Carnival of GRADual Progress: 7th Edition

Greetings and salutations my fellow grad student bloggers! Welcome to the 7th Carnival of GRADual Progress, a monthly compilation of the most insightful, interesting, and helpful posts related to grad student life. So, without further ado....

Back in the Swing of Things...

How quickly this winter break flew by! Before you knew it, the spring semester was off and running. Kristiface and KikiBe both outline their academic schedules for the spring. Maryanne, blogging at The Queen of West Procrastination, shares about her successful first class. Similarly Half An Acre, although looking forward to teaching again, laments that some professors don't challenge their students by assigning difficult (yet worthwhile) texts. Paideia's Closet expresses her positive experiences with students, but wonders if she will be able to keep up the pace (a lengthy commute can really sap your strength).

Academic Stresses and Strains...

Like many grad students, Negative Capability searches for meaning in the hallowed halls of academia, wondering if there isn't something inherently wrong with a grad school system that leaves its participants bitter, disgruntled, and lacking in confidence. Breena Ronan picks up on this theme in her post on the importance of professionalization. Also, over at Prairie Teacher, Lauren wonders about how to balance academia and real life.

Queen of West Procrastination vents about the isolating she feels during comps preparation. And while we're on the topic of comps, congratulations to Disgruntled Julie, who has survived her comps and is also recently engaged! I know I speak for all of us when I say--you go girl!

Under the "miscellaneous" stresses-and-strains category, Styley Geek describes the departmental culture at her institution, while Kristen, Working Writing Wailing Mama, luckybuzz, and Rubus Arcticus (over at Tur i oteren) discuss their efforts to stay productive. Thought Bubbles reminisces about recruitment weekend, and Anastasia wonders about students who switch programs midway through. Although she is no longer a grad student, anyone who is on the job market (or who will be in the near future) should check out Dr. Crazy's post about things to consider when writing your job talk. When it comes to the academic job search, the Boy Scout motto rings true.

Teaching...

In regards to teaching, Anastasia blogs about an innovative assignment, and Breena Ronan elaborates on using wikis in the classroom. Parts n' Pieces waxes poetic about some fabulous return customers in her intermediate composition course and later outlines her new method for giving students feedback via audio files instead of written comments. In other news, Kristface writes about her shaky relationship with her course's professor and how being a TA has its twists and turns.

Dissertating...

Styley Geek offers a witty post about how to cope with dissertation despair, and Working Writing Wailing Mama has two stimulating posts on how to conceptualize and organize your dissertation and the beneficial relationship between dissertating and blogging. Luckybuzz posts some random bullets about her dissertation trials, and 10-Year Plan recaps her research in the microfilm room. Bewildered Academic questions his priorities, wondering if he should get other things (like teaching) out of the way before working on his diss. On a more humorous note, Jim Gibbon has linked to a YouTube presentation of a "five minute dissertation," and he also offers a contest for the best haiku poem summarizing your dissertation, article, or paper. The prize is a $10 gift card for the iTunes store, so head over there with your submission(s)!

Gender Inequity in Academia...

Since many (but assuredly not all) graduate student bloggers are female, now seems like the perfect time to recap some of the discussion surrounding the challenges facing female academics more generally. Aspazia started the whole thing by talking about gender inequity and her experiences as a female scientist, rousing a vigorous response from Dude, Where's My Enlightenment? Various bloggers, including Kristen, Dr. Crazy, and others, also jumped into the fray (be sure to read the comments).

Well, that's all folks! Hope you've enjoyed the show! The next carnival will be hosted on or around March 15 at Half an Acre. Please help out our host by sending your nominations in one of these ways.