It is time that all of you grasped a simple yet profound truth of academic writing: adjectives are not arguments. Simply repeating the words: complex multivalent/multidirectional/multiplicitous unique diasporic transnational … [Read more...] about Adjectives Are Not Arguments, Part I
Teaching and Research Statements
Break The Cycle of List-Addiction (Or, Just Say No To Flabby Logic)
[This is a repost] Too many of us are addicted to lists in your writing. What does this look like? Well, something like this: “In sum, my dissertation uses interviews, surveys, textual analysis, and internet research in order to explore the … [Read more...] about Break The Cycle of List-Addiction (Or, Just Say No To Flabby Logic)
How to Plan Your Research and Writing Trajectory on the Tenure Track
This is a re-post. Various readers and clients are looking ahead to the new jobs they are starting in the fall, and I want you all to have a very firm handle on the nature of a tenure track research trajectory. This post is written from the … [Read more...] about How to Plan Your Research and Writing Trajectory on the Tenure Track
Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road? Topic vs. Contribution
When writing job letters clients often struggle to understand the distinction between their dissertation TOPIC and their dissertation CONTRIBUTION. In the first dissertation paragraph you talk about the content of your dissertation--main argument, … [Read more...] about Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road? Topic vs. Contribution
Teaching: Not When and Where but What and How
When discussing teaching in the teaching paragraph of your letter, one of the temptations is to tell a chronological tale of how you taught as an adjunct here and an adjunct there, and taught this class in Fall 2012 and this other class in Spring … [Read more...] about Teaching: Not When and Where but What and How
The Postdoc App: How It’s Different and Why
For the next few months I will be posting the "best of the best" Professor is in blog posts on the job market, for the benefit of all those girding their loins for the 2013-2014 market. Today's post was originally published in … [Read more...] about The Postdoc App: How It’s Different and Why
Gerund Addiction and Word Repetition–Two More Scourges
Faithful readers know that I have several posts on different kinds of writing tics that plague many academic writers. These include list addiction, dyad addiction, and cheap adjectives. There are two more writing tics that I've come to identify: … [Read more...] about Gerund Addiction and Word Repetition–Two More Scourges
The Weepy Teaching Statement: Just Say No
An expanded and updated version of this post can now be found in Chapter 25 of my new book, The Professor Is In: The Essential Guide to Turning Your Ph.D. Into a Job. I am keeping a shortened version here, but for the complete discussion including … [Read more...] about The Weepy Teaching Statement: Just Say No
Banish These Words
Do not use the words “unique” or “burgeoning” in any of your job documents. They are painfully overused. The first is just trite. The second is over-dramatic. That is all. … [Read more...] about Banish These Words
Damning Yourself With Faint Praise–Teaching Edition
For some reason people love to include undergraduate student feedback in the teaching paragraph of their job letters, and that feedback usually looks like this (from an actual letter): “Former students have consistently told me that I give helpful … [Read more...] about Damning Yourself With Faint Praise–Teaching Edition