The Good Enough Professor

Recently I’ve noticed a rising conversation among higher ed folks about the impact of prolonged stress on our bodies. This is a conversation we need to have in higher education, and we need to center the research and voices of critical disability studies scholars and disability justice advocates, who have been reckoning with these issues for a long time. In this episode, I explore how we might better support our intertwined bodies-and-minds (“bodyminds”) by releasing ableist myths about our capacity and practicing interdependence.

Find the transcript for Episode 20, “How’s Your Bodymind?” here: https://www.karengrcoaching.com/post/how-s-your-bodymind

Mentioned in this episode:

• Margaret Price, “The Bodymind Problem and the Possibilities of Pain,” Hypatia 30.1, Winter 2025, 268-284.
• Susan Hrach, Minding Bodies: How Physical Space, Sensation, and Movement Affect Learning: https://wvupressonline.com/node/866
• Christine Miserandino on spoon theory: https://lymphoma-action.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/documents/2020-05/Spoon%20theory%20by%20Christine%20Miserandino.pdf
• See more on Patty Berne in Shayda Kafai, Crip Kinship: The Disability Justice & Art Activism of Sins Invalid: https://arsenalpulp.com/Books/C/Crip-Kinship
• Patty Berne, “10 Principles of Disability Justice”: https://sinsinvalid.org/10-principles-of-disability-justice/
• Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, The Future is Disabled: Prophecies, Love Notes and Mourning Songs: https://arsenalpulp.com/Books/T/The-Future-Is-Disabled
• Artworks in Finnegan Shannon’s series “Do you want us here or not” (2018): https://shannonfinnegan.com/do-you-want-us-here-or-not

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Join me and my co-editors Susan Hrach, Katie Linder, and Kitty Maynard for a behind-the-scenes discussion of our new book, Transformative Coaching for Faculty and Staff in Higher Education:  Powerful Tools To Address Institutional Challenges.  We talk about the collaborative experience of writing the book, our shared belief that coaching can transform higher ed, and why coaching matters now.  And we reveal our “secret audience” for the book and how coaching makes us better humans.

Find the transcript for Episode 19, “Transformative Coaching” here.  

• Connect with Susan Hrach:  ⁠www.susanhrach.com⁠ / ⁠LinkedIn⁠
• Connect with Katie Linder:  https://drkatielinder.com / https://www.youtube.com/@workflowchannel
• Connect with Kitty Maynard:  LinkedIn

  Find our book Transformative Coaching at Routledge and use code 25ESA3 for 20% off through Oct 31.  

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Social media makes self care look easy, beautiful, and unattainable.  What if we could release the aesthetic of perfection and half-ass our self care instead?  In this episode, we explore practical, low-stakes approaches to several evidence-based self care practices:  journaling, gratitude, meditation, and creativity.  If you’re skeptical of self care, or despair of finding time or energy for self care activities, this conversation is for you! 

Find the transcript for Episode 18, “Half-Assed Self Care for Weary Academics” here.

Lots of great ideas referenced in this episode! 

• Pooja Lakshmin, Real Self Care / Interview on NPR
• Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, Care Work
• Journaling:  Pennebaker on expressive writing (content warning:  sexual assault referenced); Katherine May, “How to Keep a Writer’s Notebook”   
• Gratitude:  Bartlett on gratitude
• Meditation: the APA’s overview and bibliography of research on meditation   Creativity and process art:  (SmartHistory on Process Art); my conversation about creativity with Mariglynn Edlins; Artful Parent is a rich resource for process art, pitched to parents andcaregivers but worthwhile for adults, too
• Petra Kuppers

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What tiny shifts could create more spaciousness and satisfaction in your academic life?  The breathing space between semesters is a great time to get a bird’s-eye view of your everyday life, on and off campus.  In this episode, I guide you through my “Wheel of Academic Life” tool for figuringout your own tiny change, and I share some examples of gentle and meaningful kaleidoscope shifts.

Find the transcript for Episode 17, “Kaleidoscope Shift” here.

Mentioned in this episode:

--Download my Wheel of Academic Life here.

--I’m always inspired by Natalie M. Houston’s coaching!

--Find more details on Kaleidoscope Shift sessions, or schedule your session here.

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A conversation with Liz Norell about her new book, The Present Professor:  Authenticity and Transformational Teaching.  We talk about why presence matters in our teaching, how trauma disrupts learning (for our students and for us), and what might unfold when we soften in our academic lives.  Liz shares her playful approach to building communities, and her commitment to practicing yoga as a tool for presence.

Find the transcript for Episode 16, “Finding Presence with Liz Norell” here.

Mentioned in this episode: 

--Find Liz’s new book here:  The Present Professor:  Authenticity and Transformational Teaching.

--Follow Liz on social media @liznorell:  LinkedIn, Bluesky, Instagram, and at her website, www.liznorell.com.

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A discussion with Chinasa Elue, grief researcher and grief coach, about the many ways that grief shows up in academic life.  We talk about assuming that grief is present on campus and embracing the awkwardness of tending to grief, and we explore what grief leadership could look like on campus (and why academic leaders should cry if they feel like it).  Chinasa shares the small actions we can take to create more grief-conscious academic spaces. And throughout it all, we laugh a lot!    

Find the transcript for Episode 15, “Academic Grief with Chinasa Elue” here.

What could be possible for us if we let go of productivity as a goal?  In this episode, I reframe productivity in

Find the transcript for Episode 14, “What could we be instead of productive?” here.

Mentioned in this episode: 

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A conversation about expansion, exploration, and honesty at mid-career with fashion professor Arti Sandhu.  Arti’s Instagram @sideways_toupee is a playful personal project and a serious scholarly discourse on embodiment, image-making, globalism, and place in contemporary fashion.

We talk about how the work of @sideways_toupee has raised uncomfortable tensions around mid-career, the urge to create beyond traditional boundaries while navigating fears around legitimacy, and the radical possibilities of honesty in academia.

Plus, as a @sideways_toupee fan, I get to ask my burning question:  what does Arti’s closet look like?    

Find the transcript for Episode 13, “Creativity and Risk in Academic Life” here.

Mentioned in this episode: 

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Thoughts on the inevitable awkwardness of returning to campus and feeling a little too visible at the beginning of Fall semester.

Find the Transcript for Episode 12, “Visibility & Vulnerability in the New Semester” here. 

A few more ideas for sensory rest, adapted for academics from Saundra Dalton-Smith’s Sacred Rest.  

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In this season of institutional annual reports, let’s focus instead on our lived experiences of academic life this year.  In your Shadow Annual Report, we’ll use the framework of empathy, embodiment, and empowerment

Find the Transcript for Episode 11, “Your Shadow Annual Report” here.  

Mentioned in this episode: 

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