Advertise on podcast: Syracuse University Gradcast

A great deal has happened in the past year in the world of fellowships and funding in general, and since the dust has settled a little bit, I wanted to get an update on where we are. So I reached out to Melissa Welshans, Ph.D., Assistant Director of CFSA (Center for Fellowships and Scholarships Advising) here at Syracuse University to help us understand what's changed, what has stayed the same, and what applicants can do if they want to be funded through these types of awards.

Great news! Our grad assistant, Ava Breitbeck (doctoral candidate in Science Teaching) is our newest podcaster, and this is her very first episode! I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. Hannah Payne, a Masters student in Art History and 2026 Palitz Scholar, joins GradCast to share her passion for art history and the importance of effectively engaging the public in scholarly endeavors as a graduate student. Listen in on Hannah's inspiring academic journey to learn more about publicly-engaged work and to receive some great travel recommendations in the process!

"The world is moving so fast, we all need to be thinking big picture" says Shawn VanDerziel, President & Chief Executive Officer of the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), the foremost source of information on the transition from college to career. No one is better suited to provide this big picture, and I was delighted to get his take on where the jobs economy is now, where it might be headed and, of course, what to do to get a job in the age of AI.

Meg Healy, a PhD candidate in English at Syracuse, joins GradCast to discuss videographic criticism, in which audiovisual media are used to interpret texts and make scholarly arguments in ways very different from traditional print-based academic essays. Find out how Meg uses videographic tools to enhance her research into sci-fi films.

Listen in on a conversation with Dr. Ramon Goings, a faculty member and doctoral program director in Language, Literacy, and Culture at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and founder of The Done Dissertation, a consultancy helping doctoral candidates and dissertation advisors develop habits that promote productive writing and efficient degree completion. Learn about the "80% Rule" and other tips from Dr. Goings' book, 14 Secrets to a Done Dissertation!

Now here's an unexpected way to do career exploration: ask a subject area librarian! And that's exactly what I did. I reached out to Steph McReynolds, Librarian for Business, Management and Entrepreneurship, a curator of an excellent research guide on careers, who walked me through her research's fascinating resources. What followed were some ways of learning about companies and opportunities that I didn't know about!

Stacy Hartman, Program Officer for Higher Education Initiatives with the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), discusses how professional organizations have addressed the need to prepare doctoral students for a range of careers.

We have talked about how to get the coveted tenure-track job on Gradcast, but we've never really discussed what it's actually like to get tenure! I was so glad that Candace Receno, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Graduate Program Chair, Exercise Science and Athletic Training at Ithaca College, newly-tenured, could join me in a great conversation about the process and what it looks like to be on the other side of the tenure track!

"In a world of robots, be a human," says Maren Wood, Ph.D., CEO and director of the Center for Graduate Career Success, home of Beyond the Professoriate, an invaluable career exploration platform brought to you by the Graduate School. But what does that mean in the context of job searching? How and in what ways should we use AI in our job search, how much is too much, and how do we stand out when we know that AI has permeated the career landscape regardless of whether you are a hiring manager or a job seeker?

I've known Allison Alberts, Ph.D. (English Literature, Fordham University) since our days in grad school together--I owe her a ton for all the reviewing and constructive conversation about my work to this day! I was delighted, then, to have her on the podcast talking about her career as a private high school English teacher, since many people are interested in finding ways of teaching that are not necessarily at the college level. Allie shares about her transition from grad school to teaching and offers some tips about how to thrive in this kind of role.

Emily Roberts (Ph.D., Biomedical Engineering, Duke University) made a big pivot from her research to her current role as founder of Personal Finance for Ph.D.s https://pfforphds.com/, helping fellow Ph.D. students and degree holders navigate the world of budgeting while getting a Ph.D. I'm happy to announce that Dr. Roberts will be joining us on Friday Sept. 5th via Zoom to share her insights. I was able to learn a little more about her and her passion for finance in advance of her visit, and I hope you'll give it a listen!

In this episode, Ashley Watson, Assistant Professor of Communication at SUNY Geneseo, discusses the research behind her recently completed dissertation, “Born Unveiled: The Process, Protest, and Product of Racialization among International Black African Collegians in U.S. Graduate Education” (University of Minnesota, 2024).

Syracuse is now home to a fantastic resource for international students!Interstride is an interactive portal supporting international students in their job search, immigration journey, and community building. If you've ever been unsure of where to look for jobs with employers who are willing to sponsor, this is the place. If you've had questions about how to present your value to employers as an international student, again, Interstride is your friend. Our guest is Dan Pack, Career Exploration Specialist at SU, who will tell us all about this new, fantastic resource.

Mallory Fix-Lopez discusses her consultancy Language ConnectED, which provides research communication and professional development trainings for academics. Fix-Lopez will visit Syracuse on February 28, 2025, to deliver a 4-hour workshop for international grad students on “Telling Your Research Story.”

Ten years after the Report of the MLA Task Force on the Future of Doctoral Education in Modern Language and Literature, task force chair Russell Berman (German and Comparative Literature, Stanford) reflects on which of the report’s recommendations have had traction over the past decade, which goals have been elusive, and where we stand now with efforts to help PhD students pursue diverse career options.