EndlessAshley

Thank you both so much for your very thoughtful responses! I love the idea of rubrics and have done well with them before. This is something I can bring up with the lead instructor and fellow TAs so that we're on the same page, and something that I'll definitely implement when I'm teaching my own courses. I do feel assured that the professors have got my back. I'm in the habit of forwarding these complaints to them, even after I've responded to them myself, just to keep them informed in case the student decides to appeal it up. I usually get commiseration or assurance that I've responded well, and most of the time the student never follows through. I also like the idea of inviting them to take it to the professor. It's a subtle way of letting them know that the professor is my advocate and not a card to play against me. I think the basic problem is that I chose to prioritize creating a space for tossing around ideas and testing out interpretations at the expense of being more authoritarian. If someone throws out a sloppy reading, or something from left field, my impulse is to have the class keep working through it, measure it against the evidence, work their way toward something more sound. Basically, I want them to feel like they can get there on their own and use the time in discussion to model how that's done. (I'm in Bible, so most of the discussions I lead are text and interpretation based.) I do always try to be clear that some interpretations are stronger and more accountable to the evidence than others, or that almost everything is more complex than meets the eye and that solid arguments really do need to be laid, but I can definitely see how all this might make them feel empowered in the wrong ways, if they're inclined toward that kind of thing. I should probably rethink this, or find some better compromise, or maybe accept that I'm not in the position just yet to be this kind of pedagogue. Thinking in terms of gender, I may not be able to afford this approach if I need to be that much more conscious and intentional about staking out my authority in the classroom.

I'm an advanced PhD student and have had several semesters of TAing under my belt. I'm one of the lucky ones in that I've only been assigned to teach courses in my general wheelhouse with content about which I feel confident and can speak with authority. As more time passes, however, I'm becoming less secure and way more hyper-aware of my authority in the classroom. It doesn't help that I'm female, five feet tall, and still get carded on a regular basis. I've begun to notice in particular that students challenge my grading exponentially more than the other male TAs teaching the class. I'm actually kind of impressed by how much of their own free time they spend trying to put me in my place, explaining why they're right and I'm wrong, or that they know how the professor would have wanted this essay graded and that they're certain I've failed to meet that professor's expectations. Hm...maybe they should tell the professor. It seems like something they would want to know... (Not true. The professor meets with the TAs weekly and grades a handful of assignments with us together so that our expectations and averages are uniform. I know we're all grading the same way, but my co-workers don't get all this flack.) Up until now, I've been content to base my authority sort of indirectly on what I know, the detailed feedback I give them on their work, and my enthusiasm for the material. Unless I feel it's really justified, I don't budge on the original grades I've given. But I feel like most of my job now is justifying myself to them, being on the defensive about why I took off a point, even if I already explained it once. I try to be transparent about grading and will give speeches to the class about what sets an A paper apart from an A-, etc. etc., half because that's a valuable thing for them to know and half because I want to stave off their challenges before they start, but it doesn't seem to change much. I really love(d) teaching, so I'm extra sad that I'm starting to think of my students as my adversaries. Maybe I'm just unlucky and got all the jerks, but I think it has to do with some factors that are out of my control. Has anyone ever dealt with something like this? How have you navigated it? Is it just par for the course? Certainly it is to some extent, but is there some strategy I haven't thought of?

My little piece of advice, silly as it may seem, is to use a binder and carry it with you to every class. Preferably a binder with tabs. During my first semester as a TA, I made PowerPoints and uploaded them to the course website after each class, I always handed back graded assignments by the next class meeting, I developed lesson plans, and I brought print-outs with all answers to the preassigned study questions. Basically, I did my job. Nevertheless, some of my student evaluations were "neutral" about whether I was prepared and organized, and some even disagreed. I couldn't help but wonder (a smidge bitterly) what more they could ask of me. This time around, all of my students gave me highest marks for preparedness and organization, even though I didn't alter my preparation time or methods at all. The only thing that changed was that I began to carry around a binder with all course materials separated by week, rather than bringing only that week's materials. It's such a simple little thing to do to reinforce the impression that you're organized, which I'm beginning to discover carries almost as much weight as actually being organized. (But of course, do be prepared and organized! Off weeks really don't go unnoticed!) So there's one quick trick that can elevate at least that part of the students' perceptions of you, and I also found that it made me feel more put together as well - and so more confident.

I've known UVa to be open to this, but I don't know if they initiate it. I had a friend a few years back who was not accepted to the PhD program but asked to pursue an MA instead. It worked!

I use Growly Notes to organize everything by class/topic/article (but Mendeley sounds very interesting!) and synthesize as I go. I don't just hit the high points, but note questions, work out the logic of the argument, recognizing its underlying assumptions/what it does well/what it fails to answer. At the end, I feel I've engaged the text pretty well and retain more of the information as a result, and I imagine my Growly Notes strategy is going to serve me well come comps time.

I may be biased, as I am currently attending the University of Virginia, but it could be a department you'd like to check into! Larry Bouchard is in the field of religion and literature, not Bible per se, but modern fiction, listed as both faculty in the Theology, Ethics, and Culture program and the Scripture, Interpretation, and Practice program. (He held a class last semester called "Narrative Ethics," which, although you didn't mention ethics explicitly, strikes me as perhaps relevant to your queer studies interests - but correct me if I'm wrong!). SIP is an interesting, somewhat experimental and highly inter-disciplinary program which links close scriptural study and issues of lived theology, and to boot we have a current student in that program who is focusing on gender, sexuality, and LGBT issues in Judaism. We also have faculty in the more traditional biblical studies track with interests in literary approaches to the Bible and biblical narrative (Martien Halvorson-Taylor comes to mind, and I also recall a gender component in the classes I've taken with her).

Not a bad idea! Though, go figure, it is the same school.

My advisor has been beyond awesome, and I would really like to give hime a small token of my appreciation upon finishing my masters. Of course I've considered the gift card route, but I would much rather come up with something more thoughtful than that. He is a professor of Jewish philosophy and has also pioneered a type of interfaith dialogue (although he would probably kill me for using that term!). It would be great if I could get him something that speaks to either of these, but any more general ideas are also welcomed! So what do you say? Any suggestions?

I third Zotero. I have also tried RefWorks but found Zotero to be much more user friendly

At least in my experience, it's possible to be added to a full class by permission of the instructor. You might want to check with the registrar for the procedure on this just in case. If its doable, and if the class is already full by the time you register, ask the instructor if he would be willing to take you in.

I haven't gotten a physical envelope, either, but I think that may have something to do with the fact that I'm already here finishing my MA. In my full offer letter, though, they listed the MA courses they are prepared to count toward my PhD (all incoming PhDs with prior M*s can petition for advanced standing, so this isn't just me), more detailed information about the sources of my funding and my TA requirements, and a breakdown of when they expect me to clear the various hurdles (completing coursework, taking comps and language exams, finishing the dissertation). I had some questions about how the funding would be disbursed, so I talked to the graduate coordinator about it. When I accepted the offer from the link provided in the electronic application, I automatically got an e-mail about how to log on to the registration system. This all may be idiosyncratic to my school, but perhaps it is helpful!

I also would have double majored in Classics/Religious Studies rather than Religious Studies/English! I do feel like I've been able to leverage my English degree in a lot of ways, but I also think I could pull off my current research without having written a bunch of papers about Jane Austen first. And the languages. Oh the languages. My undergrad institution didn't even offer Hebrew, but I wish I at least had the time in my schedule to take what Greek they did offer. The curriculum there was also a bit weird. All of the courses were super specialized and topical, and there was no proper intro to Hebrew Bible or New Testament. I loved it at the time, but in hindsight I wouldn't have hated a little conventionality. I spent the first year of my MA scrambling to catch up on basic things like the documentary hypothesis (sheesh!) and severely overloading on credit hours with Greek, Hebrew, French and German. So yes, languages.

UVa - JCA concentration. How about you? Have you decided where you'll end up?

I was told time and time again that I had to hit that 700/166 mark (96th percentile) to be a truly competitive candidate. I only weighed in with a 164 (93rd percentile), and while my application season was not wildly successful, I made my way onto two wait lists. I was first on one list (I'm still on the other and have no idea where I stand) and was subsequently accepted with a fully funded offer. I feel like I totally lucked out. I think that my overall application was strong, but I knew that there was nothing exactly stellar about it, either. But if I remember correctly, you will have two M* degrees by the time you apply? I'm sure that will be a huge factor in the strength of your application. I would still shoot for the 90s, but obviously there are so many factors that go into admissions decisions.

I was on a train from Philadelphia, where I was visiting my parents over spring break, heading to New York City. I was going to be taking minutes at several meetings for my MA advisor's non-profit project. He was graciously trying to provide me with work after a string of upsetting rejections. My phone was on vibrate so that I wouldn't disturb the other passengers, and when I saw that he called, I assumed that he was just confirming my hotel reservations. His voicemail, though, had some much better news than that!