The research statement is where many scholars stumble — not because their work isn’t compelling, but because they lose sight of the bigger picture: why the research matters, where it’s going, and what it means for the department that hires you.
In this session, you’ll learn how to step back from the granular details of your work and write a research statement that is intellectually rigorous and broadly accessible. We’ll examine how to frame your scholarship within larger conversations in your field, articulate a clear and coherent research agenda, and demonstrate the trajectory and significance of your work, all without sacrificing depth or nuance.
Our expert faculty panelists will address how to:
- Open with a compelling framing that situates your work in a larger scholarly context
- Balance specificity and accessibility for mixed search committee audiences
- Present past, present, and future research as a unified, forward-looking agenda
- Calibrate detail and length for different institution types
- Avoid the most common structural and rhetorical pitfalls that bury the significance of strong scholarship
This session will be co-presented with Dr. Sunny Shin, Professor of Microbiology, and Dr. Amy C. Offner, Associate Professor of History.
