Earlier this month I attended the American Historical Association conference in Atlanta. Although I earned my PhD in history, this was my first time at the annual event. I didn’t go to present a paper or otherwise talk about my research, and I didn’t go to interview for an academic job. I went to co-host the Career Fair. If you’d have told me back when I was finishing my doctorate that I’d be doing this less than four years later, I would never have believed you!
Going to Atlanta was a good experience for me, and I enjoyed speaking with graduate students and recent graduates. I met some Internet friends in person for the first time, and saw a few of my old colleagues from the University of Toronto. I had a couple stacks of custom postcards printed ahead of time, to hand out to people while I was there. It was fun to do this! Note: Self-promotion is fine if what you’re promoting is something you really believe in. The only bad part was the horrendous exchange rate. (Related: Read Melonie Fullick’s latest blog post about the costs of conferences for graduate students and early career researchers.)
My Atlanta trip kicked off what will be a busy term for me. This winter and spring I’m travelling more than I ever had before, giving talks, facilitating discussions and workshops and, of course, networking.
Here’s where you’ll find me over the coming months. I’d love to meet a few blog readers on my travels!
I’m giving two talks at Simon Fraser University this week:
- Talk and Q&A, IRMACS Theatre, SFU Burnaby, Thursday, 21 January, 1-3pm
- Talk and Q&A, Harbour Centre, SFU Vancouver, Thursday, 21 January, 7-9pm
And then I’ll be at the University of British Columbia on Friday to speak with graduate students and postdocs in the Faculty of Medicine:
- Talk and Q&A, Cullen Family Theatre, 1st Floor Providence Building, St. Paul’s Hospital, Friday, 22 January, 11:30am-1pm
For more information, see my Events page.
And here’s what coming up, February-May:
- Keynote speaker, Projections: Making Film Studies Public, Graduate Un-Colloquium, Film Studies Association of Canada, Toronto, Thursday, 18 February.
- Panelist, GRADTalks, Sear Atrium, Ryerson University, Toronto, Wednesday, 24 February.
- Panelist, Crossroads: The Future of Graduate History Education, Drew University, Madison, NJ, 11-12 March.
- NeMLA Convention, Hartford, CT, Saturday, 19 March.
- Session facilitator, Transitions: Learning Across Borders, Sectors and Silos conference, Fairmont Royal York, Toronto, Thursday, 24 March.
- Speaker and facilitator, University of South Florida, Tampa, Saturday, 2 April.
- Speaker and facilitator, Fordham University, New York, Friday, 22 April.
- Host, Beyond the Professoriate conference, online, Saturday, 7 May and Saturday, 14 May.
- Workshop, Future of the PhD in the Humanities, Carleton University, Ottawa, 16-18 May.
I’m looking forward to these trips! It’ll be my first time in Vancouver, New Jersey, Hartford and Tampa. Returning to Carleton University as a consultant will be neat: I was last there as a master’s student. (I did my BA at Carleton, too.)
If past experience is a guide, my travels will be rewarding and fun as well as full of learning. My intellectual mind knows this, but my emotional mind is battling impostor syndrome. Still: I can do this. I’ve been building up to this and it’s enormously rewarding to have so many people take a risk on bringing me to their campuses and events. Shucks.
Here’s sending good wishes to everyone out there doing new things this year.
