Academic Aunties

On Part II of our pandemic parenting series, we talk to Dr. Yolande Bouka (@YolandeBouka), Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Studies at Queen's University. In this episode, we talk about how the pressures of being a parent in academia, and in a pandemic, are hitting us personally. Auntie Yolande talks about prioritizing our health and our needs. In doing so, we are modelling to the people in our lives, including our children, why it is important to advocate for ourselves.Related LinksYolande Bouka, PhDCOVID Parenting Has Passed the Point of AbsurdityThe Nap MinistryThanks for listening! Get more information and read all the show notes at academicaunties.com. Get in touch with Academic Aunties on Twitter at @AcademicAuntie or by e-mail at podcast@academicaunties.com.

We're talking about Pandemic Parenting. We will be talking about the compromises we’ve had to make, the hard decisions we’ve had to take, and also, more importantly, the reminder that we are enough and that blaming ourselves for not being able to be as ‘productive’ means that we let structures off the hook.In Part I of our 2 part pandemic parenting series, we're talking with Dr. Sheila Colla (@SaveWildBees), Associate Professor in the Faculty of Environment and Urban Change at York University, about the expectations of academia while raising kids in a pandemic, and how science isn't as always as objective as it likes to say it is.Related LinksBeing a Scientist Means Taking SidesSheila Colla Native Pollinator Research LabNational Center for Faculty Development & DiversityFinding Flowers ProjectThanks for listening! Get more information and read all the show notes at academicaunties.com. Get in touch with Academic Aunties on Twitter at @AcademicAuntie or by e-mail at podcast@academicaunties.com.

On this extended year-end episode, Dr. Rita Dhamoon, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Victoria, and Dr. Nisha Nath (@nnath), Assistant Professor in the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies at Athabasca University grab a few drinks with Dr. Ethel Tungohan to talk about remembering who you are outside of the academy, rebuilding your strength, and how maybe it's the institution that has to get it's shit together.Thanks for listening! Get more information and read all the show notes at academicaunties.com. Get in touch with Academic Aunties on Twitter at @AcademicAuntie or by e-mail at podcast@academicaunties.com.

Oh advice. It seems like you can’t turn a corner without someone telling you how you’re professor-ing or grad schooling wrong. Sometimes it’s a colleague. Sometimes it’s a random person on social media. Sometimes it’s sought for, but usually it’s unsolicited. On this episode, we’re breaking down academic advice. What makes for good advice? And why is bad advice...so bad? And why is it that so much academic advice assumes that we’re all cis, het, white guys? Joining us to talk about good academic advice, bad academic advice, shadow advising, and the expectations of "academic mommy" and "academic daddy" are Dr. Shanti Fernando (@ShantiFernando), Associate Professor of Political Science at Ontario Tech University, and Dr. Sule Tomkinson (@sule_tomkinson), Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science at Université Laval and Director of Le Centre d’analyse des politiques publiques.Get in touch with Academic Aunties on Twitter at @AcademicAuntie or by e-mail at podcast@academicaunties.com. Need some auntie wisdom? Send an #AskAnAcademicAuntie question to academicaunties.com/ask.Related LinksPromoting the value of unofficial academic mentorship(https://www.natureindex.com/news-blog/promoting-the-value-of-unofficial-shadow-academic-mentorship)Common pieces of academic advice from listeners(https://twitter.com/AcademicAuntie/status/1461027530819911680)

On this #AskAnAcademicAuntie, a listener asks "how do you maintain a sense of peace in the face of such enormous stress?" Joining us to answer this question is Jennifer Chouinard (@JenniferChouina), a PhD student in Public Policy at the University of Regina.Have a question? Send a voice message to #AskAnAcademicAuntie at academicaunties.com/ask, tweet us at @AcademicAuntie, or send us an e-mail at podcast@academicaunties.com.

We talk a lot about toxic work environments and strategies of survival. But there are moments when you just have to leave. And that is what today’s episode is about.It is sometimes hard to figure out when to stay or when to go. A lot of us are trapped. A lot of us are in situations where we know that we’re being bullied, that we’re being set up to fail, that we’re not valued. But even as we know this viscerally, we second guess ourselves. “If it’s bad here, how can I guarantee that it won’t be worse somewhere else?” we ask. We end up gaslighting ourselves.On this episode, Dr. Jo Davis-McElligatt (@jcdmce), Assistant Professor of Black Literary & Cultural Studies at the University of North Texas, and Dr. Rita Shah (@TheRitaPhD), Associate Professor of Criminology at Eastern Michigan University, talk about wading through the hierarchies of s**t in academia, and tell us how and why they made the decision to leave, the importance of ultimately prioritizing and loving ourselves.Related LinksWarning Signs That You and Your Campus Are a Bad Fit by Manya Whitaker

This is #AskAnAcademicAuntie, our bonus mini-episodes where we take your questions and try to impart a little auntie wisdom. Have a question? Send a voice message to #AskAnAcademicAuntie at academicaunties.com/ask, tweet us at @AcademicAuntie, or send us an e-mail at podcast@academicaunties.com.On this episode, an anonymous listener asks: “How do I pay my gratitude to my supervisor who has been my constant source of support. She has gone above and beyond to help me survive in graduate school, and continues to support me. Any ideas on how I can appropriately show my gratitude to her? I say and write thank you a lot, but I feel it's not enough. I want to give her a small material gift, but I don't want to make her feel uncomfortable as it can be considered inappropriate to give gifts to our supervisors. Any suggestions of this would be very helpful. Thank you."Joining us to answer this question is Dr. Tobin LeBlanc Haley (@tobinatrix), an Assistant Professor of Sociology at X University in Toronto.

Guests Jamie Chai Yun Liew and Kimberly McKee discuss the Netflix series 'The Chair' and its portrayal of the first woman of color chair of the English department. They delve into the challenges faced by women of color in academia, the role of a star adjunct professor, and the power of cathartic moments and kinship relationships. They also express dissatisfaction with the ending and question a character's decision to accept a new job offer.

On this #AskAnAcademicAuntie bonus episode of Academic Aunties, Dr. Shaista Patel joins host Dr. Ethel Tungohan to talk about "playing the game" in academia in order to get out and find a place actually respects us. 

How do you maintain your 'voice' as a writer and instructor when academic institutions expect particular structures, tones, and writing styles? And how do you maintain space for creativity and joy when doing work that is draining? Dr. Tobin Haley Leblanc joins us for our first #AskAnAcademicAuntie mini-episode. Mentioned in this Episode:Academic Ableism: Disability and Higher Education by Jay Timothy Dolmage