PhD Pending

In this episode, Anne is interviewed by her former student Cian Egan about expectations vs. reality when it comes to starting a PhD programme. We talk about how Anne’s actual PhD experience differed from her expectations, what unexpected challenges and mental blocks she experienced, what admin work really looks like, and if it’s worth it to teach when doing your PhD.

About Cian: Cian Egan is a recent graduate of the BA in English programme at UCC. As an academic writer, his interest lies primarily in the intersection of feminist literary theory and the Gothic. For his undergraduate dissertation, he wrote on how the depiction of female madness in the Gothic genre has evolved over time to reflect changing attitudes towards women and their mental health. He will be going straight into a master’s degree next year, specifically the MA in Modernities course in UCC, where he hopes to conduct further research in this general area. He hopes to continue his third level education to PhD level with the ultimate goal of becoming an active academic and lecturer.

This episode of PhD Pending was written and produced by Anne Mahler. Get in contact with PhD Pending on Twitter and Instagram @phdpendingpod or write an email to [email protected] you like our content, support PhD Pending by subscribing to our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/phdpendingpod, or heading to our Buy Me A Coffee page for a once-off donation: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/phdpendingpod. Jingle by Scott Holmes ("Our Big Adventure," licensed CC BY-NC 4, available at www.scottholmesmusic.com, free for use, copy and redistribute in any medium or format, under Creative Commons).

In this episode, we chat with Marnina Winkler about her experience with changing her supervisor in the middle of her PhD research. We dive deeper into how her research took her on a path that was so different to her original proposal that it necessitated a move to a different department, how she managed the process, how it impacted her mental health, and what her project and life looks like now that she has a new supervisory team.

About Marnina: Marnina is originally from Utah in the United States but has been living in Ireland for the last 6 years. In 2014, Marnina graduated from Utah Valley University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Music and a minor in History. While attending UVU, Marnina was a member of the Chamber Choir and performed all over the United States and China! The summer of 2014 Marnina performed in Italy and during the year of 2015, she was also a guest singer for the Wasatch Symphony Community Orchestra. Marnina has an MA in Ethnomusicology from University College Cork (2016) and is currently a PhD student there. While at UCC she has been tutoring in the Skills Centre, Co-Chair of PhD Chats and is a PhD Representative. Marnina sees herself as a Researcher, Presenter, and Performer and loves having the opportunity to share what she love.

Find Marnina’s Twitter here: @MarninaW

This episode of PhD Pending was written and produced by Anne Mahler. Get in contact with PhD Pending on Twitter and Instagram @phdpendingpod or write an email to [email protected] you like our content, support PhD Pending by subscribing to our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/phdpendingpod, or heading to our Buy Me A Coffee page for a once-off donation: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/phdpendingpod. Jingle by Scott Holmes ("Our Big Adventure," licensed CC BY-NC 4, available at www.scottholmesmusic.com, free for use, copy and redistribute in any medium or format, under Creative Commons).

In this episode, we chat with Dr Ashleigh Prosser about the Australian PhD system. How does it work? How much teaching is involved? What does the application process look like? Find out more in this week's deep dive!

About Ashleigh: Dr Ashleigh Prosser FHEA is an early career researcher, and the Manager Capability Development in the Educational Enhancement Unit (Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Education) at the University of Western Australia. She completed her PhD by research in English & Cultural Studies at the University of Western Australia, for which she wrote a study of the Gothic mode in contemporary author Peter Ackroyd's London-based novels and historical works. Ashleigh’s research interests lie with the Gothic, and its relationship to haunting and the uncanny in literature and popular culture. Ashleigh is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Managing Editor of Aeternum: The Journal of Contemporary Gothic Studies, co-founder of the Australasian Horror Studies Network, and the social media manager for The Gothic Association of New Zealand and Australia (@GANZA_Official),

Find Ashleigh’s Twitter here: @GANZA_Official

This episode of PhD Pending was written and produced by Anne Mahler. Get in contact with PhD Pending on Twitter and Instagram @phdpendingpod or write an email to [email protected] you like our content, support PhD Pending by subscribing to our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/phdpendingpod, or heading to our Buy Me A Coffee page for a once-off donation: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/phdpendingpod. Jingle by Scott Holmes ("Our Big Adventure," licensed CC BY-NC 4, available at www.scottholmesmusic.com, free for use, copy and redistribute in any medium or format, under Creative Commons).

Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

In this episode, we chat with Luke Watson about how he manages doing research in two languages, English and French. We dive deeper into how he treats historical sources in both languages, what to watch out for when integrating bilingual sources in your own writing, and how critical analysis changes when dealing with texts from two different cultures and in two different languages.

Find Luke’s Twitter here: @TheCelticRaven

This episode of PhD Pending was written and produced by Anne Mahler. Get in contact with PhD Pending on Twitter and Instagram @phdpendingpod or write an email to [email protected] you like our content, support PhD Pending by subscribing to our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/phdpendingpod, or heading to our Buy Me A Coffee page for a once-off donation: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/phdpendingpod. Jingle by Scott Holmes ("Our Big Adventure," licensed CC BY-NC 4, available at www.scottholmesmusic.com, free for use, copy and redistribute in any medium or format, under Creative Commons).

In this episode, we sit down with Dr Samantha Morse to chat about her approach to getting published in a high-profile journal early on in her PhD programme. We talk about her approach to writing and researching, the submission, the peer-review process, and the impact of a high-impact publication on her PhD.

About Sam: Sam specializes in long 19thC British literature with an emphasis on the Gothic and affect theory. She finished her PhD in 2020–an unfortunate COVID grad who didn't get a hooding ceremony, alas. She accepted an English faculty position at an elite college preparatory school in Miami, Florida where she taught British literature and science fiction for a year, before deciding to leave the conventional academic system and start her own business. Now she travels the US in a Ford Transit van that she built with her husband, and teaches/mentors high schoolers, college students, and grad students remotely. She is also a book coach for full professors and early career scholars.

Find Samantha’s Instagram here: @ascendinbend

Find Samantha’s YouTube here: Sam’s in the Van

Find Samantha’s website here: https://www.samanthamorse.com/

This episode of PhD Pending was written and produced by Anne Mahler. Get in contact with PhD Pending on Twitter and Instagram @phdpendingpod or write an email to [email protected] you like our content, support PhD Pending by subscribing to our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/phdpendingpod, or heading to our Buy Me A Coffee page for a once-off donation: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/phdpendingpod. Jingle by Scott Holmes ("Our Big Adventure," licensed CC BY-NC 4, available at www.scottholmesmusic.com, free for use, copy and redistribute in any medium or format, under Creative Commons).

In this episode, we chat with Bri LeBusque, the woman behind the popular PhD blog DrofWhat about how blogging can help you to process your PhD experience. We discuss the practicalities of creating a blog, how not to let an upload schedule get in the way of using it as a tool of reflection, and how a blog is a great way to create a community of PhD peers.

Dr. Brianna Le Busque has a PhD in Psychology and has a PhD blog called dr.ofwhat which she started six years ago at the start of her own PhD journey. Bri is passionate about helping postgraduate students through sharing tips on the blog and being candid about her PhD and academic experiences.

Find Bri’s blog here: https://drofwhat.com/

Find Bri’s Instagram here: @dr.ofwhat

Bri’s Twitter: @BriannaLeBusque

This episode of PhD Pending was written and produced by Anne Mahler. Get in contact with PhD Pending on Twitter and Instagram @phdpendingpod or write an email to [email protected] you like our content, support PhD Pending by subscribing to our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/phdpendingpod, or heading to our Buy Me A Coffee page for a once-off donation: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/phdpendingpod. Jingle by Scott Holmes ("Our Big Adventure," licensed CC BY-NC 4, available at www.scottholmesmusic.com, free for use, copy and redistribute in any medium or format, under Creative Commons).

In this episode, we sit down with former co-host Éadaoin Regan to chat about how we give feedback to our students when we return marks and assignments. We talk about our strategies on how we approach face-to-face feedback conversations, what to watch out for when giving feedback on in-class presentations, and how we give feedback on written assignments, both as margin notes and as feedback paragraphs.

Find Éadaoin’s Instagram here: @eadaoinnireagain

Find Éadaoin’s Twitter here: @ERegan91

This episode of PhD Pending was written and produced by Anne Mahler. Get in contact with PhD Pending on Twitter and Instagram @phdpendingpod or write an email to [email protected] you like our content, support PhD Pending by subscribing to our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/phdpendingpod, or heading to our Buy Me A Coffee page for a once-off donation: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/phdpendingpod.  Jingle by Scott Holmes ("Our Big Adventure," licensed CC BY-NC 4, available at www.scottholmesmusic.com, free for use, copy and redistribute in any medium or format, under Creative Commons).

Get ready for season 6 of PhD Pending, starting 6th April 2022, and for our PhD Pending Bonus and Super Patrons with early access to new episodes on 1st April 2022 (this is not an April Fools joke)!

This episode of PhD Pending was written and produced by Anne Mahler. If you like our content, support PhD Pending by subscribing to our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/phdpendingpod, or heading to our Buy Me A Coffee page for a once-off donation: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/phdpendingpod. Get in contact with PhD Pending on Twitter and Instagram @phdpendingpod or via email to [email protected]. Jingle by Scott Holmes ("Our Big Adventure," licensed CC BY-NC 4, available at www.scottholmesmusic.com, free for use, copy and redistribute in any medium or format, under Creative Commons).

Hey PhD Pending listeners! PhD Pending is now on Patreon! Become a patron and support the show: https://www.patreon.com/phdpendingpod.

This episode of PhD Pending was written and produced by Anne Mahler. Get in contact with PhD Pending on Twitter and Instagram @phdpendingpod or via email to [email protected]. If you like our content, support PhD Pending by subscribing to our Patreon page, or heading to our Buy Me A Coffee page for a once-off donation: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/phdpendingpod. Jingle by Scott Holmes ("Good Times," licensed CC BY-NC 4.0, available at www.scottholmesmusic.com, free for use, copy and redistribute in any medium or format, under Creative Commons).

In our season 5 finale, we sit down with Dr Mirand Corcoran, Dr Dara Downey, and Dr Deirdre Flynn for a candid discussion of what it's like to be precarious as an early-career researcher. We talk about different kinds of short-term contracts, how the existing academic system enables pay below minimal wage for ECRs and how academic culture fuels our willingness to be exploited, and cover what we can do individually and collectively to work towards changing the system.

Find Deirdre's article " On Being Precarious" here: https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/full/10.3366/iur.2020.0433

Find Deirdre's Twitter here: @deirdre_flynn

Find Dara's Twitter here: @DaraD22Gothic

Find Miranda's Twitter here: @middleagedwitch

If you like our content, support PhD Pending by heading to our Buy Me A Coffee page and donate: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/phdpendingpod. This episode of PhD Pending was written and produced by Anne Mahler. Get in contact with PhD Pending on Twitter and Instagram @phdpendingpod or via email to [email protected]. Jingle by Scott Holmes ("Our Big Adventure," licensed CC BY-NC 4, available at www.scottholmesmusic.com, free for use, copy and redistribute in any medium or format, under Creative Commons).