Humanities for the Public Good: An Integrative, Collaborative, Practice-Based Humanities PhD is a new program focused on creating cross-disciplinary opportunities for humanities graduate students
interested in a range of careers.
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Apply to join the 2020-2021 Humanities for the Public Good Advisory Board
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The HPG Advisory Board serves as a kind of humanities lab, actively and collaboratively developing a cross-disciplinary humanities Ph.D. The committee will work with the P.I. and a small advisory board, conduct research into diverse career initiatives at other universities, study critiques of humanities graduate education, envision possible structures and partnerships for cross-disciplinary humanities collaborations, and consult with UI alumni and other graduates of PhD programs in a range of careers. Advisory Board members each receive a $3,000 stipend for their commitment.
Interested in applying?
See more here.
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Historically Speaking: History PhDs Tell Stories of Working Outside of the Academy
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On February 24th—with the generous support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Graduate College, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Department of History, and the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies—the Humanities for the Public Good initiative brought three tremendous alumni from the Department of History who now work beyond academe back to the University of Iowa to share how they continue their work as historians in the public.
Our guests included Karen Christianson, Director of Public Engagement as the Newberry Library in Chicago; Sylvea Hollis, Mellon postdoctoral fellow for the National Park Service; and Eric Zimmer, senior historian at Vantage Point Historical Services. Their visit back to campus culminated with a public event, titled “Historically Speaking,” in the afternoon at the Iowa City Public Library that gathered nearly 50 audience members, including graduate students, faculty, DEOs, DGSs, staff, and members of the larger community.
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Earlier in the day, Karen, Sylvea, and Eric met with Humanities for the Public Good advisory board members; were interviewed by Obermann Associate Director Jennifer New and HPG postdoc Ashley Cheyemi McNeil; and had lunch with History PhD students.
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In preparation for their many program events, our alumni guests offered their thoughts about humanities graduate education and what it means to be a humanist at work for the public good today. The following is their written responses to a couple exploratory questions we offered prior to their arrival in Iowa City:
In the context of your work today, how do you define “public good”?
Sylvea Hollis:
My current work is with the National Park Service, via a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship in Gender and Sexuality. The marker I have used to track the quality of this task is asking myself: To what degree am I cultivating conversations in the agency that empowers NPS staff to think about gender and sexuality in at least three ways. These include: How staff treat each other; How staff treat their visitors; How staff decide the stories they will tell and where. It is important to me that people see the humanities as a space of exploring ways to make scholarship relevant in people’s everyday life. Placing new work in conversations with the people who may not see themselves as academics is one...
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Working Relationships:
A Professional Networking Workshop
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On Thursday, February 13th, graduate students in humanities and humanities-adjacent departments met at Brix to learn hands-on approaches for effective professional networking.
After an hour of discussions and practice, they put their skills to the test. In the second hour of the event, they spoke with guests who have varying and exciting careers on campus and who use their humanities degrees in creative and rewarding ways.
Be on the lookout for another networking event in the fall!
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"The biggest thing that I gained from the experience was a greater degree of comfort with the process of networking and giving a brief elevator pitch." - Student Participant
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Join us for an opportunity to explore the LinkedIn platform as a tool for examining the way we think about our networks and relationships, presently and in the future.
Come prepared to question your own assumptions about what makes a truly connected academic and explore how you might leverage social media platforms such as LinkedIn to create a more just, equitable, and inspiring network.
This workshop will be led by Jen Teitle, Assistant Dean for Graduate Development and Postdoctoral Affairs, and Brady Krien, Graduate Careers and National Fellowship Advisor.
Bring your own lunch and computer.
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Curriculum Vitae or Résumé?
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Data gathered from the February 2020 newsletter polls and corresponding Twitter polls.
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Keep an eye out for our next HPG graduate student event:
We'll be hosting a "CV to résumé" workshop in April.
Information and registration links to come soon.
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Have you ever taken a graduate-level course in a department other than your home department?
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Do you think your family/friends outside of the academy understand the basics of your research?
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The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)
is hiring a humanities advisor to review grant proposals and assess eligibility and consistency with the NEH's goals. They are seeking candidates with knowledge of issues and trends tied to the preservation of, and access to, humanities collections, such as archives and public history.
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The Taylor Center at Tulane University
cultivates a diverse learning community of change-makers who use their skills, humility, expertise, gifts, and power to affirm the humanity of all people in the pursuit of a more just, sustainable, and equitable society. Their programs are grounded in the teaching, research, and practices of design thinking, social entrepreneurship, and social innovation.
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The Fahs-Beck Fund for Research and Experimentation
offers grants of up to $5,000 to help support doctoral students whose studies have the potential for adding significantly to knowledge about problems in the functioning or well being of children, adults, couples, families, or communities, or about interventions designed to prevent or alleviate such problems.
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