Future of the PhD in the Arts:  Changing conditions for graduate education

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Future of the PhD in the Arts: Changing conditions for graduate education

By Faculty of Arts Events Coordinator

Date and time

Fri, Mar 20, 2015 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM MDT

Location

Lister Centre - Wildrose Room

11613 87 Ave NW Edmonton, AB T6G 2H6 Canada

Description

Future of the PhD in the Arts: Changing conditions for graduate education in the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Fine Arts.

Friday, March 20, 2015

Wildrose Room, Lister Hall

University of Alberta

Please join us for a full day of insight from Canadian and world leaders in higher education, focusing on the changing landscape for graduate education in the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Fine Arts. Topics for discussion will include current issues with graduate education such as completion rate, time to completion, and employment success in and out of academia, as well as discussions of new visions of the PhD program and the changes that would be required to support such new programs.

8:30 Coffee and snacks.

8:45 Welcome.

9:00 Invited Speaker

Professor Paul Yachnin.

Title: Public Skills

Abstract:PhD students cultivate a host of skills, but these don’t migrate easily to the multiple fields of activity outside the university because PhDs also cultivate an academic disposition, which means that they are disposed to do their work in a university environment only. Other fields of activity feel strange and alienating. Public skills enable PhDs to develop a high level of public agency as well as the ability to translate back and forth between university-level inquiry and active, creative careers outside the academy.

Bio: Paul Yachnin is the Tomlinson Professor of Shakespeare Studies and Director of the Institute for the Public Life of Arts and Ideas at McGill University. He directed the Making Publics (MaPs) Project (2005-10) and now directs the project, Early Modern Conversions (2012-18). He is Past President of the Shakespeare Association of America. Among his publications are the books, Stage-Wrights and The Culture of Playgoing in Early Modern England (with Anthony Dawson); editions of Richard II and The Tempest; and six edited books, including Making Publics in Early Modern Europe. His book-in-progress is Making Theatrical Publics in Shakespeare’s England. His ideas about the social life of art, and those of his MaPs collaborators, were featured on the CBC Radio IDEAS series, “The Origins of the Modern Public.”

10:30 Coffee Break

11:00 Invited Speaker

Dean Lesley Cormack.

Title: What should Universities do?

Abstract: Various organizations and groups have been talking about the need to give graduate students in the humanities (and social sciences, and sciences for that matter) so-called transferable skills. So how do we go about it? What programs should we put in place? What changes would need to be made to the institution?

Bio: Dr. Lesley Cormack is an historian of science, interested in the history of geography and mathematics in early modern England and Europe. She has been Dean of Arts since 2010. Dr. Cormack was previously Dean of Arts and Social Sciences at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver (2007–2010). Before that, she spent 17 years at the University of Alberta as a Professor, taking on Associate Chair (2000-2002) and Chair (2003-2007) roles with the Department of History and Classics. Dr. Cormack holds an MA and PhD, both from the University of Toronto. She currently serves as President of the Canadian Society for the History and Philosophy of Science.

Lunch Break (Lunch on your own)

14:00 Invited Speaker

Robert Roach

Title: From the Outside Looking In: PhDs Outside the Academy

Abstract:This presentation will explore how individuals with PhDs are viewed by non-academic employers in the business, non-profit and government sectors. PhDs are viewed by many with a certain amount of awe. Others view them as a disadvantage or with disdain. These perceptions cloud important questions regarding the value of a PhD in non-academic settings and the relationship between the academy and other sectors.

Bio: Robert Roach has a BA and MA in Political Science from the University of Calgary. He is a Senior Analyst with ATB Financial’s Economics and Research Team and co-author of “The Boiling Frog Dilemma: Saving Canada from Economic Decline.” Prior to joining ATB Financial, Robert was Vice President of Research at the Canada West Foundation where he spent 19 years analyzing and commenting on a broad array of economic, social and public policy issues. Robert has served as Treasurer and President of the Economics Society of Calgary and is currently the Vice-Chair of the Calgary Arts Academy, a Course Director and Instructor for the University of Alberta's National Advanced Certificate in Local Authority Administration, a Senior Fellow with the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies and a member of the Parish Council at St. Stephen’s Anglican Church. Born in Edmonton, Robert has called Calgary home since 1974.

15:30 Coffee Break

16:00 Keynote presentation.

Anne Krook, PhD

Title: "Trial is by what is contrary": new directions for the Humanities PhD

Abstract: Sometimes the question about the current state of the PhD is "what do PhD students have to do to succeed in the current job market?" A better question is what do Humanities PhD programs have to do so that the Humanities and the students they train can both thrive in these the academic and the non-academic job markets. This talk outlines some of those changes and the outcomes they will bring.

Bio: After a PhD at in 17th and 17th century British literature at Cornell, I began my career teaching as an assistant professor at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where I taught for seven years before moving to Seattle. After a stint in restaurant bartending, I joined Amazon.com. During my thirteen years at the company, I held various roles in US and international website development, program management, internal audit, and infrastructure. After that, I worked as VP of Operations at a startup, Mindbloom, and then as VP of Operations at Synapse, a product design engineering company in Seattle. I also serve on the board of director of Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, whose mission is to achieve full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and those with HIV.


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