Hosted by the Price Lab for Digital Humanities
This fall, we will be featuring blog posts written by PhD students who participated in Career Services’ Career Exploration Fellowship (CEF), a program that helps doctoral candidates explore their career interests through networking opportunities with advanced degree professionals. Click here to learn more about CEF.
Describe your experience working with your host.
My host, Stewart Varner, at the Price Lab for Digital Humanities was incredibly helpful and accommodating during the CEF period. Stewart was generous with his time and knowledge, and I had a series of highly enlightening talks with him, which were very helpful in understanding the ways in which digital technology can and is being applied in the fields in and related to the humanities. This was valuable both from the perspective of exploring new tools which I can use for research projects in my own field of Classical studies, and more broadly for looking at the possibilities for applications and career prospects outside of academia. Stewart offered his support and a broad array of information relevant to my projects, as well as arranging a number of more specialized interviews to help me both with research projects and to explore career paths aligned with my interests in the humanities and in curating and disseminating knowledge.
Although during the semester itself I was only able to dedicate a limited amount of time to advancing a research project beyond my dissertation, and I am not immediately pursuing employment outside of academia, I intend to both continue my research and follow up with many of the people and resources I was put in contact with over the course of the program. In the context of the CEF, Stewart’s help was invaluable in giving me a much better understanding of the tools at my disposal as well as of my options both inside and outside of academia.
What did you learn from this opportunity (about yourself, potential career fields, the job search, etc.)?
The Career Exploration Fellowship gave me a much better understanding of my career options outside of academia, as well as of the concrete steps I would need to take and tools at my disposal should I decide to go in that direction. The program also gave me access to many resources, in the form of seminars, events, etc., but also by facilitating my interaction with a number of incredibly helpful and accommodating participants. These were more than willing to take time out of their day to talk and give me information and guidance, whether about concrete, short-term projects at Penn, short- or long-term career prospects, or about their experiences in general as PhD graduates in the same or a similar field as mine.
I also found the CEF incredibly helpful in allowing me to explore areas outside my immediate academic interest, even from a perspective unrelated to a career search. Thus, for me an important benefit of the CEF was a better understanding of the way digital technology impacts the humanities in general, and of the sorts of work that can be done on traditional bodies of knowledge with new technologies. This also included familiarization with digital tools, which have been helpful for academic projects, and relevant to a number of my own personal research interests regardless of whether or not I choose to pursue a career outside of academia.
How did your CEF experience benefit your future career plans?
The CEF was very helpful for making future career plans, by putting me in touch with the people, resources, and information that I needed in order to explore career options outside of teaching and research. The CEF experience offers events, one-on-one interactions, and access to resources that can be very valuable in making the transition from academia, or even in just making an informed choice, or learning about new skills and approaches to complement the knowledge acquired during a PhD.
What was the most valuable part of your CEF experience?
The informational interviews. Particularly as someone who was not immediately seeking employment, the program was very valuable simply for the information I was able to get. It allowed me to gain much better understanding of some of the options that I could explore, and of the sorts of resources available to me. The participants were very helpful, and as I have mentioned already, incredibly accommodating and willing to offer a lot of help with both short-term projects and information on more long-term options and career prospects.
Top reason PhD students should apply to the CEF program?
If you are considering a career outside of academia, this is a great way to both learn your options, and to begin to make connections and take the first steps in that direction. The participants are very supportive, and there are many and diverse events that accommodate a wide array of personal projects and intended career paths, and which can be invaluable for achieving immediate and long-term goals, whether or not you choose to remain in academia.
