Tag Archives: Academia

April 30, 2013, 8:00 am

Fork the Academy

I recently wrapped up a series on GitHub. Throughout the series I highlighted what I thought were some of the most powerful innovations that software developers and writers can take advantage of in GitHub. In particular I looked at two of its collaborative features, the ability to "fork" repositories of text that retain a connection to the original and the issuing of "pull requests" as a way to enable outside contributions in an decentralized environment which leaves everyone with full control over the texts they work on.

The social and collaborative potentials that GitHub provides makes it easier than ever for anyone to contribute to an open source project or adopt and adapt a repository for their own needs and pursue their own directions. If something like this caught on in the academic world, if we could fork the academy, we might move beyond merely referring to the work of others …

January 9, 2012, 11:00 am

Four Tips for a Non-Teaching Academic Job Search

By Brian Croxall

It’s currently the high point of the academic job search for many disciplines. The MLA and AHA, for example, have just concluded their annual conventions, where first-round job interviews take place. But not everyone necessarily wants a tenure-track appointment.

To help those who still want to work in higher education but are not interested in the professorial track, the MLA offered a workshop on the nonteaching academic job search run by Brenda Bethman (Director of the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Women’s Center), Shaun Longstreet (Director of Marquette University’s Center for Teaching and Learning), and Lisa Roetzel (Associate Director of the Campuswide Honors Program at UC Irvine). I participated in the workshop and wanted to share some brief highlights for those looking to hack their career.

First, it’s worth remembering—and saying over and over again—that

November 10, 2011, 8:00 am

The Shadowy (Work) Side of Academia

By Heather M. Whitney

Last week, the New York Times published an article by Craig Lambert entitled “Our Unpaid, Extra Shadow Work.” In it, Lambert describes the manner in which some tasks, ones that in the past have been performed by employees, have been tacked on to the jobs of others. This process, he argues, has resulted in the loss of employment for many and is facilitated at least in part by technology developments. It has also resulted in measurably larger work loads for those who retain their jobs and may be a growing contributor to the common medical complaint of fatigue.

Arguments on employment loss aside, I was struck by how many different tasks in the professoriate could be categorized as shadow work. For example, I do all my own copying, scanning, mail preparation, correspondence (both digital and in print): the list of tasks not directly related to my teaching or research, but in support of…