rheya19

When I started my PhD program in the fall, I had trouble finding official documentation of my vaccines too, just a piece of paper from my MA institution saying that they had record of receiving that documentation from me years ago. So I emailed the healthcare office at my current school and explained to them my situation. They told me to send over the document that I had, and the woman I communicated with was very kind about it. She accepted most of the immunizations and just had me get an MMR booster (which was free). I would say email whoever is in charge of receiving your immunization forms, let them know what you are and aren't able to find, and see what they say.

There are definitely professors with this perspective on their students-- that they should live for their research and put everything else second, but those professors usually have no personal lives or very dysfunctional personal lives themselves. Luckily, there are also a lot of professors who recognize that you have to put your most important relationships first, and that your research is ultimately a job. Are there any other professors in your school that you'd be comfortable talking to?--not about your advisor, but about your situation with your girlfriend? But honestly, just remember that you don't need anyone's permission to live your life. Your advisor can stomp his feet, but this is your decision, and you live with the consequences, not him. Don't feel guilty for taking care of your girlfriend or yourself. Don't let anyone make you feel guilty; just do what's right for you. And who knows? Maybe if you move and still stay on top of your work (because you will no doubt be just fine), you might change your advisor's mind on the topic of balancing personal lives and research... or at least nudge his mind in the right direction.

I agree completely. My interview only covered research and potential career plans, but after they made an offer and when I visited, I asked a lot of those questions. They even set me up on a coffee date with a student who has a son so I could ask her about it. Paula is right that if any school is going to penalize you for having a family, then you should know that up front so you can pick a different school. ?

It may not be physical abuse, but it is definitely emotional abuse and sexist as well. Don't dismiss the damage that emotional abuse can do. It almost always escalates over time as they wear you down. Please seek counseling, and consider carefully how much your dignity and self-respect is worth. Sending you hugs and good vibes!

Logic!

My husband got his MDiv at UChicago's Div School. While their academic programs are going through some leadership issues, their Divinity program is strong and highly interfaith. My husband's cohort included a Mormon, an Agnostic, and a Jew along with a healthy diversity of Christian denominations. The Mormon student (now graduate) is a Reserve chaplain now, and he ended up not being endorsed by the LDS Church because of his views on marriage equality. He found an alternate endorsing group called the Federation of Christian Churches, which endorses Christian-ish chaplains for hospitals and the military. I don't know if they would endorsed a pagan, but my point is that there are little organizations around that exist to endorse "non-traditional" chaplains. Finally, I don't know if you know what branch of the Armed Services you want to go into, but some have more evangelical chaplains than others, and they can make it very difficult for you to do your job. But you're right, that every branch needs chaplains like you now. If you want, I can probably put you in touch with that UC grad. PM me if you do. ?

Do your evaluations give you the means and medians for instructors/TAs in your department? That usually gives me a good sense of how I compare. But in all honesty, the numbers are not as important as the written feedback. Students don't always know how to rate us on a 1-5 scale, so the ratings don't really mean that much. But if you see two or more people leave the same written feedback for you, then that's something you can use to improve the course. I hope that helps.

Only back-up plan when I applied for MA programs: If I didn't get in anywhere, I was going to throw my hands up, leave, and go teach English in Dubai. I guess I just have a flare for dramatic reactions, lol, but I was younger then and still had an "all-or-nothing" approach to my life.

@Eigen thank you! I'll check on that.

Technically yes, though it's part of a TAship. I'm an independent instructor in my courses. Since very few grad students get chosen to be instructors, I thought I should use the title and look impressive. ?

I have my MA from a different school than where I'm doing my PhD. Does it matter if I include that or not in my signature? How might I indicate it? Using one of the templates provided above, I could do something like: Name, Masters of Arts University of MA School Instructor of Stuff Doctoral student- department PhD University address PhD University name PhD Phone

I just finished my first semester of my PhD program and I love it. I love my school, my work, my colleagues. My MA was a rough experience, and I'm glad that I waited a few years until I knew what direction I wanted to take my doctoral work and found the right school.

It doesn't necessarily need to be in religion if it gives you the background you need for the PhD. I have a colleague with a masters in international studies focusing on women's issues. Now she's doing a PhD in religion focused on women and media studies. A Classics MA would be a great degree to get into an ancient Mediterranean religions program. Religious studies in and of itself is very interdisciplinary, so as long as it helps you prepare for your doctoral work, I think it could work.

I feel like we need to keep in mind that PBUH, G-d, and +JMJ+ are actually different examples, which is important to the OP's issue. "+JMJ+" is more of just a cutesy abbreviation, and thus has no place in formal academic writing. On the other hand, "PBUH," while religious in nature, is sometimes culturally obligated (either the abbreviation or the full phrase "peace be upon him") more than religiously. The use of "G-d" is theological in nature, but it is ultimately a personal choice and not an obligation by any Jewish community or institution. As someone in religious studies who also teaches English composition 101 at a major university, I can't see either of the latter two being frowned upon. They are not informal, incorrect grammatically, or otherwise poor English. Ultimately it's up to the discretion of the instructor, but I can't imagine a situation where it would bother a professor that much. Christ Jesus, I'm usually more distracted by my students' lack of proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation. However, I'm really confused about this talk of "banning" certain language, ruining people's careers. and the "local media" getting involved. It feels a little hyperbolic. I don't think the OP's question needs to be spun into a political issue. It's just a pedagogical question and really only needs to be framed as such.

At my school (U Iowa) we get tuition scholarships instead of waivers, officially, so we won't be as badly impacted. I was wondering if other schools would follow suit if this passed. Technically, a school might just need to shuffle the money around and call it something else in order for it to be exempt. Fingers-crossed.

I was going to suggest the same thing. At the point when someone is comparing fudging a CV to rape and victim-blaming, yes. Agreed. 100%.

Do you think some other factors are at play, like gender, race, etc? It is possible your professor doesn't know that he/she is doing it either way. If it were me, I would ride the semester out, finish the class, but file this experience away in my mind in case I have to work with the prof again. Have things changed or improved since you first posted?

And yet, you can't experience the positive aspects of it without risking the negative. I wish it were easier.

I never fell in love until I met my husband, and I was nearing 30 at the time. I spent my 20s traveling, and while I had one or two relationships, mostly it didn't fit my nomadic, expat lifestyle. By the time I was 28, I was living in an East Asian country, and I got weekly questions about why I wasn't married yet. A cab driver even asked me if I hated men. LOL. So, yeah. Then I decided to come back to the States and go to graduate school, to which my father's only reply was, "... Well, alright. But just be careful. Men don't like a woman who's too smart." (Other Dad-Classics: When he saw me in high heels, "You know, men don't like a woman who's too tall." And staring confused when he saw me lifting weights, ".... ..... .... ..... .....") I know it's been even harder for my girlfriends in grad school who are black. It's just shitty. But honestly from where I'm standing, you're only 25. You're doing fine. You're doing important work. There are women in solidarity with you, and you are far from being done meeting men. So hold out some hope on that front, but keep doing what you love to do.

This might be waaay too late now, but for other people with the same question: I myself got the flu followed by a sinus infection last Friday. I had to miss two days of classes, but my professors were really cool about it. I thought about missing class this way: if I was a colleague/professor/presenter, would I want to be in a room with me? Would I be mad if, knowing the details of my condition, I didn't come? Would I encourage someone feeling as I did to go home and not worry about it, or would I tell them to tough it out? I have had a couple of my professors this semester emphasize the importance of self-care, and I think that that needs to be spoken of more often. Grad school is so hard on our bodies-- we work long hours, which precludes cooking healthy meals for ourselves or getting a little exercise or even sleeping enough. Take care of yourself!

Yes.... but I'm so busy right now that I can barely go into detail about it. Plus I was sick all weekend when I really really needed to get a ton of stuff done. >:(

I'm not sure what you mean by "faith-based" institution. There are many private universities founded in conjunction with a specific denomination (especially ones founded before WWII) that aren't particularly religious in character. For example, the University of Chicago was founded by Baptists but isn't a Baptist school anymore; it just retains a nominal relationship. There are some universities, that expect students to abide by codes of conduct set by their denomination and their professors not to teach anything contrary to their denomination's teachings. Then there are private universities somewhere in between the two extremes. Which schools in particular are you looking at? You should be able to research them and find out what their religious character is (or isn't.)

It really depends. How long has it been since you emailed them?

I agree that +JMJ+ is an unnecessary abbreviation for Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, but putting "PBUH" in parenthesis is less cumbersome in a paper than spelling out "Peace Be upon Him" multiple times.