by Nathan Loewen, Department of Religious Studies What is this? Have you tried using a basic computer web camera to capture conversations in a classroom? Prof. Loewen has experimented with dozens of methods since 2009. With the arrival of the REL digital lab at UA’s Department of Religious Studies in 2021, things have changed. Among
Category: Graduate Students
Teaching Grad Students Academic Writing
by Daniel Riches, Department of History To me, the most important role we serve as teachers of graduate students, especially early-career graduate students, is helping them along the path of transition from being students of a field to becoming (admittedly junior) professionals in that field. This process of becoming a professional is, in my opinion,
Supporting Successful Graduate Thesis and Dissertation Projects
by Delores M. Robinson, Geological Sciences How do we best help our graduate students graduate on time? This is a question the Department of Geological Sciences asked ourselves in 2013. We had quality graduate students, but the time needed for them to reach graduation seemed excessive. The Graduate Program Committee identified the problems and began
Working with GTAs: Advice from the Experts
by Jolene Hubbs, Department of American Studies What can we do to support our graduate teaching assistants in carrying out their responsibilities confidently and capably and in developing their own pedagogic repertoires? To find out, I surveyed my own current and former GTAs, asking them to tell me about their varied experiences working with faculty
Teaching Graduate Students: The Public Value of Their Work
by John Giggie, Department of History In this faculty blog on graduate teaching, I would like to share a few observations on possible ways to help graduate students in American history think about the public value of their work. My hope is that as students broaden their identities as public intellectuals they will deepen their
Why Workshops Matter for Professionalization, Productivity, and Life!
by Jenny Shaw, Department of History One of the most important skills graduate students learn is how to receive, assimilate, and act on feedback from peers and mentors. Often, as with peer review, feedback comes anonymously, and in written form, so responses can be contemplated and thought through. But at conferences, seminars, and public talks,
Mentoring Graduate Students and Uncertain Job Markets
Mentoring Graduate Students in an Age of Uncertainty by Holly Grout, Department of History Mentoring graduate students is one of the most rewarding, as well as one of the most challenging, things that we as faculty do. On the face of it, our role is relatively straightforward: we advise our students through coursework and research;
Mentoring Graduate Teaching Assistants
As the supervising faculty member, you have the opportunity to shape your graduate teaching assistants’ development as educators, as well as how they support your role as the professor. We asked several faculty members how they guide GTAs in managing the classroom, interacting with students, and otherwise balancing the pressures of teaching. Here’s what they had