Rocking the Academy

In this episode of Rocking the Academy, co-hosts Roopika Risam and Mary Churchill talk with Chris Newfield, author of The Great Mistake: How We Wrecked Public Universities and How We Can Fix Them (Johns Hopkins UP, 2016). We talk with Chris about the systematic defunding of higher education, the lack of faculty workplace engagement in universities, gender and scholar-activism within universities, and the need for debt-free college.

Find us on Twitter: @roopikarisam, @mary_churchill, and @cnewf.

In this episode of Rocking the Academy, co-hosts Roopika Risam and Mary Churchill talk with Ashley Gray, Program Manager in the Professional Learning division at the American Council on Education. We talk with Ashley about race and gender in higher education leadership, the need for new approaches to trust in higher education, and how to navigate imposter syndrome and racial battle fatigue.

Find us on Twitter: @roopikarisam, @mary_churchill, and @leadershipace.

In this episode of Rocking the Academy, co-hosts Roopika Risam and Mary Churchill talk with Katina Rogers, co-director of Futures Initiative at CUNY Grad Center and author of Putting the Humanities PhD to Work (Duke UP, 2020). We talk with Katina about the changing face of graduate education, misalignment between values and structures within higher ed, and her innovative work trying to change that.

Find us on Twitter: @roopikarisam, @mary_churchill, and @katinalynn.

In this episode of Rocking the Academy, co-hosts Roopika Risam and Mary Churchill talk with Lavelle Porter, author of The Blackademic Life: Academic Fiction, Higher Education, and the Black Intellectual, and Assistant Professor of English at New York City College of Technology. We talk with Lavelle about his recently published book, the experiences of Black academics, and some of the biggest challenges facing Black scholars today.

Find us on Twitter: @roopikarisam, @mary_churchill, and @alavelleporter.

In this episode of Rocking the Academy, co-hosts Roopika Risam and Mary Churchill talk with Yves Salomon-Fernández, president of Greenfield Community College in Greenfield, Massachusetts. We talk with Yves about her leadership in community colleges, insights from rural colleges, and challenges to diversifying the presidency in higher ed.

Find us on Twitter: @roopikarisam, @mary_churchill, and @PrezYves.

In this episode of Rocking the Academy, co-hosts Roopika Risam and Mary Churchill talk with Maria Maisto, co-founder and coalition president of New Faculty Majority, The National Coalition for Adjunct and Contingent Equity. We talk with Maria about her journey into organizing and advocacy, the successes and challenges of the contingent faculty movement, and what tenure-track allies can do to support contingent faculty.

In this episode of Rocking the Academy, co-hosts Roopika Risam and Mary Churchill talk with Ravynn Stringfield, Ph.D. Candidate in American Studies at William and Mary and founder of the celebrated blog Black Girl Does Grad School. We talk with Ravynn about her journey to graduate school, the importance of creating spaces and communities for people who are marginalized by the academy, and the importance of ancestors.

Find us on Twitter: @roopikarisam, @mary_churchill, and @RavynnKaMia.

In this episode of Rocking the Academy, co-hosts Roopika Risam and Mary Churchill talk with Kathleen Fitzpatrick, Director of Digital Humanities and Professor of English at Michigan State University and author of Generous Thinking: A Radical Approach to Saving the University, about her ideas for the future of higher education. We talk with Kathleen about her career journey, responses to Generous Thinking, and ways that faculty and administrators can implement generous thinking in the academy. Kathleen sees hope for a different future of higher ed through rethinking internal reward structures for faculty, breaking out of traditional metrics, and questioning what we value in the academy.

Find us on Twitter: @roopikarisam, @mary_churchill, and @kfitz.

In this episode of Rocking the Academy, co-hosts Roopika Risam and Mary Churchill discuss the highlights of the inaugural season of the podcast and preview Season Two. We discuss work beyond the boundaries of our jobs and the borders of higher ed itself, the risk of working towards equity and justice, and the importance of understanding the vital role of higher education for our students beyond classroom teaching. Roopika sees hope for a different future of higher ed in our guests who keep fighting despite the challenges they encounter. Mary sees hope in the next generation of scholars who understand higher education as human-centric and transformational.

Find us on Twitter: @roopikarisam @mary_churchill

In this episode of Rocking the Academy, co-hosts Roopika Risam and Mary Churchill talk with Bryan Alexander, higher education consultant, futurist, and author of Academia Next, about his ideas for the future of higher education. We talk with Bryan about the next generation of higher ed, the financial pressures institutions are facing, and the rising rate of mergers and closures. Bryan sees hope for a different future of higher ed through internationalization, open education, and advancements in online technology.

Find us on Twitter: @roopikarisam, @mary_churchill, and @BryanAlexander.