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Vacation Thoughts: Do Things You Enjoy

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What do you do that you enjoy? People will often say, “My guilty pleasure is a trashy novel.” Replace novel with the name of a television show or magazine for others. I’m on a vacation from teaching and advising, but am researching and writing. And, thinking about what I enjoy or what helps me feel grounded.

1. Sleep. I need a good six to seven during the school year, but during vacation I might get eight. Eight.

2. Exercise. I have chronic back and neck issues thanks to some car accidents. (Rear-ended or t-boned). I need to exercise to keep myself healthy and happy.

3. Family. I have two kids and a partner. I love them dearly most days and want to spend time with them. I’m melting with love as I think of their smiling faces.

4. Yoga. I am a Type A person and yoga helps me relax and loosens up my attitude and body. I have found that I prefer a warm room for yoga and have moved to Moksha or the occasional Bikram’s class.

5. Reading. If I am not getting any fun reading in, I get grumpy. I have several books on the go usually and enjoy many genres.

6. Outdoors. I need fresh air and must get outdoors some. This is easier during the Summer in the Pacific Northwest, but I’m going on year two of not complaining about the rain as much as I used to and it’s working. I like the outdoors when it’s a little wet, too!

What are five or six things that you like to do? This can be during your vacation or just in general. I’m trying to do these six things lots as I slow down during my vacation.

Reappointment Process for Tenure-Line Faculty

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I’ve been thinking lots about this last school year. It was a really amazing one in terms of my academic career. In the Fall I was unanimously endorsed by my colleagues for reappointment. While I hoped and suspected that my reappointment would be smooth to have it behind me was a big relief. I can only imagine the stress involved with the tenure review. I have now loaned my binders to a friend for her own review.

If you’re up for your first review here are some points of advice. I assume and hope that some of my friends will respond and add in their two cents about the review process.

  • Document all that you do. This is easier said than done. Make sure that your CV follows the department or faculty norm.
  •  Speak to a colleague or mentor familiar with the department or faculty process, so that you have an inside view.
  • Review the Faculty Agreement/Contract or similar document to make sure that you are familiar with all the guidelines.
  • Meet with the department Chair to review the process. Get as much input as you can from the Chair.
  • Make sure that someone else (mentor/friend) reviews your dossiers.
  • I had to put together a Teaching Dossier and Service Dossier. But, most will need a fulsome Research Dossier.
  • I made photocopies of thank you cards and emails from students and included them in the latter part of my Service Dossier. I also contacted some current and former students and asked for some short statements of support. They were (thankfully) willing to do so! I included these in a sub-section entitled, “Solicited letters of support.”
  • I had to include all my course syllabi and Course Experience Surveys. I was also able to include the verbal comments from courses of my choice, but if I included comments I had to include all. I opted to include comments from one 1st year, 3rd year, and 4th year seminar. I teach an array of courses and felt that I needed to demonstrate my effectiveness among all my courses. It’s easy to pick the class with the wholly positive reviews, but you might want to think about the comments that best highlight student learning. (Remember that my position is full-time, tenure-track, and teaching focused). Related to teaching–you might have more senior to you colleagues sit in your class and review your teaching. Review the guidelines, as you should have a choice of who reviews you and when. And, you should have a right of response for the review or be granted another opportunity. I was supposed to have one course reviewed twice. I requested two courses and was glad that I did so. Given that my position is teaching focused, I thought that this would best represent my teaching skills.

I’ve included screen shots of my two sets of Table of Contents. These fit the norm of the department, so verify what is the norm for your department. Overall, I would suggest that you take 2-4 weeks to put together your dossiers. And, during the review process be nice to yourself. Try to not stress about the review and stay focused (word choice) on each step that you have control over–which is little! Good luck!

What single word defines you?

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When I was at Social Media Camp earlier this month, one of the keynotes talked about what single word defines you. I think this was part of Erica Ehm’s presentation. It took me a few minutes, but then the word appeared in my head. Passionate. I am passionate about things I do and thing that I support. It was funny that I actually pictured some student evaluations or thank you cards that noted my passion for the material was infectious or kept them awake during the early morning class. This passion has allowed me to have great conversations with people, but also offers me moments of frustration. Passionate people don’t always understand why others don’t have a similar passion for their interests, work, and politics.

What is your single word? I’m sure that the word will vary.

Here I include a photo of me looking at a book. Books and reading are one of my passions. What is your single word for today, tomorrow, or that you live by?

11 Months Later: Revisiting the Life List

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I decided to revisit this great exercise from one of the BlogHer 2011 pre-sessions.What do I think differently after this last year. I was reappointed unanimously by my colleagues, applied for an Associate Deanship and was shortlisted, didn’t get the job, had surgery, and then had a pretty rough term. The second term caused me to re-evaluate my priorities. Numbers 16-19 are new and I used a / to add to an original thought.

Life List exercise at the afternoon session for “My Blog as a Life Changer” was hard to do. Here is my first stab and again, unedited.  Try out the exercise. It’s fun.

  1. Go to Hawaii with Jason and both girls / See my family more. More quality time with them at home.
  2. See my family of origin more than one time per year. / Yes, see them more.
  3. Publish my books / I’m working on this and progress has been made.
  4. Get tenure / I was re-appointed, so step one is confirmed.
  5. Continue to Mentor / Ongoing
  6. Continue to Teach / Ongoing
  7. Learn French / I’ve heard more and have attempted to speak some. Does that count?
  8. Start a Women and Politics Center on campus / Oh, long term goal.
  9. Take kids to Grand Canyon and DC / Long term
  10. Work on either a Congressional , Senatorial or Presidential campaign / Long term
  11. Learn how to golf / Started learning in May!
  12. Spend time with friends in the US and elsewhere / Did some in March–ongoing want.
  13. Take kids to Europe / Long term goal
  14. Go to Harry Potter Theme Park / Long term goal
  15. Use sabbatical to attend conferences / To write book and to visit teen in university
  16. New to the list–take better care to relax. I am powering off my phone more and trying to not work for an hour or more every night. Balance
  17. Remember to schedule time for me and Jason
  18. Exercise as part of my daily routine
  19. Return to the life list once a year!

Tips for the #CPSA

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These tips are good for most academic conferences and probably even for non-academic conferences. I know that I’ve used these tips at Social Media Conferences, women’s conferences, and other work related conferences. The Canadian Political Science Conference begins tomorrow night at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta. And, these comments are good for graduate students, people on the market, and probably for some junior faculty.

My major point of advice is to first ascertain what sort of conference participation do you want. Do you want to attend, see your friends, and leave? Perhaps you are on the job market and you want to network and help raise your profile. If you’re on the job market, I suggest that you focus on your presentation or attending the presentations of people in your sub-field, and prepare for networking. What does this mean? Have conversations with people–communicate. Ask them if they are enjoying the conference, and which panels did they like best. Yes, this is small talk, but you might be getting to know someone for the first time and then the conversation can hopefully continue.

How do you do this? Smile. Be ready to have conversation with people at the conference meetings. Ask questions during the question and answer period after a presentation. When you’re at a reception (yes, attend some of them), walk around and talk to people. This might be small talk about the food or notice their name tag. You might know someone at their institution. Do you have business cards? If so, prepare to pass them out, when you’ve chatted with someone. You might want more comments from them on a chapter of your thesis or an article that you’re working on.

Likewise, if you’re giving a presentation, talk to the people on the panel and in the room afterward. You might find that someone there wants to chat more with you. Be bold and encourage the group to continue the conversation over coffee, drinks later or to meet at a reception. The only way that you’ll meet new people is if you make an effort. If you really want to meet a particular person, see if any of your mentors know this person and can introduce you.

Go to receptions! Be seen. Talk to people. Wear your name tag. Plan your conference itinerary. Spend pockets doing the networking thing and others attending the conference or seeing the conference city.The organization will help you avoid exhaustion of being “on” during the entire conference. This means that you need to take time to recharge, but be careful to not drink too much at any official conference events. It doesn’t look too professional and you don’t need a hangover. If you’re looking for work and there are certain people you want to meet–attend their talks or attend their campus reception. This is easier if the host site is the department in question. Overall, enjoy the conference and go there with an open mind and positive attitude.

Snow White: #SWATH

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Snow White and the Hunstman (Spoilers)

The new re-telling of the Snow White fairy tale moves away from the typical story: Girl needs saving and then gets married. In this version, Snow White played by Kristen Stewart has agency and can fight. She defends herself repeatedly. Due to her innocence and goodness, she has a connection to nature and animals and this helps her throughout the movie. To be blunt, Snow White kicks ass repeatedly. The best part of the story is that the movie does not end with her marrying. Well, the second best part is that the kiss that wakes her is not from another noble or a prince, instead the kiss that brings her back is from the brawny and handsome huntsman played by Chris Hemsworth.

Is this a feminist re-telling? Why, yes. The Evil Queen, Charlize Theron, is conniving and  obsessed with beauty and staying young. Her extreme lengths includes sucking the life out of women—especially young, attractive women. One group of women have gone so far to mar their faces and their daughters’ faces, so that they are no longer pretty. This protects them from the Queen. Thus, beauty is really ugly here. We see that the Queen’s obsession has made her evil incarnate. This should not be read that feminists do not appreciate beauty, but rather that the shallow want is not enough and that beauty alone does not make someone strong, virtuous or worthy of leading people. If anything, this re-imagined Snow White demonstrates that beauty is ugly and that strengths is found in other ways.

I want to see this movie again, so that I can see Kristen Stewart lead a call to arms and then get dressed in her fighting gear. She the proceeds to fight like a warrior and looks down at the Queen and says, “You can’t have my heart.” The movie ends on a strong note with Snow White proudly at the throne—alone. The camera does pan to the Huntsman who is smitten, but no priest is nearby!

Interactions with Students~

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I’m taking a break from the Fri Fun Facts. Instead, Friday will offer short posts about something that is on  my mind.

Working with young people there are many different opportunities to mentor or coach undergraduates. I find that some of these moments present themselves when you aren’t really expecting it. Each year I get cards or emails from students who have taken one class from me or have seen me in office hours and are graduating or transferring to another university closer to home. And, I’m always a little bit surprised to get the note or email that thanks me for a good class or for some help.

The reason why I’m surprised is that these particular students did not see me lots and only took one class from me. Given that I teach several classes most are apt to have had at least one class with me. My point here is that at times you can make a difference in a student’s experience in a class or in the office and not realize it. I always follow up the contact with an email or face to face chat if I can.

After I started the post, I cleaned up my home office and found a stack of emails or notes from students from 2002-2009! I read each one and remembered the students. I’m thankful that they took the time to contact me. What all of this reminds me is that we have moments in our offices or classroom, when we make a connection with a student. And, sometimes we are not even aware of it.

I Broke Up with Four Square: Don’t Judge

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I was an avid FourSquare user. The platform or app is a location based and you would “check in” to different places. The goal was to become the Mayor and get free coffee, discounts, and the like.  I had free coffee at certain places, free appies or my bill was discounted. Likewise, during the holidays I would get badges for saying, “Happy Fourth of July” when I checked in somewhere. I know to those unfamiliar with FourSquare or people who hate location-based apps/games, this might seem like an utter waste of time. I began to peel the band-aid off a few weeks ago deleting certain contacts from my account. I went from some 200 to just around 130 or perhaps under. I also wondered–what was I benefiting from this? Bragging Rights to the Munchie Bar as its esteemed Mayor?! But, the app had lots of my data.

My goal then became to get to 5, 000 points and I did. Then, I thought 10,000 points and I did. I was used to the check in and frankly a part of me hoped that more establishments would use FourSquare and offer deals. That really never happened to the extent that I hoped for, but some places do offer customer benefits. I just am not at those hotels or coffee shops enough. I cracked 12,000 points and thought that maybe it was time to stop. So, on Saturday, May 26th around 2pm I deleted my account. FourSquare wanted me to really think about this, though.

Well, FourSquare, it’s you. I think I might save a few minutes or possibly 20 minutes each day from here on out. And, you won’t get to document that I’m on 12 weeks running going to libraries or on fire with my 17 days in a row at coffee shops. I will admit that some of the badges were hilarious and maybe I should have taken some screen shots, but you know it was time to say bye. I also think that my girls and partner will smile when they hear that I deleted you. I guess I can be a little obsessive…

It’s been 24 hours and I am embarrassed to say that several times since I wrote this post I grabbed for my phone to check in. I definitely was power user. Now, I’ll do better things with my time. Bye Bye FourSquare–it’s me. It’s definitely me.

Pop Pop Pop Culture

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My consumption of pop culture is often informed by a few things varying from what I’m interested in, teaching, or what my family wants to see or do. This last weekend we saw some Americana, ubermasculine spectacle. I’ll give a hint, “You sunk my battleship.” Unlike many people we saw “Battleship” and enjoyed it for what it was worth, but I am ever mindful of some interesting points.

The first thing that we discussed was how the testosterone was dripping from the movie. No, it was exploding from the screen from the different characters’ bravado and the use of nothing possibly more hierarchical and masculine–the military. The movie included lots of male posturing and fighting–yawn. I won’t outline the exact plot since that is somewhat irrelevant as a Peter Berg extravaganza that is based on a Hasbro toy. The thing that made my teen daughter’s face react the most was this notion that one man has to ask another man for his permission to marry his daughter. I know that this tradition is one of those time-honored for many, but is not for me or my family.

The other thing that is so obvious with the “world is going to end due to an extraterrestrial invasion” is that the American military is there to save the day. Even though in this movie the RIMPAC event was taking place and several countries were represented it ended up being the American Navy and some survivors from the Japanese Navy to save the day. The good news was that Rihanna starred in the movie and was in several scenes. Yay for the token, strong black woman. In all serious, she did have a pivotal role working weapons, carrying a gun, and having her clothes on in the movie! I can’t say the same thing about Brooklyn Decker and her role as eye candy in the movie. Decker had on lots of form-fitting outfits, short shorts, and pretty dresses.

Spoiler alert. The movie also offered its own homage to the men who have served via a scene celebrating them and later incorporating some of these retired servicemen in the use of the museum the USS Missouri. Yes, there is a scene in which these older men parade toward the lead character and ask what he needs. He needs them and they are willing to get the decommissioned battleship out to sea to kick some alien ass. I know…cue the national anthem. But, it was pretty darn sentimental and a smart scene in some respects. The old technology still needs the old guys to run it, though. Here, a different demographic gets a nod in the movie. Likewise, in all fairness to Decker she plays a Physical Therapist, so there is a long scene at a rehab with lots of male veterans getting physical therapy. The camera pans over these men who are missing a variety of different limbs. And, one character ends up having a pivotal role in the movie.

Overall, you need to just suspend your beliefs as you watch this over the top movie. Was it terrible? No, but then again I did use some of my Scene points to get one free ticket. Had I paid for both tickets perhaps I’d feel differently!

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Today’s Fri Fun Facts is dedicated to thinking about what you do well and life planning. This is really for all of us, but I’m thinking of my college students who are on “break” working or taking Summer courses. It gets so easy to think about what needs to be done or what you haven’t scratched off on the “to do” list.During my office hours, I’ve also noticed a real apprehension with what is next and lots of self-doubt. So, let’s think about what you do well.

1. Get out a piece of paper. Oh, wait, open a new document or text yourself…

2. What do you do well? What are you known for among your friends or family?

3. The last time you were complimented–what was it for?

4. What do you want to known for at work or home? Remember to take care of yourself.

5. Think about your positive traits and what you have to give the world.

Now, think about what is next for you. You do not have to solve everything today, but just think about what is next. And, make this list realistic. Then, go chat with other mentors/coaches in your life and ask them for any guidance they might have as you embark on the next chapter in our life.