Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Making December less overwhelming I’m publishing this at the beginning of December. It will be shared alongside the regular monthly review and planning prompts in my newsletter. The prompts talk more about reviewing and planning your writing. You can access those here. Planning December is different from other months […]
Read More »Academic Context
How things work in academic institutions, academic disciplines, and other spaces where you find yourself. The unwritten rules, assumptions, and ways of being that make the difference in everyday academic life.
This category has been somewhat neglected. Older posts in this category will be edited and possibly recategorized beginning in July 2015.
Email, ChatGPT & the myth of efficiency
Ernesto Priego is a senior lecturer at the Centre for Human-Computer Interaction Design at City, University of London. This piece was written originally as a Bluesky thread and therefore reflects the constraints of such a medium. If you’ve followed me on the other platform [Twitter, now X] over the years you may (or not) know […]
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Peer Review is worth saving
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Peer review is worth saving There is a crisis in peer review. It affects all disciplines. It affects all types of publishers. It adds delays to the publishing process, which was already frustratingly long. I suspect it is also affecting the reviews themselves in various ways. The Peer Review […]
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This is *not* your new year, new start
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · This is *not* your new year, new start The beginning of the calendar year is accompanied by a lot of cultural pressure to reflect on the year just ended and make some big decisions about the year ahead. Reflection and planning are both practices I encourage. However, if you […]
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Planning in uncertain times
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Planning in Uncertain Times None of us are any good at predicting the future. On one level we are always planning for uncertainty. The level of uncertainty varies though and has been very high for the past year or so, both generally and in relation to your academic […]
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Yes, you should take sick leave.
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Yes, you should take sick leave Note: I currently live in the UK and have previously lived in Canada. My statements are based in the general employment situation that pertains in those countries and countries like them, where there is significant employment protection in law, and significant levels of […]
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Spotlight On: Cycles of the Academic Year
What if I told you rethinking your academic year to align with your goals and values could help you manage your workload more confidently? Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Cycles of the Academic Year Cycles of the academic year & intensity of work is where I first started thinking about the broader shape of […]
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Managing your energy.
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Managing your energy The academic year varies in intensity. The typical structure of an academic year has 2 teaching semesters, or 3 teaching terms with shorter breaks between them and then a long break in the summer. Everyone involved needs time to recover and recharge, and to integrate knowledge. […]
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The value of intellectual engagement
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Valuing Intellectual Engagement Burnout and stress are not just about the quantity of work you have to do. Lack of control and a sense of meaninglessness are major contributors to burnout. It has become very clear that your difficulty managing your workload is not a personal failing. You are […]
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Email overwhelm as a collective problem
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Email Overwhelm as a Collective Problem. This post was prompted by the renowned classicist, Mary Beard, stoking up the embers of email stress recently over on Twitter. for all you guys (women and men) recommending 'delay delivery',. do you know what that means? It means that at 9.00 my […]
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Optimism in the face of uncertainty
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Optimism in the face of uncertainty There is a difference between optimism and positivity, or at least the kind of positivity that tries to pretend that bad things never happen, or never happen to good people. I am an optimist. I read something recently that helped me clarify what […]
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Peer review supports academic writing!
Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Peer review supports academic writing The 4th book in my Short Guides series, Peer Review (A Short Guide), was published on 15 November 2019. I also offer a class called Dealing With Reviewer Comments which is based on the principles elaborated in this book. The main thing I want the […]
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