Read the first post of Dr. Koh’s two-part blog feature here.
In my earlier post, I offered two approaches for how one could approach careers outside of faculty positions in colleges and universities, and a constructive rationale for why one should consider doing so. Here, I offer a lightly annotated and selective list of resources that can help graduate students and faculty to help put this reframing in motion.
Addendum: Needless to say, these challenges have been compounded by federal and state cuts of the humanities, as well as institutional shuttering of certain humanities departments. The National Humanities Alliance is a coalition organization that’s a great starting point for strategies to do this kind of advocacy work.
Reconceptualizing the PhD program
The New PhD: How to Build a Better Graduate Education by Leonard Cassuto and Robert Weisbuch (John Hopkins, 2021). Cassuto and Weisbuch have been leaders in thinking about the structural and broader societal challenges that humanities PhD programs face. It’s a good introduction into how we’ve gotten to this point in time, and practical ways we can address this challenge.
“We All Have Levers We Can Pull”: Reforming Graduate Education by Rachel Arteaga et al. This roundtable discussion offers some provocations and practical ways that various communities in higher ed – students, administrators, faculty – can implement some practical strategies within humanities doctoral education.
Rejecting the Siege Mentality in Higher Education by Heather Hewett, Stacy M. Hartman: Based on research and conversations with a range of stakeholders in the humanities and interpretive social sciences, Hewett and Hartman offer some narratives to counterbalance the defensive posture that many institutions of higher education find themselves in. Hartman writes frequently for the career advice column in the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Putting the Humanities PhD to Work by Katina Rogers (Duke, 2020). This is a terrific resource that offers a variety of strategies for students, faculty, and administrators working in humanities PhD programs, contextualized in relationship to labor, recognition structures, and the public impact of the humanities. Rogers now runs her own consulting firm for higher education, Inkcap Consulting.
Building Blocks for a New Academy: A virtual community and resource through the American Council of Learned Societies on innovative work that higher education institutions are engaging in across the country.
What should I do?
Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans: This book is for the general public, but it’s a wonderful resource that I’ve often incorporated and adapted in my own workshops with students.
Imagine PhD: A free, online resource developed by the Graduate Career Consortium to begin career exploration. They have assessments and a growing resource of careers for graduate students in the humanities and social sciences to explore.
Beyond the Professoriate: An online resource that is included in membership to the American Academy of Religion. There is a wealth of online tutorials and recordings, worksheets, and even a database of informational interviews, all provided with the goal of leading you from the beginning of the career exploration process to negotiation stages. Best to peruse over an extended period of time.
Editing After Academia: All of the editors on this page have made themselves available for an informational interview.
Beyond Academia: An entirely student-run organization at UC Berkeley which offers an annual and free virtual conference on career pathways, for students coming from all disciplines across the university.
Professional associations: Do you know if your professional association offers workshops or resources on career pathways? The American Academy of Religion has the Applied Religious Studies Committee (ARSC), for example. The MLA and AHA also have a wealth of resources to support their students. Take the opportunity to check these offerings out, along with sessions that intersect with your areas of research.
How should I go about applying?
Carpe Careers newsletter in Inside Higher Education: This blog, hosted on Inside Higher Ed and organized by the Graduate Careers Consortium, isn’t limited to career pathways outside of the academy—but you’ll find a lot of useful strategies shared here.
Advice column in The Chronicle of Higher Education: Similar to Carpe Careers; Stacy Hartman and Jennifer Furlong especially offer very practical and helpful strategies for approaching your job search.
Follow Derek Attig, PhD on LinkedIn: Attig is the Assistant Dean for Career & Professional Development, Graduate College at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and they offer free workshops (donation to charities suggested) on writing resumes and identifying skills. They are really excellent at presenting the material in a thoughtful and practical way.
Examples of humanities PhDs doing work outside of the academy
Public Pathways: Lessons about PhD Careers from 10 Years of Mellon/ACLS Public Fellows: A publication from ACLS on career paths taken by Mellon/ACLS Public Postdoctoral Fellows.
PhD Futures Now podcast: An initiative of Humanities Without Walls, which includes interviews with humanities PhDs working in a variety of industries.
Letitia Henville, PhD: A writing coach and consultant who primarily works with academics on grant writing and editing.
The Hikma Collective: Founded by Erica Machulak, PhD, who also has a forthcoming book on entrepreneurship for humanists.
Institute for Diversity and Civic Life: Founded by Tiffany Puett, PhD. A nonprofit dedicated to highlighting diverse and oft-overlooked narratives within the state of Texas.
SueJeanne Koh is the Assistant Director of Graduate Futures and Research Engagement at the Humanities Center at the University of California, Irvine. She is also a writer and teacher in Christian theology and ethics who has published on academic contingency, Asian American and Reformed theology, and settler colonialism. SueJeanne is invested in building collaborations across educational institutions, religious communities, and nonprofit organizations to address social and political challenges, and help implement sustainable organizational practices.