Syracuse University Gradcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Dr. Treviene Harris is Project Manager with Doctoral Futures, an initiative of the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) that aims to identify and promote ways doctoral programs can evolve to meet current challenges and better serve students. Treviene shares her own PhD journey, her current work on the project, and strategies the ACLS and its partner organizations can use to encourage widespread adoption of their recommendations and transform doctoral education and outcomes at the national level. 

In this episode, Ava Breitbeck sits down with Alexia Chatzitheordorou, PhD Candidate in Physics, to discuss her leadership as a graduate student. In her role as representative to the SU Board of Trustees, she has championed numerous initiatives to support graduate students' professional development. We discuss strategies to succeed as a student and scholar. 

Meg Healy, a PhD candidate in English at Syracuse, joins GradCast to discuss videographic criticism, in which audiovisual media are used to interpret texts and make scholarly arguments in ways very different from traditional print-based academic essays. Find out how Meg uses videographic tools to enhance her research into sci-fi films.

Elvi Caperonis, Technical Program Manager at Amazon and Life & Agile Career Coach, talks about how to stay adaptable in your job search and career using some of the techniques of Agile Methodology (used in software development). She also encourages you to increase your emotional intelligence and to discover and use your own super powers.

In this episode we are joined by Dr. Rebecca Schewe, Assistant Professor of Sociology and O'Hanley Faculty Scholar. Dr. Schewe takes us through the first-round or "screening interview" that colleges and universities use to determine whom they should invite for on-campus interviews. These meetings are short, to the point, and most often happen over Zoom or the phone. What are they looking for, and how do you make the cut--and get the invitation for the campus interview? Find out here. 

Shaundel Sanchez completed her Ph.D. in spring 2020 in Cultural Anthropology just as the pandemic hit, causing her postdoc in Germany to be cancelled and her to reevaluate her post-Ph.D. life and career goals. Throughout our interview she describes how she evaluated herself through self-reflection and refined her job search with networking successes along the way. Shaundel begins a Visiting Assistant Professorship this fall at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, VA.

In this episode, Dr. Romita Ray, Associate Professor of Art and Music Histories, discusses the thorny issue of the reference letter, and encourages us to get started asking for them now! But before you ask, there's plenty to know: whom to ask, what information your referees need, how to "pop the question," and more. 

As many professionals work from home, we interviewed several alumni on their top tips for working well in your personal space. On today’s episode we’ll hear tips from:

Tanya Achhra, G’18, Information Management, is a Program Manager at Amazon Web Services, and began her job working from home this past spring.

Janak Khilnani, G’15, Information Management and Managing Consultant at IBM and has been working from home for five years.

Jessica Garay Redmond, Ph.D., G’18, Assistant Professor at Syracuse University. Jessica is also a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN), a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS),  Fellow of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (FAND) and 200-hour Registered Yoga Teacher. You can connect with Jessica on Twitter, @CuseSportsRD.

Zhicheng (Mike) Zhao, G'14, Computer Science graduate from the College of Engineering and Computer Science is currently a Tech Lead at Alibaba in China. Mike formerly worked as a Senior Software Engineer at eBay and lived in San Francisco where he created a large orange alumni community. Mike will provide tips for conducting your job search.

Join Syracuse University alum Laura Spenceley, PhD, who is assistant professor of School Psychology and Associate Dean of Graduate Studies at SUNY OSWEGO to explore the ins and outs of effective teaching statements. A good teaching statement, Dr. Spenceley says, are "teasers for what faculty and students can expect from you when you're on campus." Yet so many statements let the reader down, so how do you write one that makes faculty want to see what you're like as a teacher?