakers can help your students form connections with each other and become more comfortable speaking or asking questions...
Do you have data to manage and analyze, statistical analysis to run, code to debug? Don’t feel alone or overwhelmed; Graduate Quantitative Methods Center (GradQuant) is here to help. GradQuant offers training to UCR graduate students and postdoctoral researchers on probability and statistical inference, statistical software and computing, data management, and digital humanities. We’re here...
Writing a research paper? Not a problem! Book chapter? Done! Writing a blog? I have never done that! [Image Description: Vanessa Lee smiling at the viewer.] Pictured: The face of grad student career know-how When I was asked to write a blog post to talk about UCR’s Career Center and our services for graduate students...
[Image Description: Calvin rests his hand on a box as he says, " It's a writer's block! You put it on top of your desk and then you can't write there anymore!" Hobbs looks to the side, unamused.] Pictured: You, as both Calvin and Hobbs When I started this blog post, I had a ton...
In another sign that summer is on its way out, we welcomed the new members of the 2020-2021 GradSuccess team this week. We are thrilled they’ve joined us and want to let you know a little bit more about the folks who’ll be bringing you the GradSuccess programs and events you know and love in...
We had the opportunity to chat with Dr. Kate Sweeny, a Professor of Psychology at UCR about her research, insight, and advice on navigating uncertain waiting periods. 1. Where did you get your undergraduate and graduate degrees? I got my Bachelor’s degree from a small college called Furman University, and I got my Master’s and...
