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Academic AuntiesAfter Hours Part 2(Audio fixed)In our last episode for 2025, we welcome back the OG auntie, Dr. Rita Dhamoon, and Academic Aunties producer, Dr. Nisha Nath for the latest instalment of our year-end conversation, Academic Aunties After Hours. It's been quite a year, but it's always wonderful to think about what inspired us, what vexed us, and what gave us joy.Hope you enjoy this conversation, and we'll see you in January!Thanks for listening! Get more information, support the show, and read all the transcripts at academicaunties.com. Get in touch with Academic Aunties on...
2025-12-181h 04Academic AuntiesAfter Hours Part 2In our last episode for 2025, we welcome back the OG auntie, Dr. Rita Dhamoon, and Academic Aunties producer, Dr. Nisha Nath for the latest instalment of our year-end conversation, Academic Aunties After Hours. It's been quite a year, but it's always wonderful to think about what inspired us, what vexed us, and what gave us joy.Hope you enjoy this conversation, and we'll see you in January!Thanks for listening! Get more information, support the show, and read all the transcripts at academicaunties.com. Get in touch with Academic Aunties on BlueSky, Instagram, or by...
2025-12-181h 03Academic AuntiesAcademia is an MLMIn academia you are constantly making compromises. In my time, there have been numerous instances when I've found myself having to make compromises, prioritizing academic expectations over family and community. Times where I have to hustle hard, forgoing time with my young kids just to try to get tenure. I even remember writing my PhD dissertation, seeking to ground it in community centered knowledges and being told that academic conventions necessitate legibility, which means citing, analyzing and writing in a way that faculty members could understand.On this week's episode, we speak to Dr. Tari Ajadi, a...
2025-12-0352 minAcademic AuntiesFollowing Your InstinctsThere are many so-called truths in academia. One of them is the belief that academia is a calling, and that you have to relinquish everything for your career. Even if it means leaving everything behind, taking you away from family and support systems. On this episode, we challenge this truth with our guest, Dr. Jessica Ticar, an Assistant Professor of Social Work at Algoma University. We talk about her journey and the hard decision she had to make to leave her academic job to support family, without knowing how it would turn out. And we also talk...
2025-11-1232 minAcademic AuntiesColouring Outside the LinesAcademia likes to put people into a box. The pressure to stay within disciplinary boundaries is strong. For those who reject these disciplinary regimes, this can be felt personally, with gatekeepers discouraging this kind of scholarship at every opportunity.On this week's episode, we talk to Dr. Aadita Chaudhury, who just finished a PhD in Science and Technology Studies from York University, about these dynamics. We talk about pursuing scholarship that colours outside the lines and the importance of community to carry the load.Thanks for listening! Get more information, support the show, and read al...
2025-10-3038 minAcademic AuntiesNice White WomenFor many of our listeners, and certainly in conversations among friends, we talk about how one of the most dangerous figures we've encountered within the university are nice white women, and I don't use the word dangerous lightly. A lot has been written about the exaltation of white womanhood and especially the collusion of white women in settler colonialism, imperialism, and more. This happens in all sorts of institutions, and of course in academia. Tears, gaslighting, gatekeeping, civility, appropriation, extraction, exploitation. All of these done with a smile and under the banner of care. These are all...
2025-10-1558 minAcademic AuntiesThe Summer I Turned Pretty OldIn academia, it's taboo to be unserious. Not here, though, at Academic Aunties. On today's episode, we show that we can be good academics and also like unserious things by diving deep into one of my guilty pleasures, The Summer I Turned Pretty, streaming on Amazon Prime.The show, despite supposedly having a target audience of tweens and teens, became so popular among my demographic of 30+ and 40+ cynical academic women. What is it about the show that we love? What did we think about the contrived plot points? Why were so many of us wringing our hands...
2025-10-011h 10Academic AuntiesThe Energy We BringSeason 6 premiere!We've just started the school year and I'm realizing that I am already stressed. How can this be? The year literally just started! My goal this year was to slow down, to take it easy and to not lose sight of my health. But it's so hard to do when it seems like all the good things that we love about universities and colleges are being taken away. And it seems like the neoliberal academy loves nothing more than to take us away from teaching and researching, and instead imposing upon us increasing...
2025-09-1838 minAcademic AuntiesOrganizing, Mobilizing...and AISeason finale!The past year, we’ve talked a lot about just how much we’ve had to fight for the university. From authoritarian leaders who wish to suppress dissent and protests in universities, particularly protests in support of Palestine, to rudderless senior administrators who suspend programs, fire long-term staff, and hire expensive and useless consultancy firms, there’s a lot of reasons to feel disheartened because the odds seem stacked against us. And yet, the fight continues. And we are seeing lots of victories. To counter Donald Trump’s attacks against higher education, more and more...
2025-05-1447 minAcademic AuntiesCommunities of CareThe need for care - for radical care, for decolonial care, for accountable and reciprocal and emancipatory care - has never been more obvious. In a world where it is clear that institutions don’t care for us and that many of our elected political leaders just want to amass power and wealth, it is clear that it is our “communities of care” that hold us up. The importance of “communities of care” is something that my badass friend , Dr. Valerie Francisco-Menchavez, has stressed over the years, both in her academic work and in her activism. Val is an Asso...
2025-04-3050 minAcademic AuntiesDepleting Higher Education We are living in an age of fascism where you have political leaders who disregard democratic process and are going full steam ahead in shaping the world the way they want it to look like. And this world includes a depleted higher education sector that they see as enemy number one. All over, we are witnessing a move to defund higher education, pushing universities and colleges to adopt corporate, neoliberal norms and practices. Programs are cut while tuitions fees rise with little tangible improvements in education.So where is the money going? Why do senior administrators keep br...
2025-04-1748 minAcademic AuntiesFear, Heartbreak, BetrayalHigher education is under attack. You've probably heard about the cases of Mahmoud Kahlil, Rumeysa Ozturk, and Alireza Doroudi. Students, studying in American universities being arrested and disappeared for their political stances. And our academic institutions are all too willing to capitulate in the face of the fascist, anti-education turn of our leaders. On this episode, we try to make sense of this all. Host, Dr. Ethel Tungohan speaks with Academic Aunties producer, Dr. Nisha Nath, and friend of the podcast, Dr. Shaista Patel, an Assistant Professor of Ethnic Studies at UC San Diego, about what it's...
2025-04-0251 minAcademic AuntiesDEI in AcademiaThere is a backlash to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. All around us, we see the dismantlement of various DEI initiatives including in academia. Institutions and corporations that once rushed to put out statements in support of Black Lives Matter, Landback, and other social movements for justice, now seem all too ready to abandon their initiatives now that DEI is no longer trendy.It seems that those who felt that they had to pay lip service to DEI and thus instituted hollow and toothless statements and programs in support of diversity, are now thrilled that they don’t ha...
2025-03-1256 minAcademic AuntiesFighting for Our University(This is a reissue of the episode with audio issues corrected)Last week, at the end of the day on a Friday, York University announced the suspension of program admissions for 19 undergraduate programs, including Indigenous Studies, Gender Sexuality Women's studies programs. These cuts occurred against established procedures for collegial governance, and is part of a wider attack on higher education at academic institutions around the world.On this episode, Dr. Ethel Tungohan speaks to Dr. Ena Dua, Dr. Sarah Rotz, and Academic Aunties producer Dr. Nisha Nath on what is going on, how this is...
2025-02-2654 minAcademic AuntiesFighting for Our UniversityLast week, at the end of the day on a Friday, York University announced the suspension of program admissions for 19 undergraduate programs, including Indigenous Studies, Gender Sexuality Women's studies programs. These cuts occurred against established procedures for collegial governance, and is part of a wider attack on higher education at academic institutions around the world.On this episode, Dr. Ethel Tungohan speaks to Dr. Ena Dua, Dr. Sara Rotz, and Academic Aunties producer Dr. Nisha Nath on what is going on, how this is part of a global backlash against DEI, the role of management consultants pushing...
2025-02-2654 minAcademic AuntiesRecognizing Our Messy Leaky Bodies In academia, we assume that our value rests solely with our brains. The smarter we are, the more grants and publications we have, the more value we give to our institutions, to our fields, to our professions.What this means is that anything that gets in the way of our ability to produce is seen as a distraction. Having a personal life is a distraction. Trying to build a family is a distraction. Pregnancy is a distraction. Seeking fertility treatments, going through miscarriages, giving birth, getting abortions. These are all distractions. This of course, is de...
2025-02-1247 minAcademic AuntiesI am not my mindLately, I've been thinking a lot about the passage of time, about priorities, about health, about our larger purpose. I've been thinking, too, about intentionality. What is it that I want to do with my career? Am I doing the work that feeds me and my community? Or am I pursuing projects not because they are meaningful to me, but because this is what I am expected to do at this juncture of my career? And what of my health?Am I putting up guardrails to make sure that I'm not sacrificing my health for...
2025-01-2933 minAcademic AuntiesReference LettersIf you have had to write or request an academic reference letter, which is probably all of you, then you know that there is a whole, mysterious hidden curriculum behind them. On this episode, Ethel and Nisha talk about what it's like to write reference letters, how letter readers react to different kinds of letters, and what makes a letter good, bad, or ugly. Thanks for listening! Get more information, support the show, and read all the transcripts at academicaunties.com. Get in touch with Academic Aunties on BlueSky, Instagram, or by e-mail at podcast@academicaunties.com.
2025-01-1537 minAcademic AuntiesRemembering BoyetWhat is it like to go into the holiday season when grieving the loss of a loved one? How do we honour and remember people who are no longer with us? In this episode, I remember my dad, Leonides Tungohan - or Boyet - for short. With special guests, Winifred and Georgina, we talk about our wishes for the holidays, how we’re feeling, and our favourite memories of Boyet. Thanks for listening! Get more information, support the show, and read all the transcripts at academicaunties.com. Get in touch with Academic Aunties on Bluesky at @AcademicAunties.com o...
2024-12-0419 minAcademic AuntiesRemaginationCan we reimagine new ways living and being? Our guest this week certainly did so. After suffering tremendous loss during the pandemic, including the loss of her son, Dr. Robyn Magalit Rodriguez gave up her tenured faculty position as a full professor at UC Davis to become land steward of Remagination Farms. Located two and a half hours north of San Francisco, Remagination Farms takes up Asian American activist Grace Lee Boggs invitation to "re-imagine everything." In our conversation, we talk about how devastating loss and heartache can push us to radically change the way...
2024-11-2040 min
Hidden Figures (Canada)Episode #16: Dr. Ethel TungohanIn this episode, Dr. Ethel Tungohan discusses what motivates her, her experiences with tenure processes, and the relevance of her research in a polarized political environment. Dr. Tungohan shares her approach to making research accessible to broader communities and discusses socially engaged research practices. The podcast also touches on the challenges and biases in academic disciplines and the importance of uplifting marginalized scholars in the field. Dr. Tungohan also discusses the way that her podcast “Academic Aunties” is form of community support, and she tells Nathan and Joe to start a Hidden Figures band.
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2024-11-1549 min
New Books in Public PolicyEthel Tungohan, "Care Activism: Migrant Domestic Workers, Movement-Building, and Communities of Care" (U Illinois Press, 2023)Care Activism: Migrant Domestic Workers, Movement-Building, and Communities of Care (U Illinois Press, 2023) challenges the stereotype of downtrodden migrant caregivers by showing that care workers have distinct ways of caring for themselves, for each other, and for the larger transnational community of care workers and their families. Ethel Tungohan illuminates how the goals and desires of migrant care worker activists goes beyond political considerations like policy changes and overturning power structures.Dr. Tungohan is the Canada Research Chair in Canadian Migration Policy, Impacts and Activism, and Associate Professor of Politics at York University. She has also been app...
2024-11-071h 03New Books in Public PolicyEthel Tungohan, "Care Activism: Migrant Domestic Workers, Movement-Building, and Communities of Care" (U Illinois Press, 2023)Care Activism: Migrant Domestic Workers, Movement-Building, and Communities of Care (U Illinois Press, 2023) challenges the stereotype of downtrodden migrant caregivers by showing that care workers have distinct ways of caring for themselves, for each other, and for the larger transnational community of care workers and their families. Ethel Tungohan illuminates how the goals and desires of migrant care worker activists goes beyond political considerations like policy changes and overturning power structures.Dr. Tungohan is the Canada Research Chair in Canadian Migration Policy, Impacts and Activism, and Associate Professor of Politics at York University. She has also been app...
2024-11-071h 03
New Books in SociologyEthel Tungohan, "Care Activism: Migrant Domestic Workers, Movement-Building, and Communities of Care" (U Illinois Press, 2023)Care Activism: Migrant Domestic Workers, Movement-Building, and Communities of Care (U Illinois Press, 2023) challenges the stereotype of downtrodden migrant caregivers by showing that care workers have distinct ways of caring for themselves, for each other, and for the larger transnational community of care workers and their families. Ethel Tungohan illuminates how the goals and desires of migrant care worker activists goes beyond political considerations like policy changes and overturning power structures.Dr. Tungohan is the Canada Research Chair in Canadian Migration Policy, Impacts and Activism, and Associate Professor of Politics at York University. She has also been app...
2024-11-071h 03
New Books in AnthropologyEthel Tungohan, "Care Activism: Migrant Domestic Workers, Movement-Building, and Communities of Care" (U Illinois Press, 2023)Care Activism: Migrant Domestic Workers, Movement-Building, and Communities of Care (U Illinois Press, 2023) challenges the stereotype of downtrodden migrant caregivers by showing that care workers have distinct ways of caring for themselves, for each other, and for the larger transnational community of care workers and their families. Ethel Tungohan illuminates how the goals and desires of migrant care worker activists goes beyond political considerations like policy changes and overturning power structures.Dr. Tungohan is the Canada Research Chair in Canadian Migration Policy, Impacts and Activism, and Associate Professor of Politics at York University. She has also been app...
2024-11-071h 03
New Books in GenderEthel Tungohan, "Care Activism: Migrant Domestic Workers, Movement-Building, and Communities of Care" (U Illinois Press, 2023)Care Activism: Migrant Domestic Workers, Movement-Building, and Communities of Care (U Illinois Press, 2023) challenges the stereotype of downtrodden migrant caregivers by showing that care workers have distinct ways of caring for themselves, for each other, and for the larger transnational community of care workers and their families. Ethel Tungohan illuminates how the goals and desires of migrant care worker activists goes beyond political considerations like policy changes and overturning power structures.Dr. Tungohan is the Canada Research Chair in Canadian Migration Policy, Impacts and Activism, and Associate Professor of Politics at York University. She has also been app...
2024-11-071h 03Academic AuntiesWhat happens now?As I record this episode, it's been about six hours after the major news networks have declared that Donald Trump will once again be the President of the United States. I've got a lot of feelings. I'm unsurprised, but also disheartened. I'm still processing all of this and I know you are too. So today I want to bring you an impromptu chat that I have with my dear friend Petra Molnar. Petra is a migration and human rights lawyer, a colleague at York University, where she is the Associate Director of the Refugee Law Lab, and...
2024-11-0737 minAcademic AuntiesDemystifying Book PublishingWe take a deep dive into the world of academic book publishing. If you're in academia, you probably have, or want to work with a university press to publish your work. And at the heart of the book publishing process are university press editors. But many scholars don't know what it is that editors do, what the norms and expectations are when working with editors, and what the larger world of academic publishing looks like. To demystify the role of editors and how academic book publishing works, we have the amazing Dawn Durante, the Wyndham Robertson Editorial...
2024-10-2345 minAcademic AuntiesOne Year LaterOver the months, we have felt compelled to focus episodes on the ongoing genocide in Gaza, as well as on the implications here via the repression of solidarity work. While the brutality of the Israeli state extends back decades and decades to the Nakba, by the time this episode is released, it would be a little bit more than one year since the Israeli state began one of the most brutal campaigns of genocidal terror and violence against Palestinians. Last week such brutality extended towards attacks in Beirut, Lebanon, with the Israeli government conducting airstrikes...
2024-10-1059 minAcademic AuntiesAcademic Assholes ReduxThe OG academic aunties are back! On the season 5 premiere, we have Dr. Nisha Nath and Dr. Mariam Georgis, who appeared on the very first episode of the pod, to talk about what how the world of academic assholes have changed since we started Academic Aunties. We talk new types of assholes we've discovered, including the "stealth asshole", whether we're in a position yet to say no, and how time is collective.Thanks for listening! Get more information, support the show, and read all the transcripts at academicaunties.com. Get in touch with Academic Aunties on Instagram at...
2024-09-251h 01Academic AuntiesStudent Encampments for PalestineThis is normally a time when we’re readying ourselves for the term, often with optimism, energy, and hope for what the new year will bring. But I know I speak for many when I say that this year feels different.This Fall marks almost a year of relentless conflict in Gaza. And rather than a restful summer, students and community members have been actively organizing in solidarity with Palestinians, setting up encampments on university campuses.These encampments have faced harsh crackdowns from university administrations and police. Many have been dismantled. But as we enter the...
2024-08-2843 minAcademic AuntiesFeminist Killjoy Book ClubOn the Season 4 finale, we revisit Sara Ahmed's new book, The Feminist Killjoy Handbook: The Radical Potential of Getting in the Way, with our very own feminist killjoy book club!We're joined by Rita Dhamoon, Tka Pinnock, and our very own producer, Nisha Nath. We talk about why the book resonates so much in this present moment, and why being a feminist killjoy is more important than ever.And remember to check out our interview with Sara Ahmed (Episode 40)!Related LinksThe Feminist Killjoy Handbook: The Radical Potential of Getting in the...
2024-04-111h 03Academic AuntiesWe didn't need the university, it needed usWe've talked a lot this season about the accelerating attacks on academic freedom, including the campaigns of repression against expressions of Palestine solidarity. Student groups, faculty and staff are increasingly surveilled, policed and targeted with spurious charges of antisemitism if they dare to voice support for Palestine. We often focus on faculty and students, but it's easy to forget how vulnerable staff are with few protections. This was the case at the University of Alberta, where after a post was shared by staff and volunteers at the U of A Sexual Assault Centre about a student-organized Palestine...
2024-03-2739 minAcademic AuntiesSuing for Silence with Mandi GrayA few days ago, we recognized International Women’s Day. Every year we shine a spotlight on the continuing realities of gender-based discrimination and gender-based violence worldwide. So on this episode, we are so glad to have Dr. Mandi Gray. She has just released a new book “Suing for Silence: Sexual Violence and Defamation Law,” which unpacks the ways that systems of power - specifically the criminal legal system that is “composed of patriarchal and colonial laws” – protect the privileged. In our conversation, we explore the ways that abusive men and abusive institutions punish women for speaking up about their experie...
2024-03-1434 minAcademic AuntiesThere Can Only Be OneWithout community, a I wouldn’t have lasted through grad school and the years since. For me, in grad school, a special community that I was with were the group of critical Filipinx scholars who I’ve since grown with over the years. We called ourselves the “Kritikal Kolektibo,” and we were grad students and junior faculty at the University of Toronto who met regularly, to hang out of course, but also to share our work, and dream about what Filipinx Studies in Canada could look like.We shared stories of what was going on with our...
2024-02-2943 minAcademic AuntiesFighting Feelings with Gulzar CharaniaWe’re in conversation with Dr. Gulzar Charania about her incredible new book “Fighting Feelings: Lessons in Gendered Racism and Queer Life.” Fighting Feelings is about Black and racialized women, answering the question: “how and in what directions do we learn to think, act, and live in relation to racism”? The book touches on so many things that we talk regularly about on Academic Aunties. How women of colour navigate intensely white spaces, how perceptions of our ‘excellence’ can only really be understood in relation to who doesn’t get to be excellent, and how, as Gulzar writes, we consta...
2024-02-1540 minAcademic AuntiesOne Foot In, One Foot OutFor many in academia, there is always a certain ambivalence about being here. And historically, institutions have been pretty ambivalent about our presence here too. Academia has traditionally never been a place for those who are Black, Indigenous, women of colour. For many scholars, a pragmatic approach is to have one foot in, and one foot out, of the academy. In today’s episode, we talk to Dr. Chavon Niles and Dr. Nicole Bernhardt. Both Chavon and Nicole had found themselves having one foot in, and one foot out, of the academy while they pursued their PhDs. Th...
2024-02-0132 minAcademic AuntiesHow to Make 2024 EasierWe're just a couple of weeks into 2024 and we are tired. After a restful break, we are back to the intense pressures of teaching, advising, and dealing with administrative tasks, plus all of the care and domestic responsibilities that many women have to also take on. Host, Ethel Tungohan, wanted strategies to manage, so she decided to talk to good friends, Dr. Tobin LeBlanc Haley and Dr. Laura Pin to get their advice.Thanks for listening! Get more information, support the show, and read all the transcripts at academicaunties.com. Get in touch with Academic Aunties on Tw...
2024-01-1748 minAcademic AuntiesAre we allowed to rest?As the year comes to a close, many of us are feeling unsettled. After the rush of marking, teaching, and activism, are we allowed to rest during this holiday season? In this episode, Dr. Ethel Tungohan and Dr. Nisha Nath close out 2023 talking about why rest is political, and how community care is even more essential these days. Related Links"In Hajar's footsteps : a de-colonial and islamic ethic of care" by Sarah MunawarBlack Liturgies by Cole Arthur Riley
2023-12-2834 min
Who do we think we are?BtH2 E2 Beyond the headlines … Care Activism with Ethel TungohanMigrant laborers worldwide are engaged in care work, but who provides care for them? And where can they seek care? In this discussion with Ethel Tungohan, the author of 'Care Activism', we go beyond the headlines that portray migrant domestic workers as victims or heroes. By focusing on their daily lives and the experiences of migrant care workers, we explore various sites of everyday resistance, ‘dissident friendships’, and the politics of critical hope and care. You can access the full transcripts for each episode on the Who do we think we are? website. In this epis...
2023-12-1437 minWho do we think we are?BtH2 E2 Beyond the headlines … Care Activism with Ethel TungohanMigrant laborers worldwide are engaged in care work, but who provides care for them? And where can they seek care? In this discussion with Ethel Tungohan, the author of 'Care Activism', we go beyond the headlines that portray migrant domestic workers as victims or heroes. By focusing on their daily lives and the experiences of migrant care workers, we explore various sites of everyday resistance, 'dissident friendships', and the politics of critical hope and care. You can access the full transcripts for each episode on the Who do we think we are? website. In this...
2023-12-1437 minAcademic AuntiesStriving for Systemic SafetyWe recently passed the 34th anniversary of the École Polytechnique anti-feminist shootings. The sad thing is that this horrendous crime isn't a thing of the past. From a stabbing attack on a Gender Issues course at the University of Waterloo in June, to the mass shooting at the University of Nevada, violence against academics is a serious concern. And while these are just two prominent examples of physical violence, we know of so many scholars who are victims of persistent cases of doxing, cyber harassment, and cyber bullying. This week, we continue our conversation about safety on u...
2023-12-1334 minAcademic AuntiesThe Violence We FaceIn this episode of Academic Aunties, host Dr. Ethel Tungohan talks to Dr. Rebecca Major about the realities of gendered, racialized violence in academia. Dr. Major reflects on her own personal experiences with threats and harassment as an Indigenous scholar, which escalated to involve doxing and cyber harassment. She provides insightful strategies for those undergoing similar experiences, such as documenting incidences, notifying relevant university personnel, implementing safety plans, and building supportive relationships within the institution. We also also talk about the need for changes in university practices.Related LinksThe UniSAFE Survey on Gender-Based ViolenceNational Inquiry...
2023-11-2941 minAcademic AuntiesAcademic Freedom and PalestineAs the staggering death toll in Palestine rises, we talk about the censuring of Palestine solidarity discourse and the weaponization of anti-racism and equity, diversity, and inclusion language to silence and attack activists and scholars calling for peace. Joining Ethel is Dr. Rachel Brown, an activist with Jewish Voice for Peace, and Dr. David McNally, who has been a global justice activist since the Vietnam era. Want to learn more? Please attend the "Academic Unfreedom: Speaking and Teaching Palestine" webinar, to be held on Tuesday, November 21, from 6 to 8 pm EST. Register to get the Zoom link....
2023-11-1551 min
Perspectives: A Canadian Journal of Political Economy and Social DemocracyCare Worker Activism with Professor Ethel TungohanPerspectives Journal chats with Broadbent Institute Policy Fellow Ethel Tungohan; Canada Research Chair in Canadian Migration Policy, Impacts and Activism, and Professor of Politics at York University.Her new book released late this summer is called Care Activism: Migrant Domestic Workers, Movement-Building and Communities of Care, published by University of Illinois Press.Care Activism is about workers empowerment, and not in the traditional sense that most would think of through things like a labour union.Care Activism challenges the stereotype of a downtrodden migrant caregivers by showing that care workers have distinct ways...
2023-11-0625 minAcademic AuntiesWhat We Need To Know About GazaThe last few weeks have been devastating. Like many of you, I have been feeling this sense of immobilization, of helplessness, as we witnessed Hamas’s attack in Israel that killed 1,400 civilians and the Israeli state’s bombing of Gaza that, as of the time of taping in late October 2023, have killed over 8000 Palestinians, as reported by the Associated Press. We had a long conversation about whether we should proceed, as planned, with the episodes that we have in store for this season. But doing so didn’t feel right. Instead, we wanted to make sense of the tru...
2023-11-0142 minAcademic AuntiesThe Feminist Killjoy Handbook with Sara AhmedSara Ahmed, author, scholar, and one of our feminist heroes joins us to talk about her new book, The Feminist Killjoy Handbook!Sara's work both as a scholar in the academy working on queer phenomenology, on post coloniality, and on emotions, as well as her work after she left the academy has been an inspiration. Her work, Living a Feminist Life, her work on Complaint, and her bold and powerful blog, Feminist Killjoys, taught me so much about how institutions functioned and helped me understand my experiences in the academy.In this conversation, Sara and...
2023-10-0455 minAcademic AuntiesHow's Your September Going?We are back to school! So why do we feel so exhausted? On the season 4 premiere Ethel and Nisha listen to some academic aunties audio diaries about how September is going so far. We talk about why there are so many deadlines at this busy time of the year and what we can do to help make things more manageable.Thanks for listening! Get more information, support the show, and read all the transcripts at academicaunties.com. Get in touch with Academic Aunties on Twitter at @AcademicAuntie or by e-mail at podcast@academicaunties.com.
2023-09-2039 min
The Academic LifeAcademic Aunties: A Conversation with Dr. Ethel TungohanYou’ve probably heard by now that there’s a hidden curriculum in academia. But it’s called hidden for a reason—only some [privileged] people are in the know about what it contains. And when you can’t find the answers you need, earning your degree is much harder than it should be. Today, higher education podcast host Dr. Ethel Tungohan of the Academic Aunties joins Dr. Christina Gessler, the producer and host of the Academic Life, to talk about why they are so passionate about bridging this knowledge gap. This episode explores:
The importance of seeing the struct...
2023-08-101h 05
New Books in Higher EducationAcademic Aunties: A Conversation with Dr. Ethel TungohanYou’ve probably heard by now that there’s a hidden curriculum in academia. But it’s called hidden for a reason—only some [privileged] people are in the know about what it contains. And when you can’t find the answers you need, earning your degree is much harder than it should be. Today, higher education podcast host Dr. Ethel Tungohan of the Academic Aunties joins Dr. Christina Gessler, the producer and host of the Academic Life, to talk about why they are so passionate about bridging this knowledge gap. This episode explores:
The importance of seeing the struct...
2023-08-101h 05
New Work in Digital HumanitiesAcademic Aunties: A Conversation with Dr. Ethel TungohanYou’ve probably heard by now that there’s a hidden curriculum in academia. But it’s called hidden for a reason—only some [privileged] people are in the know about what it contains. And when you can’t find the answers you need, earning your degree is much harder than it should be. Today, higher education podcast host Dr. Ethel Tungohan of the Academic Aunties joins Dr. Christina Gessler, the producer and host of the Academic Life, to talk about why they are so passionate about bridging this knowledge gap. This episode explores:
The importance of seeing the struct...
2023-08-101h 02
New Books in EducationAcademic Aunties: A Conversation with Dr. Ethel TungohanYou’ve probably heard by now that there’s a hidden curriculum in academia. But it’s called hidden for a reason—only some [privileged] people are in the know about what it contains. And when you can’t find the answers you need, earning your degree is much harder than it should be. Today, higher education podcast host Dr. Ethel Tungohan of the Academic Aunties joins Dr. Christina Gessler, the producer and host of the Academic Life, to talk about why they are so passionate about bridging this knowledge gap. This episode explores:
The importance of seeing the struct...
2023-08-101h 06Academic AuntiesThe Global ScholarSeason 3 finale! We conclude our series on academia in the UK and in Europe with Dr. Kidjie Saguin, an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Amsterdam. In our chat we talk about his experiences moving from the Philippines, to Singapore, to the US and to the Netherlands across his academic journey and we explore other ways of being in academia.We'll be back in the Fall. See you then!Thanks for listening! Get more information, support the show, and read all the transcripts at academicaunties.com. Get in touch with Academic Aunties on...
2023-08-0240 minAcademic AuntiesHostile EnvironmentSince the end of April, the University and College Union in the UK has been on a marking strike to demand fair pay and working conditions that have deteriorated significantly. This week, we talk to Dr. Lucy Mayblin a Political Sociologist at the University of Sheffield, about what has been happening in UK academia, including how universities are transforming from institutions of public good to private institutions, and where university professors and staff are increasingly being made to act effectively as border guards with international students to create, quite explicitly, a hostile environment.In our conversation, we...
2023-07-2138 minAcademic Aunties#NameTheTranslatorYilin Wang is an award winning writer, poet, editor, and translator based in Vancouver, and recently has been passionately working on translating the works of 19th century feminist poet, Qiu Jin. So it came as a bit of a shock when she found out that the British Museum--that big national institution, holder of stolen artifacts, and symbol of British colonialism--had been using her translations in a major exhibit without credit, and importantly, without permission.In this special "emergency" episode, we talk to Yilin about her fight to get the British Museum to own up to and rectify...
2023-07-0430 minAcademic AuntiesPrecarity in British Higher EducationBack from a fellowship in the UK, Dr. Ethel Tungohan talks to Dr. Eve Hayes De Kalaf about about cultures of backlash, processes of casualization, structured austerity, and the normalization of cruelty in academia in the UK post-Brexit. And once you're done listening, check out Dr. Eve Hayes De Kalaf's new book "Legal Identity, Race and Belonging in the Dominican Republic"!Thanks for listening! Get more information, support the show, and read all the transcripts at academicaunties.com. Get in touch with Academic Aunties on Twitter at @AcademicAuntie or by e-mail at podcast@academicaunties.com.
2023-06-2844 minAcademic AuntiesWe Regret To Inform You..."We regret to inform you..." Five words that academics read a lot. But no matter how many times you see it, it still hurts. On this episode, Dr. Ethel Tungohan is joined by Academic Aunties producer, Dr. Nisha Nath to talk about grant rejections, the feelings of sadness and disappointment that accompany rejection, and why often these things have nothing to do with merit.--Tweet from Dr. Ethel Tungohan on May 8, 2023:"A few PhDs are writing me sadly because they didn't get the SSHRC scholarship. A reminder to everyone: not getting it...
2023-06-1433 minAcademic AuntiesThe Yale AuntiesAfter hearing about Bobbi Wilson, a budding 9 year old scientist who was a victim of anti-Black racism, Dr. Ijeoma Opara, a scientist at the Yale School of Public Health, was determined to make sure that her memories of science would not be of her horrible experience. So she mobilized her network of "Yale Aunties" to make sure that Bobbi knew that Black and Brown girls had a place in the world of scientists. You may have heard about this in a recent profile in the New York Times.On this episode, we are so pleased to have...
2023-03-2238 minAcademic AuntiesAcademic CitizenshipFor many academics, especially those from global north and western institutions, we take our institutional and national identities for granted. But the reality is that the passports we hold and the institutions we're a part of shapes how we experience academia. This includes the hurdles that many experience to get visas, and the experiences that people have with immigration when crossing borders.To talk about these issues, we're so happy to have Dr. Anya Kuteleva, Senior Lecturer in International Relations at the University of Wolverhampton.Thanks for listening! Get more information, support the show, and rea...
2023-03-0840 minAcademic AuntiesRelationships and AcademiaAs we close out February, we're going to be talking about relationships and academia, specifically with our life partners. One thing we've observed is just how challenging it can be for academics and for their partners who have to contend with the limited job opportunities the academic job market provides. What are the negotiations that partners make when one partner gets a PhD admissions offer or a job offer? Is it easy to be in a romantic relationship with an academic given academia's quirks?On this episode, host Ethel Tungohan talks to our great friends, Suzanne and...
2023-02-2239 minAcademic Aunties#MoreThanWorkAcademia has a way to make us feel ashamed if we're not thinking about the work 24/7. In this episode we talk to Dr. Genevieve Fuji Johnson and Dr. Harshita Yalamarty about how we are #MoreThanWork, and how our passions, like boxing, or surfing, or Dungeons and Dragons are more than just hobbies. We also hear from our listeners about what they are up to outside academia!Thanks for listening! Get more information, support the show, and read all the transcripts at academicaunties.com. Get in touch with Academic Aunties on Twitter at @AcademicAuntie or by e...
2023-02-0843 minAcademic AuntiesPerspectives of an International ScholarIn this episode, we talk about another dimension surrounding this taboo of talking about money, and that is the experiences of international students and international scholars, particularly those from countries in what is known as being part of the global south for which western countries impose onerous visa requirements to talk about this. Joining us is Dr. Martha Balaguera, an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto.Related Links:International Students Are Dying From Overdoses at an Alarming Rate. But BC’s Government Isn’t Tracking the ProblemHow Canada can fix its ‘predatory’ relation...
2023-01-2530 minAcademic AuntiesBecoming The Writer You Already AreWith a new year comes new resolutions, and for many, these resolutions inevitably involve writing. There are so many books about how to be a better writer, but none quite like this one. Becoming the Writer You Already Are is a new book by Michelle R. Boyd, who you may know from her Inkwell academic writing retreats.This book actually grapples with the emotions underlying the writing process, and, importantly, recognizes that the blocks we face are often not our fault. Instead it acknowledges what we talk about on this podcast all the time, which is that the institutions...
2023-01-1137 minAcademic AuntiesHarry and MeghanA special holiday bonus episode for you! Harry and Meghan on Netflix is THE documentary event of this year. And of course we binged it and and of course we needed to talk about it. Joining us on this episode is Dr. Safia Aidid, an Assistant Professor of History and African Studies at the University of Toronto.Thanks for listening! Get more information, support the show, and read all the transcripts at academicaunties.com. Get in touch with Academic Aunties on Twitter at @AcademicAuntie or by e-mail at podcast@academicaunties.com.
2022-12-2229 minAcademic AuntiesWrapping up 20222022 is about to come to an end, and with that comes a period of reflection for many of us. How is 2022 for you? How did it compare to 2021 or heaven forbid, to 2020? What lessons from 2022 will you bring with you to 2023? In today's episode of Academic Aunties, we will wrap up the year and talk about the highlights and some of the challenges that we face. With us is Dr. Megan Gaucher, who is an Associate Professor at Carleton University in the Department of Law and Legal Studies. Thanks for listening! Get more information, support the show, and...
2022-12-1435 minAcademic AuntiesTalking About MoneyAcademics would rather talk about their sex lives than talk about their salaries. So in today's episode, we talk to Dr. Rebecca Major about one of the biggest taboos in academia: money. We talk about how hard it is for many first-gen academics to make ends meet, and the bougie norms of academia that make it difficult for them to talk about these struggles.Related LinksFaculty More Likely to Have Wealthier, Highly Educated ParentsRebecca Major's Twitter thread on student loansFair UC NowThanks for listening! Get more information, support the show, and read al...
2022-12-0130 minAcademic AuntiesHow do I look?How we appear, our dress, our hair, our style, how we carry ourselves are all things that we as marginalized academics are being judged against. Do we look the part of the academic? Do we want to? To talk about this we welcome Dr. Nadia Brown, a Professor of Government and the Director of the Women's and Gender Studies Program at Georgetown University, and Dr. Danielle Lemi, Tower Center Fellow at the Tower Center at Southern Methodist University. They recently released an amazing book, Sister Style, The Politics of Appearance for Black Women Political Elites, that unpacks...
2022-11-1641 minAcademic AuntiesBattling Toxic ProductivityGood things happen but you just can't enjoy it, and maybe you feel even more anxious. This is a common feeling and is something that this week's guest, Dr. Ayendy Bonifacio (@AyendyBonifacio) wrote about in a insightful, personal article in Slate. We talk about toxic productivity, celebration as a practice, and how the unique experience of being a first-gen scholar drives these feelings.Related LinksMy Career as a Professor Is Soaring. I’ve Never Been So Depressed and AnxiousThanks for listening! Get more information, support the show, and read all the transcripts at a...
2022-11-0237 minAcademic AuntiesThe Not So Secret Lives of Academic PetsMany academics have pets. For me, most of my academic life from my postdoc until very recently involved my beloved cat, a long haired Maine Coon named Cornelius, who was my sidekick, my best friend, my confidante.We said goodbye to him on October 4, 2022. So for this episode, I want to honour Cornelius by talking about academic pets with Academic Aunties producer, Dr. Nisha Nath and returning guest, Dr. Sule Tomkinson. Throughout this episode, you'll also hear voice memos from listeners sharing stories of their pets. Thanks to Chad Cowie, Kristine Alexander, Megan Cloutier, Rita Dhamoon, Megan...
2022-10-1947 minAcademic AuntiesConference Audio DiariesWe're on the road at the American Political Science Association conference! Producer extraordinaire, Dr. Nisha Nath joins the podcast to discuss Dr. Ethel Tungohan's audio diaries taken at this incredibly large academic conference. Along the way, they challenge norms, discuss the value of curating your conference and finding community, and provide some interesting tips and perspectives on how to survive the conference experience.Thanks to Rachel Brown, Jessica Soedirgo, Janis Yi-Chun Chien, Emily Andrew, Stephanie Patterson, and Fiona McDonald for agreeing to be interviewed!Thanks for listening! Get more information, support the show, and read al...
2022-10-0554 minAcademic AuntiesThe Long Road Home with Debra ThompsonDr. Debra Thompson (@debthompsonphd), talks about her poignant, profound and powerful book, The Long Road Home: On Blackness and Belonging, about her journey back home. She weaves together insights on the politics of race and racialization and Black identity while discussing family history, growing up in Oshawa, and her experiences, in academic spaces in Chicago, in Ohio, in Portland, and in Canada.Buy Deb's Book!The Long Road Home: On Blackness and Belonging by Debra ThompsonReading ListLose Your Mother: A Journey Along the Atlantic Slave Route by Saidiya Hartman Wayward Lives...
2022-09-2146 minAcademic Aunties#AskAnAcademicAuntie: How to SabbaticalOn this bonus episode, it's host's prerogative: What do you do on a sabbatical? Dr. Genevieve Fuji-Johnson (@JohnsonFuji) and Dr. Paola Ardiles (@Paola_A_Ardiles) drop a little wisdom to help Ethel make the most of her year.Related LinksAn Unusual AcademicThanks for listening! Get more information, support the show, and read all the transcripts at academicaunties.com. Get in touch with Academic Aunties on Twitter at @AcademicAuntie or by e-mail at podcast@academicaunties.com.
2022-09-1421 minAcademic AuntiesBack to SchoolBack to school is usually a fun time because it signals new beginnings. But this year it feels different. Confusing and maybe a bit frightening. After two years of the pandemic, there's this sense of forced normalcy even though the pandemic is certainly not yet over. And what about the extra labour we've had to undertake over the past few years? Kind of feels like it is now our new normal.On this episode, we talk to Dr. Kristine Alexander (@KristineAlexand) and Dr. Jennifer Mustapha (@JHMustapha) about how they are feeling about back to school....
2022-09-0734 minAcademic AuntiesThe Real Deal with Job Search CommitteesIn theory, applying for academic jobs seems fairly straightforward. You see the job ad, you put together your application package, you send your application in, and whoever is the most qualified gets the job. In practice, the reality is a lot more complicated. So in this episode, we show you how the sausage is made.Joining us is Dr. Sharry Aiken (@SharryAiken), Associate Professor at Queen's Law, and Dr. Sailaja Krishnamurti (@DrSailajaK), Professor and Department Head of Gender Studies at Queen's UniversityRelated Links“Auntylectuals: A Nonce Taxonomy of Aunty-Power” with the Feminist Critical Hindu...
2022-08-2441 minAcademic AuntiesSay No to Precarious EmploymentOn this bonus episode of Academic Aunties, we hear from Dr. Vannina Sztainbok, who after working at her department on year-to-year contracts for seven (!) years straight, was let go...right before she would be eligible for permanent employment. Her story is the story of a lot of academics. Say NO to precarious employment in academia by signing the Scholar Strike petition here: https://www.scholarstrikecanada.ca/no-precarious-employmentThanks for listening! Get more information, support the show, and read all the transcripts at academicaunties.com. Get in touch with Academic Aunties on Twitter at @AcademicAuntie or by...
2022-08-1038 min
Amplified: Reimagining the Sound of ScholarshipPodcast Ethics and Auntiehood with Dr. Ethel TungohanAmplified is an audio blog series about the sounds of scholarship from our team here at the Amplify Podcast Network. This month, I'm joined by Dr. Ethel Tungohan, the host of the Academic Aunties podcast, to talk about collaborative, ethical and consent based interview podcasts. We also dig into questions of podcaster versus researcher identities and the pros and cons in considering all academic podcasts as scholarship. Full transcript available over at Amplify Podcast NetworkGuest Bio Dr. Ethel Tungohan is the Canada Research Chair in Canadian Migration Policy, Impacts and Ac...
2022-07-1920 minAcademic Aunties#AskAnAcademicAuntie: Responding to ReviewersHow do you respond to peer reviews for journal articles? Do you respond to every single reviewer comment? How do you respond to this strategically? On this #AskAnAcademicAuntie we have Dr. Heather Millar (@hlmillar) and Dr. Carmen Ho (@carmenjho_) dispensing a little auntie wisdom.Thanks for listening! Get more information, support the show, and read all the transcripts at academicaunties.com. Get in touch with Academic Aunties on Twitter at @AcademicAuntie or by e-mail at podcast@academicaunties.com.
2022-05-1115 minAcademic AuntiesThe Ultimate Academic AuntieGet your elbows up. On this episode, our season 2 finale, we talk to the ultimate academic auntie, Dr. Joyce Green, an emeritus Professor of Politics and International Studies at the University of Regina. Over her three decades in the discipline she has spoken out, lifted us up, and been an inspiration for those of use who want to change academia. In her reflection, she talks about the struggles and how she's been witness to a transformation in academia that gives us hope for the future. Want more Auntie Joyce? Check out the 2022 Indigenous Feminisms Symposium in Victoria...
2022-04-1345 minAcademic AuntiesTurning RedWe talk about Turning Red, the newest Pixar film, directed by Toronto filmmaker Domee Shi, about a thirteen year old Chinese Canadian girl, Meilin Lee, who finds out that when she gets emotional, she turns into a big, red panda. Meilin also has to navigate life as a middle schooler and all that this entails, which includes learning how to manage her crushes, bullies and strict parents. Turning Red is also a movie that is about fitting in and about the vital importance of friendships. Which makes it a perfect topic for Academic Aunties! So today, we’re unpacking th...
2022-03-3139 minAcademic AuntiesConferencesConference season is almost upon us! And man oh man, do we have a lot to say about academic conferences. Conferences are a crucial part of academics’ professional trajectories. In theory, these are the spaces where we’re supposed to present our work, engage with scholars in our field to make potential contacts for collaborations, and to find out new ideas that can help inform our own work! And yet, conferences are not always easy for many of us. For some, our experiences in conferences can encourage us to carry on in academia. For others, they can be the cata...
2022-03-1844 minAcademic Aunties#AskAnAcademicAuntie: Productivity TipsOn this #AskAnAcademicAuntie, Dr. Alison Smith (@AliSmith_UdeM), Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto Mississauga, tells us about some of her tips and hacks to stay afloat amidst our competing responsibilities.Have a question? Tweet us at @AcademicAuntie, or send us an e-mail at podcast@academicaunties.com.
2022-03-0918 minAcademic AuntiesWhen Yasmeen Met Abbie: Research Collaborations and Friendships in the AcademyWhen we think about academic relationships, we often think of romantic partnerships between two academics. We might also think about the power relationships between, say, a supervisor and a student, or a dean and a professor. But we often don’t think about our research collaborations as an important kind of relationship. That’s surprising because research collaborations are, arguably, the most important relationships that you will ever have in academia. In this episode, we talk to Dr. Yasmeen Abu-Laban, a Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Alberta and Dr. Abigail Bakan, a Prof...
2022-02-2346 minAcademic AuntiesEncantoWe're talking about Encanto, the newest Disney animated film, featuring songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda, about a magical family living in the mountains of Colombia. Why are we talking about a kids movie on a podcast about academia? Well, first, because we loved the film. Second, our aunties, Natasha Sofia Martinez (@natysofia_) and Dr. Mariam Georgis (@mariamgeorgis) have plenty to say about intergenerational trauma, the immigrant experience, and who gets to decide which stories are valid.Thanks for listening! Get more information and read all the show notes at academicaunties.com. Get in touch with Academic Aunties on Tw...
2022-02-0937 minAcademic AuntiesPandemic Parenting, Part IIOn Part II of our pandemic parenting series, we talk to Dr. Yolande Bouka (@YolandeBouka), Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Studies at Queen's University. In this episode, we talk about how the pressures of being a parent in academia, and in a pandemic, are hitting us personally. Auntie Yolande talks about prioritizing our health and our needs. In doing so, we are modelling to the people in our lives, including our children, why it is important to advocate for ourselves.Related LinksYolande Bouka, PhDCOVID Parenting Has Passed the Point of AbsurdityThe Nap Ministry
2022-01-2648 minAcademic AuntiesPandemic Parenting, Part IWe're talking about Pandemic Parenting. We will be talking about the compromises we’ve had to make, the hard decisions we’ve had to take, and also, more importantly, the reminder that we are enough and that blaming ourselves for not being able to be as ‘productive’ means that we let structures off the hook.In Part I of our 2 part pandemic parenting series, we're talking with Dr. Sheila Colla (@SaveWildBees), Associate Professor in the Faculty of Environment and Urban Change at York University, about the expectations of academia while raising kids in a pandemic, and how science...
2022-01-1935 min
Academic AuntiesAfter HoursOn this extended year-end episode, Dr. Rita Dhamoon, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Victoria, and Dr. Nisha Nath (@nnath), Assistant Professor in the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies at Athabasca University grab a few drinks with Dr. Ethel Tungohan to talk about remembering who you are outside of the academy, rebuilding your strength, and how maybe it's the institution that has to get it's shit together.Thanks for listening! Get more information and read all the show notes at academicaunties.com. Get in touch with Academic Aunties on Twitter at @AcademicAuntie or by e-mail...
2021-12-2355 minAcademic AuntiesAnatomy of Academic AdviceOh advice. It seems like you can’t turn a corner without someone telling you how you’re professor-ing or grad schooling wrong. Sometimes it’s a colleague. Sometimes it’s a random person on social media. Sometimes it’s sought for, but usually it’s unsolicited. On this episode, we’re breaking down academic advice. What makes for good advice? And why is bad advice...so bad? And why is it that so much academic advice assumes that we’re all cis, het, white guys? Joining us to talk about good academic advice, bad academic advice, shadow advising...
2021-11-2435 min
Academic AuntiesAnatomy of Academic AdviceOh advice. It seems like you can’t turn a corner without someone telling you how you’re professor-ing or grad schooling wrong. Sometimes it’s a colleague. Sometimes it’s a random person on social media. Sometimes it’s sought for, but usually it’s unsolicited.
On this episode, we’re breaking down academic advice. What makes for good advice? And why is bad advice...so bad? And why is it that so much academic advice assumes that we’re all cis, het, white guys? Joining us to talk about good academic advice, bad academic advice, shadow a...
2021-11-2435 min
Academic Aunties#AskAnAcademicAuntie - Now Problems, Later ProblemsOn this #AskAnAcademicAuntie, a listener asks "how do you maintain a sense of peace in the face of such enormous stress?" Joining us to answer this question is Jennifer Chouinard (@JenniferChouina), a PhD student in Public Policy at the University of Regina.Have a question? Send a voice message to #AskAnAcademicAuntie at academicaunties.com/ask, tweet us at @AcademicAuntie, or send us an e-mail at podcast@academicaunties.com.
2021-11-1709 min
Academic AuntiesHierarchies of S**tWe talk a lot about toxic work environments and strategies of survival. But there are moments when you just have to leave. And that is what today’s episode is about.It is sometimes hard to figure out when to stay or when to go. A lot of us are trapped. A lot of us are in situations where we know that we’re being bullied, that we’re being set up to fail, that we’re not valued. But even as we know this viscerally, we second guess ourselves. “If it’s bad here, how can I guarantee...
2021-11-0334 min
Academic AuntiesAcademic JobsIn this episode, we are talking about the academic job market! We challenge the notion that academia is meritocratic. We highlight how fraught applying for academics job can be for many marginalized folks, especially those who are first-gen, working-class, racialized, and queer. We wonder whether typical job market advice, such as moving anywhere there is a job and prioritizing top schools (R1 schools for Americans) over other schools makes sense. And we also address ways to try to take back agency in a fundamentally messed up and inequitable structure.Joining us today is Dr. Mary Anne S...
2021-09-2939 min
Academic Aunties#AskAnAcademicAuntie - Gratitude and GiftsThis is #AskAnAcademicAuntie, our bonus mini-episodes where we take your questions and try to impart a little auntie wisdom. Have a question? Send a voice message to #AskAnAcademicAuntie at academicaunties.com/ask, tweet us at @AcademicAuntie, or send us an e-mail at podcast@academicaunties.com.On this episode, an anonymous listener asks: “How do I pay my gratitude to my supervisor who has been my constant source of support. She has gone above and beyond to help me survive in graduate school, and continues to support me. Any ideas on how I can appropriately show my gratitude to...
2021-09-1511 min
Academic AuntiesThe ChairSeason 2 premiere! We take a deep dive into The Chair, the new Netflix series starring Sandra Oh about the first woman of colour chair of the English department at the fictional Pembrooke University. Everyone (or at least all academics!) are talking about this new show, created by Amanda Peat and Annie Julia Wyman, and we have lots of thoughts, from the moments that resonated with us to why many are finding the show a bit triggering. Joining us are Jamie Chai Yun Liew (@thechaiyun), an Associate Professor and Director of the University of Ottawa Institute of Feminist a...
2021-08-2741 min
Academic Aunties#AskAnAcademicAuntie - Playing the GameOn this #AskAnAcademicAuntie bonus episode of Academic Aunties, Dr. Shaista Patel joins host Dr. Ethel Tungohan to talk about "playing the game" in academia in order to get out and find a place actually respects us.
2021-08-2020 min
Academic Aunties#AskAnAcademicAuntie - Finding Your VoiceHow do you maintain your 'voice' as a writer and instructor when academic institutions expect particular structures, tones, and writing styles? And how do you maintain space for creativity and joy when doing work that is draining? Dr. Tobin Haley Leblanc joins us for our first #AskAnAcademicAuntie mini-episode. Mentioned in this Episode:Academic Ableism: Disability and Higher Education by Jay Timothy Dolmage
2021-07-2813 min
Academic AuntiesSearching for Joy(Season finale) This was supposed to be a light episode. It's hot, it's been a long year of COVID and we all need a break. But it seems as though we're never given a chance to just be. From the fatal Islamaphobic attacks against a family in London, Ontario to the discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves of Indigenous children at Canada's residential schools to the anti-Asian shootings in Atlanta to police brutality against the Black community - white supremacy never lets up, does it? How can we keep working as though all is normal when we keep feeling...
2021-06-3034 min
Academic AuntiesWait, was that racist?This is probably my most personal podcast of this series. I'm chatting with my good friends, Dr. Jessica Soedirgo, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Amsterdam and Dr. Hae Yeon Choo, Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Toronto, about our assorted encounters with anti-Asian racism.From seemingly benign encounters that show how the academy doesn't actually see us as belonging—like mixing up Asian colleagues, or mistaking us for students, or the constant compliments about our English—to actual harmful moments that we still need to heal from, one of the challenges of gi...
2021-05-2632 min
Academic AuntiesSubversives in the AcademyFor many women of colour, life in academia feels like a constant fight. As Dr. Rita Dhamoon writes, racism is a workload issue. So, when do we sit down and when do we fight back? And how do we keep fighting in the face of such intractible systemic hostility? In this episode of Academic Aunties, we talk to Dr. Debra Thompson (Associate Professor of Political Science and Canada Research Chair in Racial Inequality in Democratic Societies at McGill University) about the necessity of the fight, the value of stealing your time back, how creating subversives can drive change, and...
2021-04-2831 min
Academic AuntiesA-holes in the AcademyWhy are there so many in academia? Does the institution attract them or does the institution make them? What is institutional gaslighting? And how do we care for each other in this often toxic space? In this episode, we chat with academic aunties, Dr. Nisha Nath, an Assistant Professor of Equity Studies at Athabasca University, and Dr. Mariam Georgis, a SSHRC Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Manitoba about coping with exclusionary academic norms, the messages that the neoliberal academy sends that breeds toxic behaviour, and the value of checking in.Mentioned in this Episode:
2021-03-3128 min
Academic AuntiesIntroducing Academic Aunties (Trailer)Academia. A-CAAAHHH---DEEEMM--AIYA! ACA-DEEM-YAAHH. It is a site of exclusion. For those of us who are first-generation, who are racialized, who are women, and who inhabit social locations that are traditionally unrepresented in this space, academia is full of landmines. This is why we need academic aunties. This podcast will talk about how to navigate this treacherous world and maybe even plant seeds for the beginnings of structural transformation. Come listen to Auntie Ethel and her friends. Coming soon to a podcast app near you!
2021-03-1801 min