wildviolet

A PhD student who is currently in my program got his BA and MA from here (and I'm pretty sure he grew up here as well, yikes!). I don't see it as a huge negative since our college (and even department) is fairly large and diverse. However, he won't be a faculty member here for sure. What I've heard is that you need at least 10 years away if you do want to eventually return as a faculty member. This is my third institution of higher ed. I've enjoyed the diversity of viewpoints, but I'd wager that, at least in my field (education), we're all fairly progressive and most institutions will be more similar in terms of ideology than not. I think it's more important to focus on who your potential advisor will be--that will make a huge difference in your grad school experience. But, my sample size is just one, so take what I say with a big grain of salt!

I agree with this. Do other people's opinions change the way you feel about starting your PhD program? If not, then I wouldn't give it another thought. I just had a friend on FB respond negatively to one of my comments, which I had ended with a tongue-in-cheek smile face (i.e., ). Well, I thought her response was a little over the top--but her response reflects more of her self-esteem issues than it does about my comment (which wasn't even directed at anyone in particular, but it was about academic stuff). So, yeah, you know never know what issues people have and how they will respond to your comments, even if you provide context, etc. It's all about people's perceptions and rarely about your intentions.

It's almost midnight, and I'm wide awake!!! I tried going to bed (physically laying down) at 9 PM. I think I've been drifting in and out of semi-sleep, but now I'm at the computer sipping on hot milk with sugar and cinnamon and hoping that will trigger sleep. My brain feels tired, but I can't go to sleep! I'm thinking part of the problem is the climate here. It's been quite dreary--cloudy, gray days, and it's cold, so no physical activity outside (I do see people out running, but I'm not a runner). Maybe I need to get some exercise (like walking up and down the stairs on campus) and get a happy blue light lamp to combat the lack of sunlight here.

Hey stinkybeagle, I have the exact same anxieties as you do. This may not be the best idea, but once I drank half a bottle of wine and then wrote. It helped me relax so I could just put words on the page. Part of my problem is that I edit while I write, so sometimes I can't go on if a particular sentence is bothering me. My ideas are in my head but I can't get them out easily. So what drunk writing helped me do was to let go of the anxiety and do a brain dump. Of course, the next day, I edited like crazy!

I caved in and bought one last month... the newest iPad with a pink cover! I already have a MacBook Air and an iPhone. I use my iPad for my calendar, which is easier than taking out my laptop, and I don't use the calendar function on my iPhone. I've also used my iPad as a second screen. I, too, have stopped printing papers. However, I find that if I need access to a document while I'm typing, switching screens on my MacBook Air is annoying. So, I put the document on the iPad (the cover folds up into a stand), and type on my laptop. I've also brought my iPad to meetings where a laptop would have been too bulky. For example, we've had a string of job talks from potential faculty in the past week--as a graduate student, I sit in chairs along the wall rather than at the table, so it's easier for me to take notes on the iPad than on my laptop. Typing isn't great--I don't type on it the way I normally would. But, there are also apps out there, like Paper by FiftyThree (app of the year), that is great for taking notes with a stylus (as well as for doodling). I don't know if adding the iPad to my technology repertoire has actually increased my productivity... but it sure is nice, and I get compliments on it all the time!

I went to Costco the other day and came out with containers of cashews, pistachios (yay, no shells), and chocolate-covered macadamia nuts with caramel and sea salt (not to mention Wheat thins, pasta, canned beans, clementines, hummus, Greek-style yogurt, cranberry juice, and lots of toilet paper). When the zombie apocalypse happens, y'all can come over to my house!

Happy Valentine's Day, Dal PhDer! I shall be buying myself a beautiful bouquet of flowers. As they say, "you can't love someone else until you love yourself." BTW, I saw you-know-who in the hallway again, but I was with my co-conspirator at the time, which makes me nervous, so I didn't say hi. But, next time!

If only it were that easy!

Exactly! I don't think he has a good social filter of what's appropriate and what's not. Thanks!

**UPDATE** So... I sat down with #1 and #2, and we talked about boundaries and responsibilities. All seemed well. Then during today's meeting, #2 says to my advisor: "Yeah, I think we have a schedule worked out now, and wildviolet laid down the law, so we're all good." What?!?!? I did not even look at my advisor to see the reaction on his face! I mean, I guess that could be taken as a positive thing, like I'm taking charge and being the leader that I need to be, but still... it doesn't mean you have to tell all!

No, I did not know that! I thought a was a wink or a tongue-in-cheek comment. Ah well, I finally mustered up the courage to say hi to my crush in the hallway today, and we talked for a good 10 minutes!!! I've been waiting to say "hi" since September!

How do I keep up? I don't. I feel like I'm on a perpetual treadmill. So, I work when I can, and when my brain needs a break, I get nothing done (like for the past four days). Oh well. The world isn't going to end if I don't get every single piece of reading done. Sorry I can't offer anything more substantive. I know others suggest a strict work/life balance, but it doesn't quite work out that way for me. Even if I'm not doing something, I'm thinking about something.

I lived with my parents while I was doing my Master's part-time and working full-time. It was great! I paid them a little money for watching my kids, and I bought groceries and a new car for them in lieu of paying rent. Now, I'm doing my PhD full-time and live halfway across the country from them. I'm sad about that, but I made the decision that was best for my career, not for my short-term comfort. I personally don't think it's regression. If it works for you, then it works for you. Grad school is hard enough. If you have the support of your parents, all the better. Good luck!

I'm still learning about this topic myself, but I'll try to explain... Science is not just science because science is a human endeavor. Some researchers hold a theoretical perspective called sociocultural theory--it's actually been around for a while, and it says that we cannot escape our personal biases, social background, etc. If you are interested in this topic, you can look up the "Science Wars," which occurred in the 1990s between scientists (predominantly male) and sociologists who studied scientists (also predominantly male). Basically, the wars ended in a stalemate--neither side could agree with the other, so they chose to agree to disagree, so to speak. I'm quite fascinated by the field of science studies--I've been trying to read some of Bruno Latour's work, where he documents scientists in the field and how they produce portable representations of the real world (like maps and diagrams) from data obtained from the real world. It's making me view science in a new way. I, too, once thought of science as "objective." To a certain extent, it is, but at the same time, it is also heavily influenced by social and political forces. Some of the more radical work comes from feminists. I'm going to have to learn a lot more, though, before I can write cogently about it!

"If I yam what I yam, and you potato what you potato, then I think we'll be fine." Everything is about perceptions, right? So sometimes it's not so much about how you intended to sound but about how the other person interpreted your statement (which we all know is hard to do online without facial expressions, etc.). So, I took this statement to mean... "If I do what I do, and you do what you do, then we'll be both be fine..." as in "leave me alone"? But, maybe I am over thinking this...?!? A lot of times, if someone is just joking, they'll put a or , right?

Yum! Wish you were in my office! My officemates keep boxes of cereal, cookies, and chips around--so tempting, but I usually say no.

Nope! I don't keep any snacks around. I mostly drink lots and lots of herbal tea, mostly ginger and chamomile. When I feel like a salty or sweet treat, I'll have one, but I guess the sticky fingers aspect of it has kept me from snacking while I work on the computer.

I agree! I am not suggesting that girls need to choose one or the other. I, too, went through a phase in my life (sophomore year in college) where I rejected my femininity and wore loose jeans and t-shirts with sneakers, did not put on makeup, and did not pluck my eyebrows! However, my sense is that right now, it's more like "A League of Their Own," in which what is considered legitimate science is still dominated by male thought, rather than "women thinking like women." What I'm afraid of (and critical of) is the superficiality of women cheering for science only for them to be inducted into male ways of thought (I love men, don't get me wrong here). But, female thought also has something to add to science, so what I'm arguing for first is simply a recognition of these differences and how they may influence the practice of science, which, like anything else, is a human endeavor influenced by social values and norms, politics, economics, etc. Earlier in the thread, some people brought up the issue of implicit gender bias. There's a lot of interesting work going on with that right now. Even if you do not explicitly express bias against women or minorities or the mentally- or physically-disabled, your unconscious still holds biases, and they come out in real ways that have real consequences for others. For example, both men and women show an implicit bias against women. In fact, some women are even more critical of other women than they would be of men with the exact same credentials. So, researchers have found that science faculty are more likely to give a position to a male (with a higher salary) than they would to a female (with the exact same resume) and that both male and female faculty show this bias. The only way to combat this, according to some researchers, is to think about these biases consciously and to work against them consciously. To me, this shows how powerful social conditioning is--we've all come to accept the "norm" as White, male, and middle-class culture. When you work against this culture, you face resistance. If you do not accept this culture, you face rejection. If you create your own culture, you are labeled misfits, deviants, etc. Let me be clear--I am not against White, male, and middle-class culture; I am against the current power structure in which White, male, and middle-class culture is overwhelmingly dominant over other cultures (and I'm not just speaking about ethnicity or race here).

Hahaha, good one! You've made my day.

Most times I don't actually nap. I'll lay down for an hour or so and just listen to relaxing music. I think it just helps for me to close my eyes for a bit--I wear glasses and even though my prescription hasn't changed for years, I'm convinced that I have headaches related to eye strain. I've seen an ophthalmologist for dry eyes (of which I have a fairly severe case) but not for eye strain. The reason I suspect this is that last semester I noticed headaches occurring at regular times each day--just about 4 PM--the start of my evening classes. Great! So napping (along with lots of water and Advil) this semester seems to help with that. Also, I live so close to campus ('m just across the street, basically) so it's not a pain at all to go home in the afternoon and come back in the evening. I can still sleep eight hours a night, which is what my body prefers. So, I'll sleep about 10-11 PM to 7 AM.

This is a totally random (but real and strange) situation, so here goes... Would you be offended if you thought someone had compared you to Popeye the Sailor Man? The situation is this: what if you said something like "I am what I am" (meaning I accept myself the way that I am, and I don't care what other people think about my clothes, the way I talk, or the way I look). And what if someone responded by referencing Popeye's song (from the Robin Williams movie): “Popeye: [singing] I yam what I yam and I yam what I yam that I yam / And I got a lotta muscle and I only gots one eye / And I’ll never hurt nobodys and I’ll never tell a lie / Top to me bottom and me bottom to me top / That’s the way it is ’til the day that I drop, what am I? / I yam what I yam.” And what if you then said "If I yam what I yam, and you potato what you potato, then I think we'll be fine." How do you interpret that last statement?

Hmmm... just did a brief web search on biophilia. Are there any papers/books/authors in particular that I should look at first? What are the major journals? Is this evolutionary psychology/biology? Thanks!

Wow, I don't check GC for a few days, and all this interesting discussion happens without me! The thing is that we (i.e., United States) live in a Western-European, patriarchal, capitalist society--this has huge implications for everyone, not just anyone who is not White, male, and middle-class. In the sciences, the very nature of scientific knowledge is dominated by male thought. To wit: "Representation of the world, like the world itself, is the work of men; they describe it from their own point of view, which they confuse with the absolute truth." --Simone de Beauvoir (1970) I am shocked and appalled by the "Science Cheerleaders" (look them up) and the provocative titles and covers of Danica McKellar's math books for girls. They do little to address underlying gender inequity issues, some of which have to do with the nature of scientific knowledge (or for that matter, Western knowledge) itself. What counts as legitimate knowledge? Whose knowledge is legitimate? Whose questions are worth asking? The problem with the Science Cheerleaders is that they entice young women to join science--a field created and dominated by men. They are saying: You can have your cake, and eat it too! You can be a scientist/engineer/ mathematician and still be a girly girl, after hours of course (put on that makeup, do your hair, and wear short skirts). I'm not saying that it's that simple--of course we are all complex human beings with multiple identities and social roles. But, I do not see how short skirts after hours is going to help women contribute to science in meaningful ways, and I am shocked that we (i.e., STEM majors) have not been taught about the influence of gender in our fields (and indeed the world). Read up about it, folks! Plenty has been written about it but little has changed. A good place to begin is "Reflections on Gender and Science" by Evelyn Fox Keller (a mathematical biophysicist turned gender scholar). It was published in 1985, and today it is 2013! If I wasn't taking a doctoral seminar on Gender and Sexuality in Schools and Society, I would probably never have read this. After all, who would fund research on gender issues? Men? Ha! (I'm sure there are some conscientious men out there, but... until you know what it's like to walk in a woman's heels... just saying).

I didn't know that! That is so awesome. Similarly, I'm starting a research project about sustainabiilty... today we are so disconnected from important things like where our food comes from and where our waste goes that people have a hard time understanding environmental issues. I would love to talk more with you about the theory behind this (maybe I'll PM you) because even though some virtual relationships may seem more real than non-virtual relationships, I think the distance and anonymity factors must somehow affect the aftermath of broken relationships. Yes? Exactly! Hmmm... could you say more about what you mean by this?

I used to think I was a morning person until I came to grad school. Previously, I had to get up early for work. One year, I woke up at 4:30 AM so I could leave for work by 5:30 AM because I had to start teaching high school chemistry at 6:55 AM! The best thing about that schedule was no highway traffic at that time in the morning. Also, I liked the regularity of the school bells and the alertness (adrenaline) of teaching teenagers--both kept me on track. But... since coming to grad school, I've found that my brain does not want to work in the mornings. Now I get up at about 7 AM, send my kids off to school at 8:30 AM, and get to the office by 9 AM (more for parking than anything else, but I do have 9 AM meetings two days a week). I grab some coffee in our cafe, settle down in my office, and get on email. If my office-mates are feeling chatty (about 75% of the time), we end up chatting about stuff... like for hours. I can't read or write in my office. This semester, I've taken to going home in the afternoons for naps or chores. Then I go back to campus three days a week for evening classes from 4-7 PM. Sometimes, I'm really tired after class. But, sometimes I'm stimulated by the class discussions and end up doing some coursework in the evenings. Thursdays have become my chores/do nothing days since I don't have to go to campus for anything. Saturdays and Sundays have become the days I use to prep for courses. So, it's a really unusual schedule for me--the lack of structure is disconcerting (I've been in schools my entire life and have always lived by the bell). I know, I know, I'm supposed to create my own schedule (and stick to it). But... intellectual work doesn't always happen when you schedule it. So, sorry I can't offer much except to say that you're not alone!