Academic Aunties

We're on the road at the American Political Science Association conference! Producer extraordinaire, Dr. Nisha Nath joins the podcast to discuss Dr. Ethel Tungohan's audio diaries taken at this incredibly large academic conference. Along the way, they challenge norms, discuss the value of curating your conference and finding community, and provide some interesting tips and perspectives on how to survive the conference experience.

Thanks to Rachel Brown, Jessica Soedirgo, Janis Yi-Chun Chien, Emily Andrew, Stephanie Patterson, and Fiona McDonald for agreeing to be interviewed!

Thanks for listening! Get more information, support the show, and read all the transcripts at academicaunties.com. Get in touch with Academic Aunties on Twitter at @AcademicAuntie or by e-mail at [email protected].

Dr. Debra Thompson (@debthompsonphd), talks about her poignant, profound and powerful book, The Long Road Home: On Blackness and Belonging, about her journey back home. She weaves together insights on the politics of race and racialization and Black identity while discussing family history, growing up in Oshawa, and her experiences, in academic spaces in Chicago, in Ohio, in Portland, and in Canada.

Buy Deb's Book!

• The Long Road Home: On Blackness and Belonging by Debra Thompson

Reading List

• Lose Your Mother: A Journey Along the Atlantic Slave Route by Saidiya Hartman
• Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments: Intimate Histories of Social Upheaval by Saidiya Hartman
• White privilege: unpacking the invisible knapsack by Peggy McIntosh
• A Map to the Door of No Return: Notes to Belonging by Dionne Brand
• Dear Science and Other Stories by Katherine McKittrick
• The Puzzling Persistence of Racial Inequality in Canada by Keith Banting and Debra Thompson

Thanks for listening! Get more information, support the show, and read all the transcripts at academicaunties.com. Get in touch with Academic Aunties on Twitter at @AcademicAuntie or by e-mail at [email protected].

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On this bonus episode, it's host's prerogative: What do you do on a sabbatical? Dr. Genevieve Fuji-Johnson (@JohnsonFuji) and Dr. Paola Ardiles (@Paola_A_Ardiles) drop a little wisdom to help Ethel make the most of her year.

Related Links

• An Unusual Academic

Thanks for listening! Get more information, support the show, and read all the transcripts at academicaunties.com. Get in touch with Academic Aunties on Twitter at @AcademicAuntie or by e-mail at [email protected].

Back to school is usually a fun time because it signals new beginnings. But this year it feels different. Confusing and maybe a bit frightening. After two years of the pandemic, there's this sense of forced normalcy even though the pandemic is certainly not yet over. And what about the extra labour we've had to undertake over the past few years? Kind of feels like it is now our new normal.

On this episode, we talk to Dr. Kristine Alexander (@KristineAlexand) and Dr. Jennifer Mustapha (@JHMustapha) about how they are feeling about back to school.

Related Links

• Jennifer Mustapha's August 23 Tweet

Thanks for listening! Get more information, support the show, and read all the transcripts at academicaunties.com. Get in touch with Academic Aunties on Twitter at @AcademicAuntie or by e-mail at [email protected].

In theory, applying for academic jobs seems fairly straightforward. You see the job ad, you put together your application package, you send your application in, and whoever is the most qualified gets the job. In practice, the reality is a lot more complicated. So in this episode, we show you how the sausage is made.

Joining us is Dr. Sharry Aiken (@SharryAiken), Associate Professor at Queen's Law, and Dr. Sailaja Krishnamurti (@DrSailajaK), Professor and Department Head of Gender Studies at Queen's University

Related Links

• “Auntylectuals: A Nonce Taxonomy of Aunty-Power” with the Feminist Critical Hindu Studies Collective



Thanks for listening! Get more information, support the show, and read all the transcripts at academicaunties.com. Get in touch with Academic Aunties on Twitter at @AcademicAuntie or by e-mail at [email protected].

On this bonus episode of Academic Aunties, we hear from Dr. Vannina Sztainbok, who after working at her department on year-to-year contracts for seven (!) years straight, was let go...right before she would be eligible for permanent employment. Her story is the story of a lot of academics.

Say NO to precarious employment in academia by signing the Scholar Strike petition here: https://www.scholarstrikecanada.ca/no-precarious-employment

Thanks for listening! Get more information, support the show, and read all the transcripts at academicaunties.com. Get in touch with Academic Aunties on Twitter at @AcademicAuntie or by e-mail at [email protected].

How do you respond to peer reviews for journal articles? Do you respond to every single reviewer comment? How do you respond to this strategically? On this #AskAnAcademicAuntie we have Dr. Heather Millar (@hlmillar) and Dr. Carmen Ho (@carmenjho_) dispensing a little auntie wisdom.

Thanks for listening! Get more information, support the show, and read all the transcripts at academicaunties.com. Get in touch with Academic Aunties on Twitter at @AcademicAuntie or by e-mail at [email protected].

Get your elbows up. On this episode, our season 2 finale, we talk to the ultimate academic auntie, Dr. Joyce Green, an emeritus Professor of Politics and International Studies at the University of Regina. Over her three decades in the discipline she has spoken out, lifted us up, and been an inspiration for those of use who want to change academia. In her reflection, she talks about the struggles and how she's been witness to a transformation in academia that gives us hope for the future.

Want more Auntie Joyce? Check out the 2022 Indigenous Feminisms Symposium in Victoria, BC and online! More information and registration is here:

https://www.uvic.ca/research/centres/circle/events/ifs/index.php

Related Links:

• Making Space for Indigenous Feminism, edited by Dr. Joyce Green

Thanks for listening! Get more information, support the show, and read all the transcripts at academicaunties.com. Get in touch with Academic Aunties on Twitter at @AcademicAuntie or by e-mail at [email protected].

We talk about Turning Red, the newest Pixar film, directed by Toronto filmmaker Domee Shi, about a thirteen year old Chinese Canadian girl, Meilin Lee, who finds out that when she gets emotional, she turns into a big, red panda. Meilin also has to navigate life as a middle schooler and all that this entails, which includes learning how to manage her crushes, bullies and strict parents. Turning Red is also a movie that is about fitting in and about the vital importance of friendships. Which makes it a perfect topic for Academic Aunties! So today, we’re unpacking this film, and be warned: there are spoilers.

Joining us is Dr. Yvonne Su (@suyvonne), an Assistant Professor in the Department of Equity Studies at York University.

Related Links

• The Animated Life of Domee Shi

Thanks for listening! Get more information and read all the show notes at academicaunties.com. Get in touch with Academic Aunties on Twitter at @AcademicAuntie or by e-mail at [email protected].

Conference season is almost upon us! And man oh man, do we have a lot to say about academic conferences. Conferences are a crucial part of academics’ professional trajectories. In theory, these are the spaces where we’re supposed to present our work, engage with scholars in our field to make potential contacts for collaborations, and to find out new ideas that can help inform our own work! And yet, conferences are not always easy for many of us. For some, our experiences in conferences can encourage us to carry on in academia. For others, they can be the catalyst to actually leave, given that they can, at times, harm us in ways that make clear that we’re not welcome in these spaces.

Joining us to talk about all of this are our guests, Dr. Anita Girvan, an Assistant Professor of Cultural Studies at Athabasca University, and Dr. Catherine Clune-Taylor, an Assistant Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies at Princeton University.

Thanks for listening! Get more information and read all the show notes at academicaunties.com. Get in touch with Academic Aunties on Twitter at @AcademicAuntie or by e-mail at [email protected].