Academic Aunties

The 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 Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Sexuality Studies at San Francisco State University.On this episode, we talk about her new book, Caring for Caregivers: Filipina Migrant Workers and Community Building During Crisis. We talk about care as a practice, about the centrality of community-led and community-centered ethos to our work in the academy, and about the sustainability of the work that we're doing. The conversation was especially healing in the wake of the Lapu-Lapu Tragedy in Vancouver, where eleven people died - most of whom were women - and many more were injured after a car drove into the festival. It was devastating to see a day that was meant to be a joyful celebration for the Filipinx community in Canada end in grief. So Val and I talked about the care that the community showed too, immediately after what happened, with organizations mobilizing rapidly to provide support and to create space for grief. Related LinksFilipino BC InstagramCaring for Caregivers: Filipina Migrant Workers and Community Building During CrisisMatatag Photovoice ProjectThanks 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.

 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 bringing their hands saying that there is a budget crisis? And why is it that as members of the university community, we can't seem to get any answers from our university leaders who are resentful that they keep being held to account for poor management decisions?To talk about this, we speak to Dr. Todd Horton, the chair of the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations' Governance Working Group. We also talk to Dr. Sheila Embleton, a colleague at York University, and the former interim president of Laurentian University.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.

Higher 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 like to be an academic in the United States, how colleagues and institutions–who until very recently called themselves allies–have been all to quick to betray us, and how what is happening in the US can and is happening around the world.Thanks for listening! Get more information, support the show, and check out our newsletter at academicaunties.com. Get in touch with Academic Aunties on BlueSky, Instagram, or by e-mail at podcast@academicaunties.com.

There 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 have to pretend anymore - they can continue, unchallenged, with their desire to amass power and wealth. In this episode, we welcome Professor Angie Beeman, Professor in the Marxe School of Public and International Affairs and Affiliate Faculty with Black and Latino Studies at Baruch College-CUNY, to address DEI head-on. We criticize DEI when it is used as a superficial tool used by institutions, namely neoliberal academic institutions, to performatively show that they care about diversity without actually making steps towards structural transformation. We address the question of why and how targeted racist harassment still takes place in universities and colleges that have DEI policies - weren't DEI policies meant to protect us? And we also talk about the importance of having an understanding of diversity that isn't superficial. Related LinksLiberal White Supremacy: How Progressives Silence Racial and Class OppressionRacist targeting and denial in academia: the ineffectiveness of current policies and practices to address evolving forms of racismUniversity policies have not kept up with ‘everyday racism'Angie Beeman's WebsiteThanks 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.

(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 part of a global backlash against DEI, the role of management consultants pushing an agenda for a neoliberal university, and why it is time for anyone who cares about the future of higher education to mobilize and do something.Related LinksPetition to Support York and Calling for Reversal of SuspensionsStatement from Indigenous Studies at York on Program CutsStatement from Women's, Gender and Social Justice AssociationInside Doug Ford's Plan to Starve Ontario's UniversitiesUndergraduate Employment RatesThanks for listening! Sign up for our forthcoming newsletter, 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.

 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 deeply problematic. On this episode, we speak to Dr. Alana Cattapan, an expert when it comes to all things reproduction related, including serving as Canada Research Chair in the Politics of Reproduction at the University of Waterloo.We talk about the need to shift the norms of silence around fertility, around pregnancy and miscarriage and abortion, and recognizing the complexities of our, as we talk about, our messy, leaky bodies.Related LinksSome States Are Turning Miscarriages and Stillbirths Into Criminal Cases Against WomenThe Changing Voice of the Anti-Abortion Movement: The Rise of "Pro-Woman" Rhetoric in Canada and the United States, by Paul Saurette and Kelly Gordon Reproductive rights backsliding around the worldDonations to Planned ParenthoodAction Canada for Sexual Health and Rights National Abortion FederationThanks 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.

Lately, 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 the academy and not letting corrosive institutional pressures get to me? I'm sure that these are questions that many of us grapple with. And who better to think through these questions than my dear friend, Dr. Gina Velasco. Dr. Velasco is an Associate Professor and Director of Gender and Sexuality studies at Haverford College. Her book, Queering the Global Filipina Body, was published by the University of Illinois Press in 2020.Gina and I have known each other for 10 years, and I've always appreciated our hangouts where we both just chill and talk about work and life. I've also really admired how Gina's relationship with work has evolved over the past decade as she battled major health challenges and life changes that led her to understand, as she puts it, the impermanence of being healthy.Related LinksGina K. Velasco, Ph.D.Queering the Global Filipina Body: Contested Nationalisms in the Filipina/o Diaspora

If 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.

What 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 or by e-mail at podcast@academicaunties.com.

Can 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 Reimagination Farms. Located two and a half hours north of San Francisco, Reimagination 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 we live, and about what it means to take education away from the corporate university to the people."The time has come for us to reimagine everything. We have to reimagine work and go away from labor. We have to reimagine revolution and get beyond protest. We have to think not only about change in our institutions, but changes in ourselves.” - Grace Lee BoggsThanks 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.

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 the author of The Walls Have Eyes, Surviving Migration in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.Petra was with me back in 2016, the day after Trump defeated Hillary Clinton. I was teaching a class on migration and the diaspora, and I had invited Petra to speak. Instead, we went off script in that class and just held space for students who were horrified by Trump's victory. So when I saw the election results last night showing that Trump will have a second term, I immediately thought of Petra, And the experience we shared that day in 2016. We chatted today, the day after the elections, and discussed what we might expect in terms of the impacts of Trump's election on border policies, on research, on higher education, and on critical thought. We also talked about how to fight back, and on hope as a critical practice.

We 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 Director of the University of North Carolina Press. Dawn was my editor when I released my first solo authored book, last year, Care Activism, Migrant Domestic Workers, Movement Building, and Communities of Care and who was awesome really in helping me think through my project in a really generative way.Related LinksAsk UP: Authors Seeking Knowledge from University PressesUniversity of North Carolina Press Care Activism, by Dr. Ethel TungohanThanks 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 @AcademicAunties, on Twitter at @AcademicAuntie or by e-mail at podcast@academicaunties.com.

Over 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 in the city, all the while continuing its attacks in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. The scale of human atrocity perpetrated by the Israeli state is difficult for many of us to fathom. And yet this is a reality that many of our friends and colleagues are facing. With us today to discuss the situation on the ground in Gaza is Dr. Ghada Ageel. She talks about what it has been like to bear witness to this occupation that has affected countless family members and friends. Dr. Ageel is a visiting professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Alberta and has written extensively about Palestine for outlets such as The Guardian and Middle East Eye.Related LinksApartheid in Palestine: Hard Laws and Harder Experiences, edited by Dr. Ghada AgeelA White Lie, by Madeeha Hafez Albatta, Edited by Barbara Bill and Ghada AgeelThanks 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.

The 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 @AcademicAunties, on Twitter at @AcademicAuntie or by e-mail at podcast@academicaunties.com.

This 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 Fall, with a new academic year ahead of us, an American electoral season that is rapidly evolving how people talk about the rights of Palestinians and our own personal stresses and pressures, it's easy to lose sight of the purpose of these encampments and why the attacks on them were so abhorrent. On this special bonus episode of Academic Aunties, we bring you a conversation we head earlier this summer with to talk about the student encampments and protests in support of Palestine at the University Alberta, and hopefully make sense of all of this. 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.

On 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 Way

We'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 solidarity event, they were subjected to harrasment online, in person and via phone calls. And on January 23, they were fired from their jobs. On this episode, we talk to three core staff members of the Centre about the conflicting messages they received from university administration leading up to their firing, the harrasment they faced, and the toll all of this has taken.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.

A 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 experiences of abuse, and how they they also punish women for providing support to women who have experienced sexual abuse. This includes campus sexual violence, and the repercussions faced by students and faculty members who break the silence. Win a free copy of Suing for Silence!If you want a chance to win a free copy of “Suing for Silence,” retweet or repost this episode using hashtag #SuingforSilence, and tag Mandi at @gotmysassypants and Acadmic Aunties at @AcademicAuntie on Twitter or @AcademicAunties on Bluesky and InstagramRelated LinksSuing for Silence: Sexual Violence and Defamation Law by Mandi Gray, UBC PressMandi Gray's WebsiteCan't Buy My Silence

Without 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 lives. We talked about the gendered and racial microaggressions - and outright aggressions - that we experienced, our strategies for subversion, and our moments of triumph. One member of this group, and our guest this week is Dr. John Paul Catungal. JP and I started our PhDs at the same time, in different departments with very different research projects. And yet, we were oftentimes pitted against each other. We knew this too: we knew, for example, that if one of us got shortlisted for a position, the other cannot be, because there can be “only one of us,” – there can only be one Filipino, no matter the differences in our research and our approaches. This is how the neoliberal academy operated, and how it still operates. On today's episode, we talk about friendship, our parallel paths through academia and our attempts to do and be otherwise.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.

We'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 constantly ‘fight feelings, and other times use feelings to fight'.It's a book that I really think all of you will love and I am so happy that we had a chance to talk to Gulzar about her journey in writing it.Related Links:Fighting Feelings: Lessons in Gendered Racism and Queer Life, by Gulzar R. Charania

For 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. They both worked outside of academia throughout. Yet the academy called them back. We talk about why they came back and what they're doing to stay true to the values that made them keep one foot out of the academy in the first place.Related LinksThe Leak in the Academic Pipeline: on Black Women SociologistsThe leaky pipeline of diverse race and ethnicity representation in academic science and technology training in the United States, 2003–2019Scientists from historically excluded groups face a hostile obstacle course (PDF)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.

We'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 Twitter at @AcademicAuntie or by e-mail at podcast@academicaunties.com.

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

We 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 university campuses. Joining us is Dr. Fady Shanouda, an Assistant Professor at the Feminist Institute of Social Transformation at Carleton University. He spoke to Ethel about the frustrating journey he was forced to take to seek safety after becoming the target of vitriolic, hateful cyber harassment last summer. We ask: What do we do when institutions do not have an organized response in the face of such violence? What are the different parts of the institution that have competing agendas, agendas which may actually paradoxically lead them to work against the interests of those facing violence? And what does a safe university look like? 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.

In 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 into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and GirlsThanks 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.

As 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.Registration: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf33hz-C-k55o3Z-yPaUDRC6tU1WafGGw6Oblj1sYcTm3gm8g/viewformRelated LinksJewish Voice for Peace

The 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 truly awful things we are seeing around us.So this week, we're joined by Academic Aunties producer, Dr. Nisha Nath as we talk with Palestinian scholar and activist Dr. Jennifer Mogannam, an Assistant Professor of Critical Race and Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Jennifer talks to us about how to understand what is happening now by understanding the larger historical context.Related LinksPalestine Feminist Collective Digital Action ToolkitAn Open Letter from Columbia University and Barnard College Faculty in Defense of Robust Debate About the History and Meaning of the War in Israel/GazaLetter signed by over 140 prominant feminist scholarsMiddle East Studies Association Board Statement on Palestine and IsraelRace and Ethnicity Caucus at York Letter

Sara 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 I talk about the book, but also talk about the aunties in her life and many other things. Join us in the Academic Aunties Bookclub!In December, we're going to gather some feminist killjoy aunties to talk about the book! So after listening to this episode, go out and buy a copy. And then stay tuned in December when we're going to have our very first Academic Aunties Book Club! If you'd like to contribute to the conversation, email us your thoughts or even a voice memo to podcast@academicaunties.com.Related Links and Mentioned in the EpisodeThe Feminist Killjoy HandbookSara Ahmed's WebsiteThe Feminist Killjoy BlogThe Cancer Journals, by Audre LordeThanks 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.This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacyPodsights - https://podsights.com/privacy

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.This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacyPodsights - https://podsights.com/privacy

Season 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 Twitter at @AcademicAuntie or by e-mail at podcast@academicaunties.com.This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacyPodsights - https://podsights.com/privacy

Since 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 talk about the rise of neoliberalism in British academia, about how bordering practices are taking hold in UK universities, and ways for academics to take back their time.Related LinksUniversity and College Union Marking and assessment boycott 2023Backgrounder on the Hostile Environment PolicyThanks 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.This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacyPodsights - https://podsights.com/privacy

Yilin 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 their mistake, and the broader systemic issues of erasure and academic theft that translators and writers constantly face. And we talk about how listeners can help by contributing to her legal fund to get the British Museum to make things right and ensure this never happens again.Donate now to the CrowdJustice fundraiser and help meet the goal of £15,000 by July 10!Related LinksYilin Wang's Personal WebsiteThe Lantern and the Night Moths, Yilin Wang's forthcoming book from Invisible PublishingTwitter thread documenting the fightThanks 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.This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacyPodsights - https://podsights.com/privacy

Back 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.This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacyPodsights - https://podsights.com/privacy

"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 DOESN'T mean that you're not qualified or that your project lacks merit. The allocation of awards depends a lot on WHO is sitting on the committee."https://twitter.com/tungohan/status/1655626889887723532--Shout out to podcast Who do we think we are? by Dr. Michaela Benson--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.This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacyPodsights - https://podsights.com/privacy

After 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 some of the Yale Aunties, Dr. Opara, Dr. Ashley Bell, Dr. Kristyn Carter, Dr. Ashley Bell and Dr. Aileen Fernandez, here to talk about the amazing day that they organized for Bobbi. And we get into the importance of mentorship, of dedicated spaces for Black and Brown scholars, and advice for other scientists who are constantly made to feel like they don't belong.Related LinksSomeone Called the Police on a Girl Catching Lanternflies. Then Yale Honored Her. (NY Times)Dr. Ijeoma Opara's WebsiteYale Black Postdoctoral AssociationYale Peabody MuseumThanks 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.This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacyPodsights - https://podsights.com/privacy

For 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 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.This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacyPodsights - https://podsights.com/privacy

As 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 Tyler, and producer and partner, Wayne Chu.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.This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacyPodsights - https://podsights.com/privacy

Academia 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-mail at podcast@academicaunties.com.This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacyPodsights - https://podsights.com/privacy

In 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' relationship with international studentsPetition: Migrant Student Workers Deserve Justice!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.This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacyPodsights - https://podsights.com/privacy

With 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 of academia do a whole lot to make things really hard for you to do your work.Related LinksPurchase Becoming the Writer You Already Are, with a 30% discount!Inkwell Writing RetreatsThanks 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.This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacyPodsights - https://podsights.com/privacy

A 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.This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacyPodsights - https://podsights.com/privacy

2022 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 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.This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacyPodsights - https://podsights.com/privacy

Academics 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 all the transcripts at academicaunties.com. Get in touch with Academic Aunties on Twitter at @AcademicAuntie or by e-mail at podcast@academicaunties.com.This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacyPodsights - https://podsights.com/privacy

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 the politics of appearance and respectability. We talk about this book and how their study of Black women political elites mirror the experiences we have in academia.Related LinksSister Style, The Politics of Appearance for Black Women Political ElitesThanks 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.This post contains affiliate links. If you use these links to buy something we may earn a commission. Thanks.This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacyPodsights - https://podsights.com/privacy

Good 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 (https://www.twitter.com/AyendyBonifacio (@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 Links https://slate.com/technology/2022/10/academia-latinx-communities-depression-success-therapy.html (My Career as a Professor Is Soaring. I've Never Been So Depressed and Anxious) Thanks for listening! Get more information, support the show, and read all the transcripts at https://www.academicaunties.com/ (academicaunties.com). Get in touch with Academic Aunties on Twitter at https://www.twitter.com/academicauntie (@AcademicAuntie) or by e-mail at podcast@academicaunties.com. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy Podsights - https://podsights.com/privacy

Many 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 Gaucher, Justin Leifso, Stepanie Silverman, and Melanee Thomas for sharing your stories! Related links https://www.edmontonhumanesociety.com/ (Edmonton Humane Society) Thanks for listening! Get more information, support the show, and read all the transcripts at https://www.academicaunties.com/ (academicaunties.com). Get in touch with Academic Aunties on Twitter at https://www.twitter.com/academicauntie (@AcademicAuntie) or by e-mail at podcast@academicaunties.com. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy Podsights - https://podsights.com/privacy

We'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 all the transcripts at https://www.academicaunties.com/ (academicaunties.com). Get in touch with Academic Aunties on Twitter at https://www.twitter.com/academicauntie (@AcademicAuntie) or by e-mail at podcast@academicaunties.com. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy Podsights - https://podsights.com/privacy

Dr. Debra Thompson (https://www.twitter.com/debthompsonphd (@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! https://amzn.to/3Sd9BSz (The Long Road Home: On Blackness and Belonging) by Debra Thompson Reading List https://amzn.to/3dsuNW8 (Lose Your Mother: A Journey Along the Atlantic Slave Route) by Saidiya Hartman https://amzn.to/3LmLT49 (Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments: Intimate Histories of Social Upheaval )by Saidiya Hartman https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/community.30714426.pdf?ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_gsv2%2Fcontrol&refreqid=fastly-default%3A3d8fd838b5e9869bef255c13c3f7e63d (White privilege: unpacking the invisible knapsack) by Peggy McIntosh https://amzn.to/3dqgKQQ (A Map to the Door of No Return: Notes to Belonging) by Dionne Brand https://amzn.to/3RSLetO (Dear Science and Other Stories) by Katherine McKittrick https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/canadian-journal-of-political-science-revue-canadienne-de-science-politique/article/puzzling-persistence-of-racial-inequality-in-canada/E89DEFD1170245773E2CDDF23ACACE95 (The Puzzling Persistence of Racial Inequality in Canada )by Keith Banting and Debra Thompson Thanks for listening! Get more information, support the show, and read all the transcripts at https://www.academicaunties.com/ (academicaunties.com). Get in touch with Academic Aunties on Twitter at https://www.twitter.com/academicauntie (@AcademicAuntie) or by e-mail at podcast@academicaunties.com. This post contains affiliate links. If you use these links to buy something we may earn a commission. Thanks. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy Podsights - https://podsights.com/privacy

On this bonus episode, it's host's prerogative: What do you do on a sabbatical? Dr. Genevieve Fuji-Johnson (https://www.twitter.com/JohnsonFuji (@JohnsonFuji)) and Dr. Paola Ardiles (https://www.twitter.com/Paola_A_Ardiles (@Paola_A_Ardiles)) drop a little wisdom to help Ethel make the most of her year. Related Links https://anunusualacademic.com/ (An Unusual Academic) Thanks for listening! Get more information, support the show, and read all the transcripts at https://www.academicaunties.com/ (academicaunties.com). Get in touch with Academic Aunties on Twitter at https://www.twitter.com/academicauntie (@AcademicAuntie) or by e-mail at podcast@academicaunties.com. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy Podsights - https://podsights.com/privacy

Back 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 (https://www.twitter.com/KristineAlexand (@KristineAlexand)) and Dr. Jennifer Mustapha (https://www.twitter.com/JHMustapha (@JHMustapha)) about how they are feeling about back to school. Related Links https://twitter.com/JHMustapha/status/1562141586393374723 (Jennifer Mustapha's August 23 Tweet) Thanks for listening! Get more information, support the show, and read all the transcripts at https://www.academicaunties.com/ (academicaunties.com). Get in touch with Academic Aunties on Twitter at https://www.twitter.com/academicauntie (@AcademicAuntie) or by e-mail at podcast@academicaunties.com. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy Podsights - https://podsights.com/privacy

In 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 (https://www.twitter.com/SharryAiken (@SharryAiken)), Associate Professor at Queen's Law, and Dr. Sailaja Krishnamurti (https://www.twitter.com/DrSailajaK (@DrSailajaK)), Professor and Department Head of Gender Studies at Queen's University Related Links “https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10462937.2022.2065023 (Auntylectuals: A Nonce Taxonomy of Aunty-Power)” with the Feminist Critical Hindu Studies Collective  Thanks for listening! Get more information, support the show, and read all the transcripts at https://www.academicaunties.com/ (academicaunties.com). Get in touch with Academic Aunties on Twitter at https://www.twitter.com/academicauntie (@AcademicAuntie) or by e-mail at podcast@academicaunties.com. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy Podsights - https://podsights.com/privacy