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communication

A photo of the word conclusion formed from lettered yellow tiles on a bright blue background.

Do you hate writing conclusions?

Posted on February 21, 2024 by Jo VanEvery

“I really hate writing conclusions. I am writing something now and I am very tempted to write the following as my conclusion: I wrote, I argued, it has finished. You can stop reading now. Thank you.” — (via Bluesky January 2024) This is a very common sentiment. I have seen it numerous times on social […]

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A tightly packed bookcase that fills an entire wall with blue shelves and multi-coloured book spines visible.

Who are you writing for?

Posted on March 22, 2023 by Jo VanEvery

Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide  | Who are you writing for? One thing that’s difficult about writing a book is its scope. There is a lot of material to organize. It’s too big to hold in your head. It’s hard to maintain your motivation when you won’t see a finished product for a long time. […]

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An open book with 2 columns of small text suggesting a textbook or academic publication. There are a variety of colourful tabs stuck into each page at different heights with notes on the content.

Spotlight On: Peer Review

Posted on November 2, 2022 by Jo VanEvery

Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Spotlight On: Peer Review Peer review is central to academic freedom. It ensures that the criteria for evaluating the quality of scholarship are in the control of scholars and not subordinated to commercial, government, or other interests. My writing on peer review over the years has primarily focused on […]

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A bright white wall displays a bunch of messy electronic cables taped across the wall to hold their positions above the floor and leading away from an over-filled plug socket extension block.

What if you need an extension?

Posted on November 17, 2021 by Jo VanEvery

Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · What if *you* need an extension? I’ve been seeing a lot of conversation on Twitter about granting extensions to students. Much of it is framed in terms of compassion and kindness. There seems to be a prominent school of thought that you should just do this, almost automatically. That […]

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A business reply envelope in the mail with dark turquoise facemask next to it. Formal letters have so many conventions of tone and structure.

Email sign-offs

Posted on September 1, 2021 by Jo VanEvery

Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Email Sign-offs Every once in a while there is a bit of a social media storm about how we sign our email messages. There are some humourous memes attributing passive-aggressive intent to various formal sign-offs. They are only funny if you don’t regularly worry about whether the way you […]

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An orange @ symbol plaque leaning up against a white background

Spotlight On: Email Overwhelm

Posted on September 1, 2021 by Jo VanEvery

Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Spotlight On: Email Overwhelm. One issue that seems to affect your ability to find and protect time for writing is email. You may disagree on details. Not every suggestion will work for you. But I hope you find something in here that you can try to make your situation […]

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A white and brown cat naps curled up on a green velvet arm chair with light coral red cushion.

Prioritizing rest over the winter break

Posted on December 16, 2020 by Jo VanEvery

Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Prioritizing Rest over the Winter Break I wrote this in December but it also applies at the end of 2nd semester when you are going into summer. Or, at other times of year when you have a break from teaching and you are feeling exhausted. On the first Friday […]

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A photo of a person holding a smartphone with the low battery symbol displayed on the black screen.

So tired you could cry? Enable Low Power Mode.

Posted on November 26, 2020 by Jo VanEvery

This post was originally written during a time when many universities and workplaces had shifted to remote work in response to the COVID pandemic. Although circumstances have now changed for many people, much of what I say in this post still applies. This post is part 2 of a mini-series called So Tired You Could […]

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An illustration of a woman crying with her face resting on her hand in Victorian style dress.

So tired you could cry? Permission granted.

Posted on November 25, 2020 by Jo VanEvery

This post was originally written during a time when many universities and workplaces had shifted to remote work in response to the COVID pandemic. Although circumstances have now changed for many people, much of what I say in this post still applies. This post is part 1 of a mini-series called So Tired You Could […]

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Close up of the corner of a MacBook laptop screen with Gmail window open

Email overwhelm as a collective problem

Posted on November 6, 2020 by Jo VanEvery

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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A person with heavy black mascara running down their face from their eyes holds up a piece of white paper in front of their mouth with a black pen drawn smile line on it to indicate a fake smile which they hide behind while really sad or upset

Emotional labour is real work

Posted on March 24, 2020 by Jo VanEvery

This post was originally written during a time when many universities and workplaces had shifted to remote work in response to the COVID pandemic. Although circumstances have now changed for many people, much of what I say in this post still applies. As I watch all the academic Twitter conversations about transitioning to remote teaching […]

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A woman holds her head in her hands with a frustrated facial expression as she stares at her laptop in front of her. there is a wireless mouse, a smartphone and a pair of upturned glasses on the desk nearby.

Not contributing to other people’s email overwhelm

Posted on March 16, 2020 by Jo VanEvery

Jo VanEvery, Academic Career Guide · Not contributing to other people’s email overwhelm As a companion piece to Managing email when you’ve rapidly switched to remote working, I thought I’d also share some tips to make email more effective as a means of communication. Modelling good email practices does create change. If other people find your […]

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