Just as it Sounds Just as it Sounds

In this episode, Nilüfer talks with Kristen Roupenian about writing a dissertation without fear and without silencing your voice. Everyone who pursues a Ph.D. knows the challenges that come with writing, but Kristen offers a refreshing take on the process. She reminds all of us that instead of writing to the imagined hostile audience, we should picture ourselves writing to someone who is willing to meet us halfway. Hearing this interview gave me a feeling of relief; I wish someone would have given me this advice years ago.  She also taught us that if you find the writing process excruciating, then perhaps you can find another way, a more enjoyable way to write. If you are working on a dissertation, or any form of writing, you don't want to miss this interview!


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Stony Brook, the New School, and Baruch College are among some of the schools where graduate students have started to protest in order to abolish fees; similar protests continue on a number of college campuses throughout the United States. In this episode, we discuss the harsh reality of student fees. Should graduate workers, who are not so different than school administration and staff, have to pay fees? Are we financially secure enough to allocate part of our already limited budget for services that the university then offers to both faculty and students (while only charging students)? In this episode, we look at the history of tuition and fees in the US and listen to the first-hand experience of two members from the graduate unions at Stony Brook and SUNY Buffalo, who are both actively a part of the organized movement against fees.


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In this episode, we talk with Veronica Shepp about gender-based violence in academia and introduce the idea that Title IX protects universities more than the victims it was supposed to protect. Busra and Veronica discuss re-traumatization as well as ways the system could be improved. 


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In this episode, we talk with Dr. Simone Kolysh about the experience of navigating the academic system while being a part of the LGBTQ community. Dr. Kolysh draws from their research and their own personal experiences, as they share their story with us. As Nilufer and Dr. Kolysh talk, their conversation ranges from the reasons why LGBTQ students drop out from their PhD programs to the ways that academia forces many to hide their true selves if they want to succeed. The stories they share are heartbreaking, but also importantly serve as a call to action. As Dr. Kolysh reminds us, there is a lot we can do to make a change because all of this is made up, and it is made up of us and we can un-make it.


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In this episode, we talked with Dr. Mateo Duque from Binghamton University about teaching. For each of us, teaching means something different. For some of us, it is a way of funding our PhD education. For others, it is the reason we decided to pursue a graduate and academic career. And, just like every other experience, teaching comes with its own unique challenges. Listen to Mateo and Aaron discuss the joys and perils of teaching!


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I don't have an Instagram account but I am frequently on Instagram. My guilty pleasure is looking at pictures of people and tracing moments from their lives. I have thought for a long time why I am so interested in other people's lives. One viable explanation that I came up with was that as I often feel unsuccessful as a PhD student, I might be able to become more "successful" by imitating their lives and life choices I see in these pictures. I am constantly curious about how to be a PhD student. I am always looking for answers to these questions as I scroll down through the pictures: How does a PhD spend their day? Where do they travel to? What novels do they read? What movies do they watch? What are the fun activities that they are engaged with? Do they ever have fun? How many hours do they study in a day? How many days off do they take in a week? Are they in relationships? Or are they flaneurs? Do they have kids? How many hours do they spend with their family or by themselves?

Now that I am analyzing all of these representations that I subject myself to, I have noticed that while monogamic relationships are portrayed as a magic elixir to have a balanced and successful PhD life, motherhood during a PhD occupies a more ambiguous place in our minds. To go beyond the cloud of various opinions and interpretations on the subject matter, we wanted to see its complexity by listening to a first-hand experience. In this episode, we talked with Sandra Portocarrero about what being both a mother and a PhD student is like.


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