Category Archives: academic life

gulp – deadlines despite lockdown

Posted on May 11, 2020 by

Be kind to others and to yourself. Do what you can do. Make small daily goals. Be realistic. Celebrate every victory.  Don’t be hard on yourself. These are extraordinary times. These are the messages that I and a lot of … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, deadline, list, pandemic, to do list | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

blog as teach-in/teach-out

Posted on December 2, 2019 by

During my protest-filled undergraduate years, there were regular sit -ins – where university offices were occupied – and teach-ins – where alternative interpretations of current events and their histories were explored. University staff and students collaboratively developed a radical curriculum … Continue reading →

Posted in academic life, academic writing, blogging, blogging about blogging, social media, teach-in | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

you expect what? hyper performativity and academic life

Posted on July 30, 2018 by

This is a guest post from Dr Julie Rowlands, Deakin University, Australia. Julie is concerned about problems created by institutional demands for academic hyper-performativity. Perhaps you are too.  Recently my university’s central research office promoted a workshop for PhD students seeking … Continue reading →

Posted in academic life, academic writing, career, early career researchers, hyper performativity, Julie Rowlands | Tagged , , , , | 22 Comments

a ‘good academic day’

Posted on March 9, 2017 by

What is a good academic day? What happens to make you go home/leave the office and say to your partner or cat/dog/budgie – I had such a good day today. I’ve come to the rather obvious conclusion that my good … Continue reading →

Posted in academic day, academic life | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

2017 – the year of the ‘to do’ list

Posted on January 2, 2017 by

Social media folk delight in discussing the organisation of academic work. How to manage time. How to organise all that information that comes in and out. How to sort and select tasks in order of their urgency and importance. How … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, academic writing as work, to do list, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 20 Comments

I still call australia/england home

Posted on December 7, 2014 by

A version of this post was recently published by the Guardian HE network. It seems appropriate to post it now, given that I’m just back home from five weeks in Australia. Some academics are now highly mobile. We are internationally … Continue reading →

Posted in academic life | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

stress and the writing body

Posted on July 8, 2013 by

There are suggestions that academic life is pretty stressful compared with other professional occupations (see The Guardian HE Network on this). And it is a truism to suggest that the process of doctoral and post doctoral education is stressful. It … Continue reading →

Posted in academic life, academic writing, computer, stress, stretching | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments