The Academic Life

Welcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear about: Dr. Julie Dillemuth’s path through higher ed What led her to try to write for a popular audience, and what helped her learn how to do it Why she writes for children about spatial cognition skills How receiving 82 rejection letters didn’t stop her path to publication A discussion of the books Lucy in the City, and Camilla and the Big Change Today’s books are: Lucy in the City, a picture book about a young raccoon who gets separated from her family one night and has to find her way home. Faced with the challenge of being on her own, Lucy tunes in to her surroundings for the first time and discovers that she can re-trace her steps using smells, sights, and sounds. At its heart, the story focuses on developing spatial thinking, understanding the world around us, and using concepts of space for problem-solving. Our other book today is Camilla and the Big Change, a picture book about the wild boar Camilla and her loyal sidekick Parsley enjoying Spring in the forest. When beavers move in, trees come down as they start building a dam. The path of the river will be forever altered and Camilla does NOT want a pond in the middle of her forest! It's too much change. But when her map-making skills are needed for the pond construction, Camilla comes to understand that change can be good as she works with the entire forest community to draw new maps and look at her home in a whole new way. Both books include a Note to Parents & Caregivers in the backmatter with information about map-making and spatial thinking, and also about adapting to new environments and building community.Our guest is: Dr. Julie Dillemuth, who earned her undergraduate degree at Yale, and went on to earn a PhD in Geography with an Emphasis in Cognitive Science from UC Santa Barbara, where her dissertation focused on how people use maps on small screens (like cell phones) to make navigation decisions, follow routes, and acquire spatial knowledge about their environment. She is the author numerous picture books for children, including Lucy in the City, and Camilla and the Big Change.Our host is: Dr. Christina Gessler, the co-creator of the Academic Life. She and Julie met when they joined the same critique group. They have been friends for nearly a decade.Listeners to this episode might also be interested in: Mapping My Day, by Julie Dillemuth Camilla Cartographer, by Julie Dillemuth The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators The American Psychological Association’s Press This Academic Life episode on writing and mindfulness This Academic Life episode about writing middle grade novels You are smart and capable, but you aren’t an island and neither are we. We reach across our mentor network to bring you experts about everything from how to finish that project, to how to take care of your beautiful mind. Here on the Academic Life channel, we embrace a broad definition of what it means to be an academic and to lead an academic life. We view education as a transformative human endeavor and are inspired by today’s knowledge-producers working inside and outside the academy. Wish we’d bring on an expert about something? DMs us on Twitter: @AcademicLifeNBN. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/academic-life

Welcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear about: How ‘the good life’ makes people disconnected and unhappy Mia Birdsong’s work in community building The intentionality required for creating communities of support The importance of interdependence, vulnerability, accountability, and leaning on each other And a discussion of her book How We Show Up Today’s book is: How We Show Up: Reclaiming Family, Friendship, and Community by Mia Birdsong, in which Birdsong uses research, interviews, and stories of lived experience to explore how showing up—literally and figuratively—points us toward the promise of our collective vitality and leads us to the liberated wellbeing we all want.Our guest is: Mia Birdsong, who was an inaugural Ascend Fellow and faculty member with The Aspen Institute, a New America California Fellow, and Advocate-in-Residence with University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Policy and Practice. She has been published widely and speaks at conferences and universities across the country. A graduate of Oberlin College, she stays “apocalypse ready” by gardening, keeping bees and chickens, studying herbalism, and occasionally practicing archery. Her children, partner, and chosen family are her home.Our host is: Dr. Christina Gessler, the co-creator and co-producer of the Academic Life.Listeners to this episode might also be interested in: How We Show Up: Reclaiming Family, Friendship, and Community by Mia Birdsong Mia Birdsong’s website Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good by adrienne maree brown Beyond Survival: Strategies and Stories from the Transformational Justice Movement, by Ejeris Dixon and Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, eds. Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, by Ibram X. Kendi This Academic Life episode about finding mentors and friends You are smart and capable, but you aren’t an island and neither are we. We reach across our mentor network to bring you experts about everything from how to finish that project, to how to take care of your beautiful mind. Wish we’d bring on an expert about something? DM us on Twitter: The Academic Life @AcademicLifeNBN. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/academic-life

A Conversation with Dr. William GermanoWelcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear about: Important questions to ask yourself before getting started on revising A review of the basic options for the post-defense dissertation Hurdles a manuscript must clear in the scholarly publishing process How voice operates in scholarly writing The importance of book and chapter titles What good writing is and what it does Our guest is: Dr William Germano, professor of English at Cooper Union in New York, where he served as dean of humanities and social sciences for more than a decade. In the years before he joined Cooper Union, he served as editorial director at Columbia University Press and, for almost twenty years, as publishing director at Routledge. He, and the editorial teams he has worked with, have published hundreds of leading scholars in the humanities and the social sciences.Bill Germano is the author of six books, On Revision: The Only Writing that Counts (University of Chicago Press, 2021) and Syllabus: The Remarkable, Unremarkable Document That Changes Everything, coauthored with Kit Nicholls and published by Princeton. Editor, publisher, teacher, writer, he is especially attuned to the problems that academic writers face. Those problems, and practical solutions for them, are the focus of his best-known work, Getting It Published: A Guide for Scholars and Anyone Else Serious about Serious Books (published by Chicago and currently in a third edition) and From Dissertation to Book (also from Chicago and currently in its second edition).Our host is: Dr. Dana Malone, a scholar and practitioner energized by facilitating meaningful learning experiences for students and educators alike. From Dissertation to Book was a valuable recommendation at pivotal moment in her scholarly life, and she is excited to share it with The Academic Life audience.Listeners to this episode might also be interested in: NBN Interview with William Germano for On Revision: The Only Writing that Counts On RevisionNBN Interview with William Germano for Getting it Published: A Guide for Scholars and Anyone Else Serious about Serious Getting It Published On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction by William Zinsser (Quill) How to Write a Sentence: And How to Read One by Stanley Fish (Harper) Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott (Anchor Books) You are smart and capable, but you aren’t an island, and neither are we. We reach across our mentor network to bring you experts on everything from how to finish that project, to how to take care of your beautiful mind. Wish we’d bring on an expert about something? DM us on Twitter: The Academic Life @AcademicLifeNBN. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/academic-life

Welcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear about: The science that explains our busy minds What mindfulness is The difference between mindfulness and meditation How changing our habits is a small-step by small-step process A discussion of the book Bettter Daily Mindfulness Habits: Simple Changes with Lifelong Impact Today’s book is: Better Daily Mindfulness Habits: Simple Changes with Lifelong Impact Mindfulness by Kristen Manieri. Mindfulness is a powerful tool for staying calm, centered, and steady―but it can be challenging to remember to stay mindful. Better Daily Mindfulness Habits helps practitioners of any level. Rooted in proven habit-building methodology, the book contains 40 practices designed to orient your attention to the present. In as little as a few minutes at a time, it can become easier to practice self-compassion and connect with others, your work, and yourself more mindfully.Our guest is: Kristen Manieri, a certified habits coach as well as a certified mindfulness teacher. Kristen believes that when we actively engage in our growth and evolution, we can begin to live a more conscious, connected, and intentional life. She is the author of Bettter Daily Mindfulness Habits: Simple Changes with Lifelong Impact.Our host is: Dr. Christina Gessler, a historian of women and gender.Listeners to this episode might also be interested in: Atomic Habits by James Clear Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg Create Your Own Calm: A Journal for Quieting Anxiety by Meera Lee Patel The Mindfulness Journal by Worthy Stokes Quick Calm: Easy Meditations to Short-Circuit Stress Using Mindfulness and Neuroscience by Jennifer Wolkin The 60 Mindful Minutes podcasts with Kristen Manieri This discussion of meditation You are smart and capable, but you aren’t an island and neither are we. We reach across our mentor network to bring you experts about everything from how to finish that project, to how to take care of your beautiful mind. Wish we’d bring on an expert about something? DM us on Twitter: The Academic Life @AcademicLifeNBN. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/academic-life

Welcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear: Why it is so important to have the conversation about “Equity in Higher Education” and why now is the time to do so What equity means; for whom, and what equity entails in thought and action What it means to perform equity as a routine practice in higher education What makes individuals equity minded Today’s book is: From Equity Talk to Equity Walk: Expanding Practitioner Knowledge for Racial Justice in Higher Education, draws from campus-based research projects sponsored by the AAC&U and the Center for Urban Education at the University of Southern California. The book is a practical guide on the design and application of campus change strategies for achieving equitable outcomes. The authors offer advice on how to build an equity-minded campus culture aligning strategic priorities and institutional missions to advance equity.Our guest is: Dr. Tia Brown McNair, is the Vice President in the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Student Success and Executive Director for the Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT) Campus Centers at the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) in Washington, DC. She oversees both funded projects and AAC&U’s continuing programs on equity, inclusive excellence, high-impact practices, and student success. McNair also directs AAC&U’s Summer Institutes on High-Impact Practices and Student Success, and Truth, Racial Healing, & Transformation Campus Centers. McNair currently serves as the project director for several AAC&U initiatives: "Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation Campus Centers," "Strengthening Guided Pathways and Career Success by Ensuring Students Are Learning," and “Purposeful Pathways: Faculty Planning and Curricular Coherence.” Our host is: Dr. Zebulun R. Davenport, Vice President for Student Affairs, West Chester University.Listeners to this episode might also be interested in: AAC&U’s Committing to Equity and Inclusive Excellence: Campus Guide for Self-Study and Planning.  AAC&U’s Step Up and Lead for Equity: What Higher Education Can Do to Reverse Our Deepening Divides. Five principles for enacting equity by design by E.M. Bensimon, A.C. Dowd, and K. Witham in Diversity & Democracy 19 (1)  Engaging the “Race Question”: Accountability and Equity in U.S. Higher Education, Multicultural Education Series by A.C. Dowd and E.M. Bensimon. (Teachers College Press). Heutsche, A.M. and Hicks, K. (2018). Embedding equity through the practice of real talk. In: A Vision for Equity: Results from AAC&U’s Project: Committing to Equity and Inclusive Excellence: Campus-Based Strategies for Student Success. Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges. You are smart and capable, but you aren’t an island, and neither are we. We reach across our mentor network to bring you experts about everything from how to finish that project, to how to take care of your beautiful mind. Wish we’d bring on an expert about something? DM us on Twitter: The Academic Life @AcademicLifeNBN. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/academic-life

Welcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear about: Dr. Bacal professional and academic rejections How success and rejection are part of the same path The importance of having a supportive person or a support system Why rejection is part of the hidden curriculum A discussion of the book The Rejection that Changed My Life Today’s book is: The Rejection that Changed My Life, featuring interviews with more than twenty-five women, including Keri Smith, Angela Duckworth, and Roz Chast. Rejections don’t go on your résumé, but they are part of every successful person’s career. All of us will apply for jobs that we don’t get or have ambitions that aren’t fulfilled, because that is part of pushing oneself to the next step professionally. While everyone deserves feel-better stories, women are more likely to ruminate, more likely to overthink rejection until it becomes even more painful—a situation that the women in this collection are determined to change, and in so doing, normalize rejection and encourage others to talk about it.Our guest is: Dr. Jessica Bacal is director of Reflective and Integrative Practices and of the Narratives Project at Smith College. She leads programs to help students explore identity and find resilience in community. She also teaches a course called Designing Your Path, which guides students to consider questions like: What is your story? Where have you been and where are you going? What matters to you? What skills do you need to pursue what matters? Before her career in higher education, she was an elementary school teacher in New York City, and then a curriculum developer and consultant. She received a bachelor’s degree from Carleton College, an MFA in writing from Hunter College, and an EdD from the University of Pennsylvania. She lives in Northampton, Massachusetts, with her husband, two children, and two dogs. She is the author of The Rejection that Changed My Life.Our host is: Dr. Christina Gessler, a historian of women and gender.Listeners to this episode might also be interested in: Mistakes I Made at Work, by Jessica Bacal “Things You Didn’t Put on Your Resume” by Joyce Sutphen Dr. Kristin Neff’s website Dr. Kirby’s rejection letter dress Rachel Platten’s Fight Song Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, by Angela Duckworth This conversation about dealing with failure You are smart and capable, but you aren’t an island and neither are we. We reach across our mentor network to bring you experts about everything from how to finish that project, to how to take care of your beautiful mind. Wish we’d bring on an expert about something? DM us on Twitter: The Academic Life @AcademicLifeNBN. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/academic-life

Welcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear about: How a devotion to efficiency can become unhealthy Why leisure time (a.k.a. doing nothing) is essential How to reclaim our time and humanity · A discussion of the book Do Nothing: How to Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving Today’s book is: Do Nothing, by Celeste Headlee, which examines how in searching for ways to “hack” our bodies and minds for peak performance, people are working more instead of less, living harder not smarter, and becoming more lonely and anxious. We strive for the absolute best in every aspect of our lives, ignoring what we do well naturally, and reaching for a bar that keeps rising higher. In Do Nothing, Celeste Headlee illuminates a new path to stop sabotaging our well-being, and start living instead of doing. Celeste offers strategies help you determine how your hours are being spent, invest in quality idle time, and focus on end goals instead of mean goals.Our guest is: Celeste Headlee, an award-winning journalist, professional speaker, and author. She is a regular guest host on NPR and American Public Media and a highly sought consultant, advising companies around the world on conversations about race, diversity and inclusion. Her TEDx Talk sharing 10 ways to have a better conversation has over 26 million total views, and she serves as an advisory board member for ProCon.org and The Listen First Project. Celeste is recipient of the 2019 Media Changemaker Award; the proud granddaughter of composer William Grant Still, the Dean of African American Composers; and she is the author of Do Nothing.Our host is: Dr. Christina Gessler, a historian of women and gender.Listeners to this episode might also be interested in: Do Nothing: How to Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving by Celeste Headlee Speaking of Race by Celeste Headlee We Need To Talk: How To Have Conversations That Matter, by Celeste Headlee Laziness Does Not Exist, by Devon Price This conversation about seeking meaning instead of happiness This conversation about the importance of spending time in nature You are smart and capable, but you aren’t an island and neither are we. We reach across our mentor network to bring you experts about everything from how to finish that project, to how to take care of your beautiful mind. Wish we’d bring on an expert about something? DM us on Twitter: The Academic Life @AcademicLifeNBN. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/academic-life

Welcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear about: How rejection is normal and even inevitable Skills to help you learn from and move through rejections toward your goals Why you need to develop your capacity for patience How asking people about their own rejections can help normalize yours A discussion of the book Win or Learn Today’s book is: Win or Learn: The Naked Truth About Turning Every Rejection into Your Ultimate Success, by rejection expert and New York Times bestselling author Harlan Cohen. Cohen lays the framework for identifying your wants, taking the risks necessary to pursue them, and finding success no matter the outcome. This step-by-step risk-taking experiment will guide you on a journey to understand your worth and fight for your goals—because rejection is a universal truth but not a final destination.Our guest is: Harlan Cohen, bestselling author of seven books, a journalist, and a speaker who has visited over 500 college campuses. He loves helping people find support, happiness, hope, love, and light. He is the author of WIN or LEARN: The Naked Truth About Turning Every Rejection Into Your Ultimate Success.Our host is: Dr. Christina Gessler, the co-creator and co-producer of the Academic Life. She is a historian of women and gender.Listeners to this episode might also be interested in: The Naked Roommate, by Harlan Cohen Harlan’s TedX talk (watch TEDx talk here). Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck The Rejection that Changed My Life by Jessica Bacal How to Fail podcast by Elizabeth Day The Museum of Failure website You are smart and capable, but you aren’t an island and neither are we. We reach across our mentor network to bring you experts about everything from how to finish that project, to how to take care of your beautiful mind. Wish we’d bring on an expert about something? DM us on Twitter: The Academic Life @AcademicLifeNBN. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/academic-life

Welcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear about: How multi-tasking and reactivity drain productivity Why skills you used before you turned 20 don’t work for your maturing brain Which attention management skills can solve your time management problems How mindfulness can help A discussion of the book Attention Management Today’s book is: Attention Management: How to Create Success and Gain Productivity Every Day, by Maura Thomas. In a short, color-coded book designed to be read in an hour, Thomas succinctly outlines why Attention Management is the most essential skill you need to live a life of choice rather than a life of reaction and distraction. Offering readers a collection of new behaviors, including focus, mindfulness, control, presence, flow, and practical skills that will support your success, Maura Nevel Thomas shows you how to master attention management with strategies that make an immediate impact.Our guest is: Maura Nevel Thomas, an award-winning international speaker and trainer on individual and corporate productivity and work-life balance, and the most widely-cited authority on attention management. Her proprietary Empowered Productivity™ System has been embraced by the likes of the U.S. Army, L’Oreal, and Dell. She is a TEDx Speaker, founder of Regain Your Time, author of five books, and was named a Top Leadership Speaker in Inc. Magazine. Maura is frequently featured in major business outlets including Business Insider, Fast Company, and Huffington Post, and she’s also a regular contributor to both Forbes and the Harvard Business Review, with articles there viewed over a million times. Follow her on Twitter @mnthomas.Our host is: Dr. Christina Gessler, the co-creator and co-producer of the Academic Life. She is a historian of women and gender.Listeners to this episode might also be interested in: Information about Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Do Nothing: How to Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing and Underliving by Celeste Headlee Better Daily Mindfulness Habits: Simple Changes with Lifelong Impact by Kristen Manieri · From To-Do to Done: How to Go from Busy to Productive by Mastering to Your To-Do List by Maura Thomas This Maura Thomas article on attention The Maura Thomas webpage on Flow https://maurathomas.com/flow/ This discussion of meditation You are smart and capable, but you aren’t an island and neither are we. We reach across our mentor network to bring you experts about everything from how to finish that project, to how to take care of your beautiful mind. Wish we’d bring on an expert about something? DM us on Twitter: The Academic Life @AcademicLifeNBN. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/academic-life

Welcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear about: A process focused approach to completing a dissertation and other academic writing The function of a dissertation and how it’s often misunderstood The importance of the research question The shift from student to scholar How delaying writing saves time The differences between fast writing, editing, and proof-reading Our guests are: Dr. Sonja K. Foss and Dr. William Waters. Sonja and William are the coauthors of Destination Dissertation: A Traveler’s Guide to a Done Dissertation (Rowman & Littlefield). They offer writing retreats and present workshops at universities throughout the country on topics such as completing dissertations, publishing, and advisor advising and do individual coaching of scholars working on dissertations, articles, and books.Sonja K. Foss is a professor emeritus in the Department of Communication at the University of Colorado Denver. Her research and teaching interests are in contemporary rhetorical theory and criticism, feminist perspectives on communication, the incorporation of marginalized voices into rhetorical theory and practice, and visual rhetoric. She is the author or coauthor of the books Feminism in Practice, Gender Stories, Rhetorical Criticism, Contemporary Perspectives on Rhetoric, Inviting Transformation, Feminist Rhetorical Theories, and Women Speak. Dr. Foss earned her Ph.D. in communication studies from Northwestern University and previously taught at Ohio State University, the University of Oregon, the University of Denver, Virginia Tech, and Norfolk State University.William Waters is an associate professor in the Department of English at the University of Houston Downtown. His research and teaching interests are in writing theory and practice, the history of the English language, linguistics, and modern grammar. He was the managing editor of the book La Puerta: A Doorway into the Academy and has published several poems in national journals. Dr. Waters earned his Ph.D. in language and linguistics from the University of New Mexico and previously taught at Northwest Missouri State University; the University of Maine; University College in Galway, Ireland; and Cheongbuk National University in Korea.Our host is: Dr. Dana Malone, a scholar and practitioner energized by facilitating meaningful learning experiences for students and educators alike. She benefited from Destination Dissertation as a doctoral student and is excited to share it with The Academic Life audience.Listeners to this episode might also be interested in: Dissertations and Project Reports: A Step by Step Guide by Stella Cottrell (Bloomsbury) On Revision: The Only Writing that Counts by William Germano (Chicago UP) Your PhD Survival Guide: Planning, Writing, and Succeeding in Your Final Year by Katherine Firth, Liam Connell, and Peta Freestone (Routledge) How to Write a Better Thesis (3rd ed) by David Evans, Paul Gruba, and Justin Zobel (Springer) You are smart and capable, but you aren’t an island, and neither are we. We reach across our mentor network to bring you experts on everything from how to finish that project, to how to take care of your beautiful mind. Wish we’d bring on an expert about something? DM us on Twitter: The Academic Life @AcademicLifeNBN. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/academic-life