University of Miami Graduate Students In The Humanities Gain Valuable Knowledge and Skills For Acquiring Careers Outside Academia

UM College of Arts & Sciences’ Center for the Humanities Presents Career Opportunities Workshops for Ph.D. Students
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Addressing the current academic conversation on expanding career opportunities for Ph.D. students in the humanities and social sciences, the Center for the Humanities at the University of Miami College of Arts & Sciences is presenting its third series of workshops this fall for graduate students who are interested in exploring career paths outside the traditional academic track.

Introduced in fall 2014, the workshops connect graduate students in the humanities with professionals who share their expertise and proffer advice on diverse and essential topics, from the advantages of taking an internship to setting long- and short-term goals when applying their academic skills in careers relevant to their studies.

 “Graduate students need to be aware of the opportunities that go beyond a traditional tenure-track academic program,” said Director of the Center for the Humanities, Dr. Mihoko Suzuki. “These workshops are designed to help students expand their horizons, by presenting the many possible career paths that a Ph.D. can open up. I also hope faculty members will attend, so they can advise and support their students in pursuing these possibilities.”‌

university-of-miami-graduate-students-in-the-humanities-gain-valuable-knowledge-and-skills-for-acquiring-careers-outside-academia

Humanities graduate students learn how to transform

a CV into a professional resume during a workshop

led by Esther Lamarre, assistant director of

Graduate Student and Alumni Center Programs,

Toppel Career Center

The first workshop, held on Sept. 25 at 12:30 p.m., is entitled: Expanding Career Opportunities for Ph.D.s in the Libraries. Students and faculty will learn about what it is like to work in 21st-century libraries and cultural institutions from a panel of administrators and postdocs who hold Ph.Ds. The panel will also take up such topics as: how to gain professional entry into libraries and the archives, and how to apply for postdoctoral fellowships offered by the Council of Libraries and Information Resources (CLIR). The discussion will be led by Dr. Charles Eckman, Dean of Libraries and University Librarian; Dr. Kelly Miller, Associate Dean, Learning & Research Services; and CLIR postdoctoral fellows Timothy Norris and Martin Tsang.

“I know from my own experiences and those of other library colleagues that the trajectory from doctoral study to professional accomplishment follows many paths—charting that path is a complex but hopefully exhilarating process,” said Dr. Charles Eckman, Dean of Libraries.

A second workshop, scheduled for April 15, 2016, will feature Adina Popescu Berk, senior editor at Oxford University Press, and Matthew McAdam, senior acquisitions editor at John Hopkins University Press. Berk and McAdam will present career opportunities in scholarly publishing as well as a follow-up seminar to discuss various scholarly publishing outlets and strategies— for example, on how to write a book proposal.

These workshops parallel a UM initiative spearheaded by the College of Arts & Sciences and the Graduate School—UGrow: Graduate Opportunities at Work. The on-campus internship program, developed for doctoral students interested in career opportunities beyond teaching and founded by Associate Professor of English Tim Watson, allows Ph.D. students a chance to receive hands-on training and experience with participating on-campus partners.

For more information about the Center for the Humanities and its upcoming workshops on “Expanding Career Opportunities for Ph.D.s,” visit: http://humanities.miami.edu/humanities/academic/workshops/.

September 16, 2015