The Write In: Grad Student Narratives

Synergies, not Thorns: Sustaining Connection and Writing Support in Shared Disciplines through a “Group Consultation” Peer Model

In today’s episode, I talk with a truly special group of scholars, Candace Borders, Alison Kibe, and Jeania Ree Moore. They met as Graduate Writing Fellows and connected by giving each other feedback on their writing. While they share academic fields and methodologies, their ethics of care and investment in each other’s work allowed them to try out a new form of peer-review group, as “group consultations.” Conjoining the structure and duration of a peer-review writing group with the feedback process of an individual consultation, their group offers a unique model that can be formed by grad students who share a department and discipline. Sharing a discipline or department can have its’ challenges with respect to going “too deep” into the content, possible competition, and uneven experiences with working with advisors and gaining access to resources. Our guests offer a pathway based on Black feminist writing practices and theory that can mediate these challenges to offer a truly collaborative, compassionate, and accountable group writing and feedback model. Jeania Ree Moore is a writer, clergyperson, and interdisciplinary scholar of theology, religion, and African American studies. She is a PhD candidate in African American Studies and Religious Studies at Yale University, where her research draws on theology, ethics, and related disciplines to engage a range of sites in Black history and culture. Alison H Kibbe is an Assistant Professor of African American Studies at the College of Charleston. She is a scholar, multidisciplinary artist, and cultural organizer. In her scholarly work, Alison specializes in critical food studies, Black geographies and Black mobilities, and cultural production across the Caribbean and African Diaspora. Candace Borders is an interdisciplinary scholar, educator, and curator. Her research explores the intersections of race, gender, class, and the urban Midwest, with particular attention to role of Black women’s activism in shaping the urban landscape. She is a Postdoctoral Fellow at The Center for the Humanities, Washington University in St. Louis and received her PhD in American Studies and African American Studies from Yale University.

Staying Embedded in University Life on Your Terms with Dana Hayward

You’ve embarked on an Ivy Plus Exchange program to do archival research in Portland, Oregon in your fifth year as a Sociology PhD Candidate. Covid hits, the archives close, what are you going to do? In this episode, we hear Dana’s story about finding a place within university life after more than a decade of trials, tribulations, and ultimately, successes with her “pivoted” dissertation project. We learn that time wasn’t wasted time, but instead a pause that allowed Dana to reflect on what about universities she loved and wanted to keep, and what she wanted to let go. If you’re curious about what I like to call “academic-adjacent” roles within the university, or roles that directly connect to and work with university scholars and teachers, this episode is for you.

Leveraging Skillsets in Hydrology with Mario Soriano, Jr.

When asked to give a presentation in your master’s program, Mario’s story shows that it could lead you to a doctoral program at Yale by way of a watershed connection and eventual mentorship with an interested professor. In this episode, Mario Soriano Jr. describes his educational pathway from his undergraduate studies in Civil Engineering at the University of the Philippines, to his master’s degree in Sustainability at the United Nations University and University of Tokyo, and to his PhD in Environmental Studies at Yale University’s School of the Environment. Through these programs, Mario both enhanced and leveraged his skillsets in the study of agricultural water systems. Mario also demystifies how STEM students often find their labs. Along the way, we’ll talk about why it’s important to attend workshops tailored to grad writing in earlier stages of the degree program, like prospectus panels, especially to manage feelings of imposter stress.

Designing a Writing Process that Fits and Heals You, with Chihiro Larissa

Are you an “Architect” or a “Scrounger” in your writing process, or maybe a little bit of both? Join Chihiro and me to talk about designing a holistic writing practice that meets your style and deadlines, especially for interdisciplinary research methods. Chihiro also talks about her efforts to promote wellness resources for graduate students and healing patients in hospital settings through music therapy. While your research doesn’t have to tie directly into real-world applications, Chihiro’s study of ancient medical notions of holistic health emphasizes the importance of weaving architectural and musical beauty into places of care.