Graduate Study for the Twenty-First Century How to Build an Academic Career in the Humanities

by Semenza, Gregory M. Colón

• ISBN13: 9780230100336
• ISBN10: 0230100333
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-02-15
• Publisher: INGRAM

Summary

In a straightforward manner, Semenza identifies the obstacles along the path of the academic career and offers tangible advice. Fully revised and updated, this edition's new material on advising, electronic publishing, and the post-financial crisis humanities job market will help students negotiate the changing landscape of academia.

Many graduate students continue to be regarded as "apprentices" despite the fact that they are expected to design and teach their own classes, serve on university committees, and conference and publish regularly. The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that the attrition rate for American Ph.D. programs is at an all-time high, between 40% and 50% (higher for women and minorities).

Of those who finish, only one in three will secure tenure-track jobs. These statistics highlight waste: of millions of dollars by universities and of time and energy by students. Rather than teaching graduate students how to be graduate students, then, the guide prepares them for what they really seek: a successful academic career.

"Gregory Semenza's Graduate Study for the Twenty-first Century is a tough-minded, witty, generous discussion of how to enter the profession of scholarship and teaching. The appendices alone are worth the price of the book; Semenza provides samples of everything from course syllabi and job letters to materials on the teaching portfolio, book prospectus, conference participation - everything a serious graduate student needs to succeed. The book should be required reading for graduate students and their professors."-Barry V. Qualls, Dean of Humanities, Rutgers University

Author Biography

Gregory Colon Semenza is assistant professor of English, University of Connecticut.

Table of Contents

Preface to the Second Edition	p. viii
Acknowledgments to the Second Edition	p. ix
Preface	p. x
Acknowledgments	p. xiii
A Note on Terminology	p. xv
Foreword	p. xvi
Introduction	p. 1
The Culture of a Graduate Program	p. 18
The Structure of Your Graduate Career: An Ideal Plan	p. 39
Organization and Time Management	p. 54
The Graduate Seminar	p. 76
The Seminar Paper	p. 90
Teaching	p. 116
Exams	p. 149
The Dissertation	p. 167
Attending Conferences	p. 195
Publishing	p. 214
Service and Participation	p. 238
The Job Market	p. 255
Afterword	p. 282
Appendix: Professional Documents	p. 288
Notes	p. 327
Index	p. 333
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.