The Academy

  • The Academy

    Conference Vibes–AERA 2018

    Recently, I attended the American Educational Research Associations’ 2018 conference, which was held in NYC this year April 13-17.  This is my second time at AERA, but  the first time that I’ve ever attended a conference that was in my city.  This conference experience had a much different vibe, and I wasn’t nearly as engaged as I would have been because my normal life was still in progress.  I did manage to make it to one talk, a mentoring session, two coffee dates with colleagues/mentors and of course my own symposium.  I would have liked to do more, but that’s always the case.  My goal at every conference is to make at least one professional contact, and I did that.  Despite it being apparently the largest in the world, I always find that AERA is extremely welcoming and inclusive.

    For better or worse, I often judge the quality of my presentation on the type of engagement I get from the audience.  This is faulty because 1) I have NO idea who these people are and what there connection is to the topic 2) Unless they are giving me funding to do research or are responsible for publishing my article, they shouldn’t matter.  All that being said, I got really great questions!  People were engaged and seemed really interested in my work as opposed to ruthlessly picking it apart.

    Academia is like being on a hamster wheel, so I’m already thinking about how I want to be involved next year.  Next year, I plan to help review submissions as a way to better understand how the acceptance process works.  I also want to do a poster session instead of giving a talk.  Hopefully, this will be somewhat less stressful and I can also use the poster at other conferences as well.  Applications for 2019 are due soon….yikes.

    Have you all been to any conferences lately?  How did things go?  How are you managing school along with your these elected professional development events?

     

  • Exercise, The Academy

    Dance-ademics

     

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    Dance has always been a passion of mine.  Starting from about the age of three, I did tap, ballet and jazz.  I even competed for a while and absolutely loved it.   Somewhere around my junior year of high school, however, I started to let my school commitments take priority and I was unfortunately resigned to denying myself the pleasure of dance.  Fast forward to now, and I’m realizing how much I’ve missed having an outlet to express myself that wasn’t related to reading or writing.  Recently, I’ve come to terms that I will likely never be the professional dancer and choreographer that I once imagined when I was younger; however, dance can still be a part of my life.  So how can I make that fit into my current situation?

    Social dancing is a lot of fun and always a good workout.  I love to dance salsa and bachata even though I struggle with making eye contact and taking direction from my partner (no surprise there).  In NYC, there seems to always be events for any day of the week as well as discounts for people who arrive or register early.  I don’t have any friends to go with usually, so I like to just go for the lessons that they offer at the beginning and then decide whether or not I want to stay.  Honestly, that whole wait on the perimeter and wait for someone to ask you to dance can be a total blow to one’s confidence if you allow it.  There are also a few studios that hold drop in classes where you can practice social dancing, so that is something I want to look in to.

    Taking dance classes is my second avenue for getting dance into my life. While there’s so many options in NYC, the prices all seem to be crazy expensive.  The highest I’ve paid is $25 for an hour and the lowest was $13 for an hour–both were enjoyable experiences.  The best deal I’ve gotten is $17 (with a student discount) for an hour and a half.  Heels/street stilettos is my current obsession–sit in that hip!  I’ve dabbled with joining a team so that I can ensure that I show up to a class on a regular schedule, but as of yet nothing has worked out.  Either the location didn’t work out or I just didn’t vibe with the people.  Sigh….

    When I tell people that dance is one of my hobbies, they usually look in disbelief and say “How do you have time for that?” Honestly, I just chose to dance while other folks watch ‘Stranger Things.’  Further, it’s actually not that strange for scholars to  have creative hobbies or to apply their creative side to their academic work especially within the field of anthropology.  I’ll never forget Gina Ulysse’s talk at University of Michigan where she began with a poem that she recited as she glided through the side aisle of the conference room.  Aime Cox is a former Alvin Ailey dancer, and when she gave a guest lecture in my class, she ‘stretched us out’ before we began.  Law professor, Khiara Bridges is a professional ballet dancer (bu.edu).  Katherine Dunham studied black dance traditions in the Diaspora and pioneered the first ‘self-supporting dance company’ in the United States (chicago.edu).

    These women’s example shows that creative and academic pursuits don’t have to be an either/or.  Instead, doing both is like giving yourself permission to be all of who you are no matter how unconventional it may seem.  If it feels good to you–do that and then do it some more.  I’m confident that going back to dance will make me a better, happier and more inspired student.

  • Exercise, The Academy

    When you feel like you can’t

    So…..having been in proposal-writing purgatory for the last few weeks, I’ve been a pretty textbook example of a hot mess.  On top of academic responsibilities, I’ve also had my fair share of personal issues.  Sigh….all I want to eat are grilled fish burritos, and I’m oscillating between the two taco spots at either end of my block.  I’ve spent more time window shopping on the FashionNova website than I’d like to admit.  I’ve asked for extensions on assignments which provide immediate momentary respite, but only put them off until I have other things due.  I don’t like rushing through time, but I sure will be happy when I turn my final paper in on December 20th.  #Jesusbeafence

    I am tired.

    I am tired, but I am also grateful.  Last month, I did my first paid speaking gig as an academic, and I have another speaking engagement in about a week.  My mentor, who taught me in my first semester and who’s class I’m taking in my last semester says that she sees improvement in my writing, and coming from her, it means a hell of a lot.

    I laid in bed for an hour this morning.

    If you woke up too late to go to your usual fitness class.  If you don’t have any more clean workout clothes.  If you don’t feel like dealing with strangers.  If you have more reading than you can wrap your mind around.  I get it.

    I started by drinking a glass of water.  I finally cleaned up my room, lit a candle and did my favorite 13 minute workout.  I swear by this video and know it so well (even where the instructor makes a mistake—see nobody’s perfect) that I can put it on mute and blast my favorite Spotify workout playlist: Hip Hop Workout Mix while I follow along with the moves.  Nothing like some Fetty Wap and Champagne Papi in the morning.

    Be encouraged y’all, and know that when you can’t do everything, you can still do something.

  • The Academy

    Mental Health & Fitness

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    While I was procrastinating from doing my physical anthro readings, I stumbled upon Massy Arias on Instagram– I found her baby’s page first, but anyways–I wanted to share this video because it highlights the intersection of fitness and mental health.  In the academy,  mental health is a serious issue that doesn’t get nearly enough attention as it deserves.  Many students suffer from depression, anxiety and a host of other conditions brought on by the stresses of higher education. While there are more studies focused on the undergraduate level, there’s far less research done on the graduate student experience (S. A. Benton, Robertson, Tseng, Newton, & Benton, 2003).  Fitness has been a great outlet for me to relieve stress, stay active and also to ensure that I get some human contact by having one of my classmates as my gym buddy.   In this video, Massy talks about how fitness allows her to manage depression and to counteract the stressors brought on by financial hardship, unrealistic beauty standards and immigration. Pa’lante!