We’ve all heard about faculty stereotypes:  the absent-minded professor, the one who so entrenched in her own research that she doesn’t have any desire to focus on students; the disheveled, unkempt, and disorganized professor who is totally brilliant (if you can keep up with his nonlinear way of “espousing knowledge”); or the faculty member who reads lecture material from 30-year old faded and dog-eared notes.  We see these stereotypes in the modern media and we laugh.  “I have a colleague just like that!”, “I had a professor like that once!”, or “I’m not one of those!”  Interestingly, it’s never us; it’s always someone else who fits these stereotypes.

Unfortunately, there is some truth to these three stereotypical images.  Some professors can focus on their own research to the exclusion of teaching, they can be disorganized but brilliant, and they sometimes lecture from dated...

In this week’s edition of “What’s for Lunch,” we offer cookies.  These are not the Internet-type cookies we might write about here at ProfHacker, but real cookies.  What better way to celebrate the end of so many year-end events?  This a time of endings.  The semester has almost ended for most of us.  Almost.  It’ll be over when all those grades are submitted.  The year has almost ended.  Almost.  It’ll be over when all the holidays are past and life has returned to a manageable pace.  Almost.  We are almost there.

In this time of rushing, stressing, ending, it’s important to remember to take a moment to breathe.  Take a moment to relax.  Take a moment and just be.  And have a cookie.  Besides, who says we can’t have cookies for lunch?

These recipes come from ProfHacker readers (with one of my own thrown in for fun).

♥♥♥♥♥

Forgotten...

As the semester grinds to a close for many of us, the thought of preparing thoughtful, healthy, and easy-on-the-budget meals disappears.  We have papers to grade, exams to give, meetings to attend, decisions to make,  all before a date that is fast approaching.  We are tired and we are stressed.  But we still have to eat.

This is not the time to skimp on how we fuel our bodies.  We still need healthy foods.  To that end, today we have two options for interesting and healthy lunches:  breakfast foods.  Breakfast (or brunch) foods can be nutritious, tasty, and are (to many) comfort foods in the time of stress.  These are two dishes that can be prepared for breakfast and if you make full recipes, you can also have some for lunch.

Ingredients

• 7-1/3 oz canned red salmon, drained and mashed
• 1/2 lb sour cream
• 1...

In August, Ethan Watrall published an article at ProfHacker about Bee Docs timeline, a Mac program.  Brian Croxall also wrote about his Timeline Tutorial using Google Docs.  Since these marvelous posts, I have searched for a PC-basesd program that can do similar things . . . but without the effort.  (I’m not lazy, just busy.)

My criteria:  The program must be PC-based, interactive, free, online (nothing I’d have to download and maintain), and it must use integrated search engines to produce the timeline. I found a few that deserve a little attention.

Viewzi is an interesting program with many uses.  It can produce a timeline, but it can also– from that timeline data– produce other useful screens of information.  As a purely academic exercise, I searched for “Springsteen” in the Viewzi search box.  The initial product is not a timeline; it’s what Viewzi calls a “power grid.”   ...

It’s the end of the semester for most of us.  We are overwhelmed with work.   Fatigue has set in.  So has the cold weather.  Perhaps we aren’t taking as good a care of ourselves as we should.   We aren’t getting the exercise or sleep we need.  We rely, not on the “What’s for Lunch” column at ProfHacker to provide healthy food options for our lunchtime meals, but fast food chains for sustenance.  Our immune systems weaken.   Our colleagues are sick.  So are our students.  Ultimately, we find ourselves coughing, sneezing, and feeling achy all over.

This week, in “What’s for Lunch,” we assert that Chicken Soup isn’t just good for the Soul, it’s also good for a cold.

For several decades, scientists have believed what the old wives’ tale has always declared:  that chicken soup is good for colds.   Over the years, we have learned that hot fluids...

We at ProfHacker are a productive bunch (ha!).  We do things (or, try to do things) that save us time and energy, and we try to pass those hints along to you.   So, this week’s “What’s for Lunch” column concerns itself with Thanksgiving, which is tomorrow.  We are getting a jump start using left overs (that aren’t yet left over).  It’s a preemptive move.

A very famous coffee store chain sells a sandwich that uses Thanksgiving day food items:  turkey, dressing (stuffing), cranberry (sauce), bread, and gravy, and it’s packaged as coming directly from  “Grandma.”   This sandwich is yummy, but it also carries tons of calories and carbs (maybe not a bad thing on a holiday).  If you wanted to make your own super good sandwich (and save that $7), layer the following leftover Thanksgiving day items in whatever quantity you feel is appropriate:

• bread
• ...

If you have been around academic environments for any length of time, you know the scenario.  You study for years past the undergraduate degree because you love your discipline.  You aren’t quite thinking about a job just yet, as that decision is years away.  Instead, you love the thought of being a university professor and you focus on the wonder of the books you are reading.  You finish your coursework, you labor over comprehensive exams, and you sweat blood and tears (mostly blood) over the dissertation.  You graduate with a Ph.D. (or other terminal degree).  You go on the job market.  You are one of the lucky ones to find a job.  You accept the job.  You move (yourself and possibly your family) across country to start this job.

Then what?

Graduate schools prepare us for most of the above-mentioned struggles (the coursework, the exams, sometimes even the...

As the weather turns colder (everywhere but South Texas, that is), we start to want food that warms us.  Food that comforts.  Food that smells rich.  Food that satisfies.  Potato curry soup fits those needs.  Curry is good for us.  New research suggests that one of the spices in curry is actually a cancer-fighter, especially in combination with cauliflower. The good news is that this following recipe for potato curry soup offers curry, healthful cauliflower, beta-carotene-rich carrots, and lots of flavor in every bite.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onions
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 8 cups water or good-quality vegetable broth
• 4 1/2 cups unpeeled red potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 4 cups bite-sized cauliflower florets
• 1 cup carrots, chopped
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 cup green beans, cut into...

Have you ever had to tackle a project that was so large that it overwhelmed you?   A book project?  A dissertation?  You just didn’t know where to begin, and you quickly tired of hearing people say:  “tackling a large project is like eating an elephant. You eat just one bite at a time.”   Who wants to eat an elephant, you might have wondered to yourself, and where would you begin that little exercise?  The tail?  The trunk?  The left foot?  You have a book to write, or a dissertation to finish (or some other large project), and the “eating an elephant” analogy just wasn’t working, and the next person who told you to “just start at the beginning” was going to hurt.  (We at ProfHacker in no way condone violence.)  Nevertheless, you remained overwhelmed.

Mind Mapping

A effective way to gain control over unwieldy amounts of data is the use of mind maps. Mind maps are an effective way...