Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with university and academia

What to do with my life

Anonymous — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 07:04:48 -0800

Please tell me how I can find out what to do with my life? Of course you cannot really tell me what to do with my life. Of course in the end I have to make up my mind and come up with a decision. But maybe you can help me a bit with my struggle or point me into the right direction (if there is any).

About me: I am from Germany and 27 years old. Athough a lot of people say that this is no age, I often feel like I already passed passed the zenith of my life without really archieving anything.

After school I went straight to university and started studying economics. After one year I found out that economics is definitely not the way I want to study economics and switched to political science. After four years I graduated in political science (inbetween I spent one year at a British university).

In the same year I worked as a freelance researcher for a small NGO and started my Master’s degree in International Political Economy which I am about to finish now (only have to write up the last bits of my thesis).

I am an excellent student, I have a scholarship and I already worked as a teaching assistant for the master course while being a student myself. Everything in my life was/is orientated towards an academic career. I never ever really had job outside academia.

Ok here is the catch: I also suffer from depression and it gets worse each time I have a long and unstructured writing project like my master thesis in front of me. I like the research part, I like the reading part and I like to think about theoretical problems. I don’t like doing empirical work and I especially don’t like writing everything up in the end. I find it extremely boring. I procrastinate and I suffer unitil eventually everything becomes meaningless and I think of applying for some lousy jobs with no intellectual requirements at all.

I had (and have) psychotheraphy, I took antidepressants (did not really help in the end) and also spent two months in residual therapy (best decision of my life but as soon as I got out I lost everything really fast again).

I think, one reason why I still haven't finished my master thesis is because I am really afraid of the next step. Or to be more precise: I don't know what this next step will look like.

So far I really liked the job of being a teaching assisstant. It is a demanding job but not too demanding. I can live out my narcissism in a positive way. And I get instant gratification in the form of positive feedback. Something I do not get by doing research. However, there is no way to be a teaching assisstant for the rest of your life (at least not in Germany).

Should I still try to go for a PhD (although I know it will be hell for me)?. What are other options (also outside of Germany)? Are there any books & tests I can consult? Personal stories?

Academic careers in the humanities.

ms.codex — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:26:23 -0800

Tell me why you decided NOT to pursue a PhD. My partner, an academic, thinks that the humanities departments in the US are suffering a major brain drain-- that smart students these days are drawn to law, consulting, science, investment banking, etc., and NOT to graduate study in the humanities. I'm inclined to disagree but of course I have no evidence for either view. I'm curious to hear the experiences of people who considered pursuing a PhD and an academic career (especially in the humanities, but all fields welcome) but ultimately decided not to. It seems to be common knowledge that it's a very tough job market out there for recent PhDs, and I'm wondering if that grim reputation has actually deterred people who are making decisions about graduate study and career paths. I'm also curious to know how prospective or current grad students weigh the pros and cons of a potential academic career-- the specific intellectual satisfactions versus any frustrations you think are specific to academia.

Looking to put together a self-study for Comparative Literature.

elfgirl — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 05:58:57 -0800

I'd like to study about Comparative Literature, but as I've looked around at CompLit university departments it appears that there isn't really anything like an introductory course or textbook. I'm not looking for a program to join, although the possibility exists that I may incorporate CompLit into a future graduate degree. Right now I'd like to learn a little about the foundations of field and the theories that underlie it; I'm particularly interested in translation theory.

Any suggestions of texts or journal articles would be welcome. If there are any course materials available through OpenCourseWare or Berkeley's webcasts (or something similar), that would be fantastic. I've looked through both of those sites, but because of the interdisciplinary nature of Comparative Literature and the fact that there doesn't seem to be a conveniently labeled foundational course, it's hard to know what would be a good starting point.

Who studies the university?

Dr. Send — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 14:18:36 -0800

Are there any academics who specialize in criticizing/studying academia? What are their names? I'm not necessarily looking for left- or right-wing crackpots who have a beef, or academics who vent about academic issues on the side, but rather social scientists who focus on academic issues like affirmative action, job markets, academic freedom, publishing practices, theory/practice, academic politics and so on in their research. In other words, social scientists who do research about academia. Thanks.

Comment on the current academic job market.

capitalist.pig — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 22:41:27 -0800

Comment on the current academic job market, and the likelihood of scoring a tenure-track position in the Earth Sciences. I'm currently an undergraduate considering a career in academia. I'm interested in a post-secondary teaching career in the Earth Sciences (especially in Meteorology/Atmospheric Science).

Many, including my own instructors, however, are indicating that these jobs are in relatively short supply and are very, very difficult to obtain. Is this really the case? How much competition is there for these positions? Please comment on what to expect in the current academic job market.

Unmarried academics seek UK immigration advice

tractorfeed — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 19:55:23 -0800

How can I accompany my unmarried non-same-sex partner who has been offered a job in the UK? We're both US citizens, we've been living together for over a decade, and now my partner has been offered a job as a professor at a university in the UK. I'm in the process of getting my PhD, I'm happy to move overseas, and it's feasible for me to do so financially and academically, but I'm unsure as to what my visa status might be. We're not married, nor do we live in a state that allows heterosexual couples to enter into civil unions or domestic parnerships, which is what we'd do if we could (marriage is not for us, for a variety of reasons). His visa situation is going to be handled by the HR department of the university, but we'd like a little more information before we consider asking them to help with my visa. His job is permanent, and falls under the category of "highly-skilled" (i.e. they did an international job search and he was considered the best candidate). Basically we don't want to find ourselves in a situation where we feel pressured to get married just to make things easier. Is my situation any different from any random US citizen with half a PhD who wants to live/eventually work in the UK? Or is my situation different because we're together (although we're not in any legal sense)? I think we'd be ok with a civil union in the UK if that would help.

What do you do in an advanced degree?

divabat — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 19:27:31 -0800

Those of you doing [post]graduate degrees...what exactly are you doing? I've been looking into various advanced degree programs (Grad Cert, Grad Dip, Masters, etc) but I'm finding it difficult to imagine what sort of work one does in an advanced degree.

My family comes from a science background: my sister did biotech research for her Ph.D and my dad did coursework in engineering for his Masters. Apparently my aunt did a Masters in Sociology but I don't know what this entailed for her. I'm getting a degree in the Creative Industries, and have been looking into advanced degrees in non-profit management, arts, or education.

What DO you do in your degree? Do you do a lot of reading? Is yours more practical? Do you get to do a project?
How academic is your degree? Do you have to do a lot of writing in a certain style?
How much opportunity do you get to travel, or do experiential learning? How about conferences?

I figure this would differ wildly between programs and schools, but my only concepts of advanced degrees are either sit in a library then write a long densely academic thesis, or do research in a lab and write a long densely academic thesis (research is fun, but writing long densely academic theses is my definition of hell).

Writing a Travel Grant

tickingclock — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 02:34:19 -0800

I am applying for a small travel grant to fund a trip to a semi-local conference. The problem is that I have no idea how to write one! I am interested in presenting the results of my undergraduate research project at a small conference taking place at a nearby province. To help fund this trip, I would like to apply for one of the undergraduate travel grants available at my university -- but I have no idea what I am supposed to say. The application instructions are fairly minimal: "attach a one-page explanation of your role at event and title of presentation."

Some specific questions:
* Do travel grants have a standard format that I should follow?

* What kind of information are they looking for in the grant proposal? My role at the event and title of presentation will not take up a whole page -- what are they actually asking me to say?

* There is a separate application cover sheet that contains the important information such as the name of the conference, the amount of money requested, as well as the proposed dates of travel. Should I repeat this information in the proposal?

* Should I attach some documents that are not explicitly requested? I am thinking of things like the abstract, a proposed budget, and my resume.

This is my first time writing a grant, travel or otherwise (see: undergrad), so any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Unofficially auditing university classes?

jayder — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 21:03:20 -0800

Is it weird to ask a university professor if you can audit his/her class without officially enrolling in the university as an auditor ... and, as part of the arrangement, asking the professor if you can submit papers and have them graded and evaluated? Asking for a friend:

"I think I mentioned to you that I was going to look into taking a [graduate liberal arts] class at [Prestigious State University] this fall. [Prestigious State] has a program where people who aren't full-time students can enroll in a class, with the instructor's permission, and you even get credit and a real-life grade for it (whether the [graduate liberal arts] department would later count that credit towards a degree is an open question, I think, but that's not the main point here). I've looked into this, and the snag is that if I do this right now I'd have to pay tuition for the class at the out of state rate, which is very expensive for one class. I don't qualify for in-state tuition until I've lived in this state at least 12 months. So, I wondered what you thought about the following: I've considered e-mailing the professor in the class I'm interested in taking and asking if he would allow me to "audit" the class, i.e., take it for no credit, and without being assigned a grade, and essentially no record that I had ever officially taken the class. Of course there's no way to know how a given professor would react to this, but I wonder if you know anyone who's ever done this, or if you think this idea sounds completely crazy or a professor might take offense at it? The problem with it is that I sort of am asking the professor to work "for free", because I would want to do the assignments and have the prof evaluate them, even if I don't get an official grade. On the other hand, the presence or absence of my tuition being paid into the system is not going to make a difference in the professor's pay rate. But it still seems a little like asking for charity when the prof will probably wonder why I don't just wait twelve months. (I'm not sure it would be appropriate to tell the prof I want to get into grad school one of these days and I'm not getting any younger, damn it). So, what do you think about this idea?"

Help me survive an appraisal at work

slimeline — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 03:06:54 -0800

Tomorrow I have my annual appraisal with the deputy head of the department at the Uni. where I work. This is not my first time, as I been in this job for several years, but this time I am looking for advice on how to make this into a meaningful and useful meeting instead of the usual box-ticking exercise. Also, what is the best way to answer the standard questions they ask such as: "What were your most significant achievements since the last interview?" Other questions I have to answer ahead of the meeting are: "What aspect of the job gave you the most satisfaction since the last interview?" and "What has caused you most difficulty?"
My main problem is that I know from past experience that whatever is said in the appraisal has very little effect on the year ahead, all these targets and objectives seem very meaningless to me at the moment. So it is hard to shake off a cynical and negative approach to the whole thing, but at the same time I definitely don't want to come across in the appraisal as someone negative and uncooperative. So how can I muster a positive outlook and make the most of the opportunity?
Thanks fellow appraisees / appraisers. Yours truly, Slimeline

Where's the discipline specific academic gossip?

ontic — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 16:59:09 -0800

I know where to go for gossip within my own academic discipline, but are there canonical blogs (on moves, hiring, graduate apps, big books, occasional meta-discipline discussion, etc). or rankings in other disciplines? The Chronicle and Arts and Letters Daily are more general. I'm looking for more discipline specific stuff. I want to clarify that I'm not supporting the occasionally crazy gossip and navel gazing. I'm more interested in the sociology of academia here.

Consequences of plagiarism

Anonymous — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 21:15:19 -0800

My partner has just been caught for plagiarism. I don't know many details because she won't talk about it, but I want to know what effect this will have on her future. Mrs. Anon is a fourth year student at a Canadian university, currently completing the very last courses of her degree. Although I feel the need to make excuses for her, I realize that there is no excuse for intellectual theft, so I won't. She doesn't want to talk about it, so all I know is this:

Today she got a registered letter from the university telling her that they recognize her plagiarism offense.
She wasn't surprised at the letter, so she must have known about it in advance.
I don't know if the offense is from this semester or last semester.
I just checked her transcript online and there are no notes on it, but it may still be too early. I assume that since she got a registered letter from the university it is a formal offense and will go on her record.

So:
What does it mean to have a plagiarism offense on your record? Who can see it? For how long?
Does this mean her dreams of graduate school are crushed?
What about other careers - if she applies to work for the government (etc.) will they see it?
How do I talk to her about this?

If anyone has gone through this and doesn't want to be outed in-thread, I have set up a throwaway email account at askmeplagiarism (chez) gmail (dot) com

Roehampton Creative Writing Masters

0bvious — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 14:44:00 -0800

What do you know/think about the University of Roehampton, London? Most especially I am interested in its School of Arts, and its MA in Creative and Professional Writing.... Good uni? Did you attend there? What are your experiences of the Roehampton area?

Any info gratefully appreciated

How good is the reputation of Swinburne University in Victoria, Australia?

ranglin — Mon, 15 May 2006 19:29:41 -0800

How good is the reputation of Swinburne University in Victoria, Australia? Are they more focused on teaching or research? As mentioned in previous AskMe's, I'm looking into moving to Melbourne and their might be an opportunity for an Academic position at the Hawthorn campus of Swinburne in Victoria, Australia. Therefore, I'm looking for opinions from the AskMe hive mind on:

a. Swinburne's reputation (and a link to websites detailing its ranking relative to some other vic/aussie uni's)

b. their focus (teaching, research, both)

c. living arrangements for Hawthorn (distance from city etc)

d. Personal anecdotes about the campus and/or the university.

Many thanks to you all in advance! I'm getting closer! :)

What can you tell me about being a PoliSci prof.?

matkline — Tue, 07 Feb 2006 17:00:14 -0800

I want to become a professor of political science. What do I need to know? Any general knowledge would be appreciated, but I have these specific questions:

1. I've always envisioned myself working abroad. Would this be possible? How?

2. How does a professor's typical day look, especially in terms of time teaching, preparing, researching, etc.?

3. What things do I need to do/grades do I need to get in Undergrad to be able to realistically pursue this goal?

4. I've heard finding work as a professor has become very difficult. Is this true? If so, will my status as an under represented minority be of any value?