Why do PhD programs assume students will become professors, when most people find careers outside academia? How can we better prepare graduate students for the post-grad career path? This episode explores:

What a “Connected PhD” program is, and why it’s necessary.

The negative impact on students when they feel "less than" or as if they have failed when they can't land a tenure-track job.

How to change the PhD so students graduate with multiple career options.

Why faculty need to approach graduate programs differently.

How students can build their mentoring and support network outside of their program, and outside of academia

The Connected PhD program's impact on the culture of doctoral pedagogy.


Our guest is: Dr. Alyssa Stalsberg Canelli, who is the Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs at Brandeis.
Our co-guest is: Dr. Jonathan Shapiro Anjaria, who is the Faculty Director of Professional Development at GSAS, and associate professor in the Anthropology department at Brandeis.
Our host is: Dr. Christina Gessler, a historian of women and gender.
Listeners to this episode may also be interested in:


Generous Thinking: A Radical Approach to Saving the University, by Kathleen Fitzpatrick


Putting the Humanities PhD to Work: Thriving in and beyond the Classroom, by Katina Rogers



Going Alt-Ac: A Guide to Alternative Academic Careers, by Kathryn Linder, Keven Kelly, and Thomas Tobin


The New PhD: How to Build a Better Graduate Education, by Leonard Cassuto and Robert Weisbuch


Slow Boil: Street Food, Public Space and Rights in Mumbai, by Jonathan Shapiro Anjaria


Urban Navigations: Politics, Space and the City in South Asia, edited by Jonathan Shapiro Anjaria and Colin McFarlane


Imagine PhD, created by the Graduate Career Consortium

This podcast on reimagining the academic conference

This podcast on hope for the humanities PhD


Welcome to the Academic Life! On the Academic Life channel we are inspired and informed by today’s knowledge-producers, working inside and outside the academy. Missed any of our episodes? You’ll find more than 100 of the Academic Life podcast episodes archived and freely available to you on the New Books Network website.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/academic-life