Hello, Everyone! If you’re new to WTF: PhD–Welcome! If you’ve been here for awhile then you know that a core part of my mission is to bring the best PhD coaching advice to as many people as possible. That’s part of why I keep prices significantly lower than other coaches Read more…
This post is for my new teachers or teachers newly committed to centering black women’s voices in their classroom. As with all things, let me start by telling you a little story. The day after Donald Trump was elected to lead my country due to our outdated, racist electoral college Read more…
Hi Friends, Yesterday I offered to record video lectures related to my areas of expertise for y’all to use in your newly online classes. Due to the volume of response I’ve decided to record a series of videos and put them on a soon-to-be-created abd2phd YouTube channel. Each lecture will Read more…
For the month of January, and in celebration of our two year and 100th post anniversaries, we’re revisiting some of our most viewed columns. For all of you who are teaching this semester, here’s our post about the best (imho) way to teach privilege, particularly at predominately white institutions. Enjoy! Read more…
Hey you! Yeah, you! You made it to the end of the term! Congratulations!!! I am so incredibly proud of you for all the hard work you’ve put in to make it to this point. No, I’m not proud of your productivity (but whatever you managed to do is awesome, Read more…
Hi All, Here in the states we’re approaching Thanksgiving break. Thanksgiving is a heap of white people bullshit but it is a break built into the academic calendar so we’re going to take our own advice and take the week off to rest after finishing up our two month long Read more…
Humanities PhD programs will pull you in a lot of different directions. Almost every humanities PhD student I have ever met is trying to be their best researcher-self, teacher-self, activist-self, and human-self. It’s a lot. We’ve talked before about learning to balance these multiple desires and multiple expectations. One part Read more…
Earlier this week we addressed the topic of expertise. Specifically, that you have it. Your expertise doesn’t require you to know everything in the class you are teaching. Rather, your expertise is in your knowledge of how to learn. Many new teachers feel an immense amount of stress around needing Read more…
My MA program, like many humanities PhD programs, came with a teaching assistantship. I taught two sections of public speaking and, in return, the university waived my tuition and paid me a (very) small stipend. I was nervous about my first teaching assignment for several reasons. Like many students entering Read more…
Don’t be afraid to make your students work. I know, it sounds obvious, but I often meet graduate student instructors who feel comfortable testing their students but not making them work. Your students are one of your best resources in teaching and you should use them so that your job Read more…