Graduate Study for the Twenty-First Century: How to Build an Academic Career in the Humanities (Paperback)

~ Gregory M. Colon Semenza (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Gregory Semenza’s Graduate Study for the Twenty-first Century is a tough-minded, witty, generous discussion of how to enter the profession of scholarship and teaching. The appendices alone are worth the price of the book; Semenza provides samples of everything from course syllabi and job letters to materials on the teaching portfolio, book prospectus, conference participation – everything a serious graduate student needs to succeed. The book should be required reading for graduate students and their professors."--Barry V. Qualls, Dean of Humanities, Rutgers University

Product Description

FROM THE FOREWORD BY MICHAEL BERUBE:
"Gregory Colón Semenza has written the ideal book on [how to be a graduate student]. By 'ideal' I mean simply this: it is sane, circumspect, and sagacious.... Semenza knows that no two humanities departments are alike, and that there is almost as much variation among graduate programs as there is among graduate students. He remembers well how terrifying it is to face your first class as a teacher, and he knows how difficult it is to try to explain to your parents– or your loved one’s parents– what you’re doing (and hoping to do) with your life. He knows what it’s like to balance the demands of profession and family, and he knows what it’s like to mediate among differently-minded members of a comprehensive-exam committee. Best of all, he knows how the academic professions really work, right down to the invisible but critical minutiae of departmental committee service and the tricky question of when it’s all right to ask a journal editor what happened to the essay you submitted last spring. The result is that Graduate Study for the 21st Century might just be the least idiosyncratic–-that is, the most reliable–-book I have ever read about academe and its inhabitants."

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Product Details Paperback: 336 pages Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (September 15, 2005) Language: English ISBN-10: 1403969361 ISBN-13: 978-1403969361 Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies) Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews) Amazon.com Sales Rank: #120,644 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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	76% buy the item featured on this page: Graduate Study for the Twenty-First Century: How to Build an Academic Career in the Humanities 5.0 out of 5 stars (11) $24.30
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11 Reviews 5 star:  (11) 4 star:    (0) 3 star:    (0) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 5.0 out of 5 stars (11 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews 18 of 18 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars The best book on the market, October 19, 2005 By  BooksFreak "'Kathy'" (Illinois) - See all my reviews I just learned about this book from Michael Berube's blog. Berube--the brilliant iconoclast who fought so hard for graduate students in the wake of the Yale scandal--writes the foreword for the book, which he calls the 'most reliable book about academe and its inhabitants' he has ever read. I would have to agree with him. Semenza (UConnecticut) takes the approach that previous graduate survival guides miss the point by focusing on 'survival' instead of professional development, which all PhDs need in order to get a job. The book features highly detailed chapters on such things as publishing, attending conferences, and going on the market. The best chapter is on 'The Seminar Paper'. Here Semenza outlines the entire research process from conception to printing (if only I had this 3 years ago!). Written for PhDs or PhDs-to-be, the book doesn't pull any punches, I should tell you. At times, the directness and bluntness is intimidating, but when it comes to this profession, the truth sometimes hurts. Semenza's book is probably the best 'class' you'll ever take in grad school. 12 of 12 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Very useful, October 28, 2005 By  Mike (New York) - See all my reviews I'm only 2/3rds of the way through this book, but Wow. Basically Semenza lets everyone else "in" on what faculty members know about academia. This book is filled with every thing you need to know about every aspect of professing in the humanities: from organizing filing cabinets to publication and graduate student unionization. A few warnings: first, as a history PhD student, I feel that Semenza focuses a bit too much on English and literature examples (though this is expected since his field is in English Lit); second, the book isn't for undergrads still thinking about where to go to grad school so you won't find answers here on that subject. Otherwise, this is the perfect book for humanities students who want to profess on the college level. 9 of 9 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Professional Development Manual or Expose?, December 13, 2005 By  Vidhyha1 (New Hampshire) - See all my reviews Reading this book gives one the sense that Semenza might have violated some unofficial rule of academic writing here, in that his honesty--or at least his willingness to share his thoughts on everything from grading undergraduate papers to interviewing job candidates--seems to know no bounds. Some of the wisecracks about nameless colleagues, and a few of them about named colleagues, are downright hilarious. As a former PhD student and current assistant prof., I can say that I wish I had read this 5 years ago and that I will encourage all of my own advisees read it immediately.		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 5.0 out of 5 stars the previous poster hit the nail on the head... I also found this book to be "full of the things that I wanted to know, but no one was telling me." The very grounded, informative, step-by-step guide to writing a publishable... Read more Published 10 months ago by a writing teacher 5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read As a first year graduate student, I was asked by my Director of Graduate Studies to read Semenza's "Graduate Study for the 21st Century" this summer before beginning the program... Read more Published 14 months ago by J. Kidd 5.0 out of 5 stars Great advice that often applies to all academics I've read "Getting What You Came For" and other highly recommended books out there about graduate school and academics, but this one is certainly the most up-to-date, detailed,... Read more Published 22 months ago by Ericka Menchen 5.0 out of 5 stars A must-have for humanities Ph.D.s Finally! There's no better advice for graduate students in the humanities than what Prof. Colon Semenza offers in this incredibly detailed, thoroughly honest guide. Read more Published on November 30, 2006 by Miranda 5.0 out of 5 stars I wish I had written this book. I am a tenured professor of English (coicidentally, my specialty is Semenza's -- early modern drama -- I should say, however, I don't know him). Read more Published on May 30, 2006 by Kenneth Jackson 5.0 out of 5 stars Invaluable This book was recommended to me by a well respected professor at my university. Because I am a fairly new graduate student who plans on getting a PhD in literature and teaching as... Read more Published on March 21, 2006 by Fitzgerald Fan 5.0 out of 5 stars Thank you It's about time this book was written. I wouldn't want to take a class with him, but his book is simply phenomenal. Published on February 17, 2006 by TwainLove 5.0 out of 5 stars Really Useful In addition to the contents mentioned by other readers, the book also contains appendices with things like complete book prospecti, cv's, job market cover letters, etc. Read more Published on October 28, 2005 by Christina Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (September 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1403969361
• ISBN-13: 978-1403969361
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #120,644 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book on the market, October 19, 2005

By	BooksFreak "'Kathy'" (Illinois) - See all my reviews

I just learned about this book from Michael Berube's blog. Berube--the brilliant iconoclast who fought so hard for graduate students in the wake of the Yale scandal--writes the foreword for the book, which he calls the 'most reliable book about academe and its inhabitants' he has ever read. I would have to agree with him. Semenza (UConnecticut) takes the approach that previous graduate survival guides miss the point by focusing on 'survival' instead of professional development, which all PhDs need in order to get a job. The book features highly detailed chapters on such things as publishing, attending conferences, and going on the market. The best chapter is on 'The Seminar Paper'. Here Semenza outlines the entire research process from conception to printing (if only I had this 3 years ago!). Written for PhDs or PhDs-to-be, the book doesn't pull any punches, I should tell you. At times, the directness and bluntness is intimidating, but when it comes to this profession, the truth sometimes hurts. Semenza's book is probably the best 'class' you'll ever take in grad school.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very useful, October 28, 2005

By	Mike (New York) - See all my reviews

I'm only 2/3rds of the way through this book, but Wow. Basically Semenza lets everyone else "in" on what faculty members know about academia. This book is filled with every thing you need to know about every aspect of professing in the humanities: from organizing filing cabinets to publication and graduate student unionization. A few warnings: first, as a history PhD student, I feel that Semenza focuses a bit too much on English and literature examples (though this is expected since his field is in English Lit); second, the book isn't for undergrads still thinking about where to go to grad school so you won't find answers here on that subject. Otherwise, this is the perfect book for humanities students who want to profess on the college level.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Professional Development Manual or Expose?, December 13, 2005

By	Vidhyha1 (New Hampshire) - See all my reviews

Reading this book gives one the sense that Semenza might have violated some unofficial rule of academic writing here, in that his honesty--or at least his willingness to share his thoughts on everything from grading undergraduate papers to interviewing job candidates--seems to know no bounds. Some of the wisecracks about nameless colleagues, and a few of them about named colleagues, are downright hilarious. As a former PhD student and current assistant prof., I can say that I wish I had read this 5 years ago and that I will encourage all of my own advisees read it immediately.