Blog

The Dreaded Soft Deadline

professionalization
At the 2025 MLA conference in New Orleans, a colleague shared that one of her students, a PhD candidate, begged her to “stop being nice” about deadlines and “create…
Jan 31, 2025
 

The What and Why of the Annotated Bib

methodologies
I was invited to teach my department’s proseminar (Graduate Professional Development Seminar) this year, and one of the training tasks we undertake involves ‘mapping the…
Sep 3, 2023

Locating New Primary Sources

methodologies
In the Summer of 2021, I worked with two undergraduate research assistants on a new project related to Central American narrative, for which I was particularly invested in…
Aug 1, 2022
 

Starting the PhD off on the Right Foot

advice
PhD
professionalization

Things I wish I had known on day one of doctoral studies…

Sep 1, 2021

The Comprehensive Exam

advice
PhD
This post is for PhD students who are composing the reading lists for comprehensive exams. Below are tips and best practices from my experience and that mentors, colleagues…
Mar 30, 2021

Compiling a High Quality Bibliography

methodologies
An advisee was recently dealing with one of the many scholarly inconveniences of the coronavirus pandemic. After having to cancel a research trip to Mexico, she needed…
Aug 2, 2020
 

In Defense of Wandering: Podcasting Pedagogy

reflections
pedagogy

For millennia, wandering has been held as a font of aesthetic inspiration in the creative process…

Jun 15, 2020
 

Inviting Professors to Speak at your Event: Best practices

professionalization
advice
An undergraduate student approached me in Spring 2020 to give a 20-minute talk on Benedict Anderson’s Imagined Communities. He described the event and then told me that the…
Mar 1, 2020
 

Natalia Beristáin, Rosario Castellanos and Violence Against Women

literature
reflections
At a January 2020 screening of Los adioses, I was invited to give a talk on the work of director Natalia Beristáin. The below is a transcript of that talk.
Jan 31, 2020
 

The Academic Job Market

job market
advice

One of the most frequent questions students pose is “How do I prepare for the job market?”…

Dec 10, 2019
 

About …

I decided to start this blog when a couple of students asked for advice and resources related to writing the dissertation and preparing for the job market. Every so often, I…
Dec 1, 2019
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