Podcast appearances and mentions of leonard cassuto

Send us a text - your number will not show, so if you want a response include an emailIn episode #136, I welcome back one of my favorite repeat guests, Dr. Leonard Cassuto.Len is a professor of English at Fordham University and the author of the "Graduate Adviser" column for The Chronicle of Higher Education. He has written and number of books, including *The Graduate School Mess* (Harvard, 2015) and, with Robert Weisbuch, *The New PhD: How to Build a Better Graduate Education* and we are here today to talk about his hot off the press publication – Academic Writing as if Readers Matter. Highlights: Let's Get Clear: Writing that is difficult to read harms the relationship between academia and society.Writing as Communication: If the message isn't understood, communication has failed.Storytelling Approach: Everything is a story (what story are you trying to tell?).Front-Load Main Points: Present main points early on to help academic readers quickly assess the relevance of the material.Writing as Thinking: Writing is part of the thinking process. Write to figure out what it is you are thinking, then start writing. The Blue Whale Metaphor: Academic readers are like blue whales, sifting through vast information. As a writer, it is your duty to make content clear and easily digestible.Clarity Over Complexity: Simplicity and clarity should be prioritized over complex jargon, which can alienate readers.Don't Be Mean: Engage and connect with your audience, rather than distance them with overly complex language.The Importance of Revision: Good writing is often the result of extensive rewriting, helping to sharpen arguments and improve communication.Practical Writing Tip: Take the topic sentences from each paragraph and string them together to see if they tell a coherent story.Connect with Lentwitter: @LCassutoinstagram: l_cassutofacebook: Leonard CassutoGet his new book here:  https://amzn.to/4euGt4jEpisode #53 "Are we teaching students to be unhappy?" https://www.buzzsprout.com/1547113/9484429Episode #69: "Career Diversity and the Doctorate" https://www.buzzsprout.com/1547113/10148738Support the showSupport this free content: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1547113/supporters/new Get The Happy Doc Student Handbook: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0578333732Other resources at: http://Expandyourhappy.com Treat me to a green tea: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/expandyourhappyWant to make my day? Rate, review, subscribe & share with someone you love.

Academic writing isn't known for its clarity. While graduate students might see reading and writing turgid academic prose as a badge of honor—a sign of membership in an exclusive community of experts—many readers are left feeling utterly defeated.  In his latest book, Academic Writing as if Readers Matter (Princeton University Press, 2024), Fordham University Professor Leonard Cassuto prompts us to think more about the reader. For Cassuto, the key to better academic prose is to anticipate and respect the needs of the reader. Throughout the volume, Cassuto offers a range of advice on how to structure arguments, use metaphor, and integrate narrative. He also provides a thoughtful reflection on the value of academic knowledge for the broader public and how to square a rules-based approach to teaching writing with the inevitable evolution of language. This book will be of interest to graduate students, writing instructors, editors, and anyone who wants to learn how to make their writing clearer and more sympathetic to the needs of the reader. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Academic writing isn't known for its clarity. While graduate students might see reading and writing turgid academic prose as a badge of honor—a sign of membership in an exclusive community of experts—many readers are left feeling utterly defeated.  In his latest book, Academic Writing as if Readers Matter (Princeton University Press, 2024), Fordham University Professor Leonard Cassuto prompts us to think more about the reader. For Cassuto, the key to better academic prose is to anticipate and respect the needs of the reader. Throughout the volume, Cassuto offers a range of advice on how to structure arguments, use metaphor, and integrate narrative. He also provides a thoughtful reflection on the value of academic knowledge for the broader public and how to square a rules-based approach to teaching writing with the inevitable evolution of language. This book will be of interest to graduate students, writing instructors, editors, and anyone who wants to learn how to make their writing clearer and more sympathetic to the needs of the reader. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literary-studies

Academic writing isn't known for its clarity. While graduate students might see reading and writing turgid academic prose as a badge of honor—a sign of membership in an exclusive community of experts—many readers are left feeling utterly defeated.  In his latest book, Academic Writing as if Readers Matter (Princeton University Press, 2024), Fordham University Professor Leonard Cassuto prompts us to think more about the reader. For Cassuto, the key to better academic prose is to anticipate and respect the needs of the reader. Throughout the volume, Cassuto offers a range of advice on how to structure arguments, use metaphor, and integrate narrative. He also provides a thoughtful reflection on the value of academic knowledge for the broader public and how to square a rules-based approach to teaching writing with the inevitable evolution of language. This book will be of interest to graduate students, writing instructors, editors, and anyone who wants to learn how to make their writing clearer and more sympathetic to the needs of the reader.

Academic writing isn't known for its clarity. While graduate students might see reading and writing turgid academic prose as a badge of honor—a sign of membership in an exclusive community of experts—many readers are left feeling utterly defeated.  In his latest book, Academic Writing as if Readers Matter (Princeton University Press, 2024), Fordham University Professor Leonard Cassuto prompts us to think more about the reader. For Cassuto, the key to better academic prose is to anticipate and respect the needs of the reader. Throughout the volume, Cassuto offers a range of advice on how to structure arguments, use metaphor, and integrate narrative. He also provides a thoughtful reflection on the value of academic knowledge for the broader public and how to square a rules-based approach to teaching writing with the inevitable evolution of language. This book will be of interest to graduate students, writing instructors, editors, and anyone who wants to learn how to make their writing clearer and more sympathetic to the needs of the reader. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/communications

Academic writing isn't known for its clarity. While graduate students might see reading and writing turgid academic prose as a badge of honor—a sign of membership in an exclusive community of experts—many readers are left feeling utterly defeated.  In his latest book, Academic Writing as if Readers Matter (Princeton University Press, 2024), Fordham University Professor Leonard Cassuto prompts us to think more about the reader. For Cassuto, the key to better academic prose is to anticipate and respect the needs of the reader. Throughout the volume, Cassuto offers a range of advice on how to structure arguments, use metaphor, and integrate narrative. He also provides a thoughtful reflection on the value of academic knowledge for the broader public and how to square a rules-based approach to teaching writing with the inevitable evolution of language. This book will be of interest to graduate students, writing instructors, editors, and anyone who wants to learn how to make their writing clearer and more sympathetic to the needs of the reader. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Academic writing isn't known for its clarity. While graduate students might see reading and writing turgid academic prose as a badge of honor—a sign of membership in an exclusive community of experts—many readers are left feeling utterly defeated.  In his latest book, Academic Writing as if Readers Matter (Princeton University Press, 2024), Fordham University Professor Leonard Cassuto prompts us to think more about the reader. For Cassuto, the key to better academic prose is to anticipate and respect the needs of the reader. Throughout the volume, Cassuto offers a range of advice on how to structure arguments, use metaphor, and integrate narrative. He also provides a thoughtful reflection on the value of academic knowledge for the broader public and how to square a rules-based approach to teaching writing with the inevitable evolution of language. This book will be of interest to graduate students, writing instructors, editors, and anyone who wants to learn how to make their writing clearer and more sympathetic to the needs of the reader. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this show I chat with Adam Baldy. Adam holds an MA in East Asian Studies and is a PhD student at the University of Arizona. As a Senior IT Systems Analyst at Pima Community College, he blends his in-person and online teaching experience with ed tech management.Highlights·      Starting a doctoral program is a big decision (perhaps the biggest decision you will ever make). If at any time you feel pressured to start a program, question the motives of that organization.·      Do your research! Speak with current students, graduates, and faculty. Ask for  time-to-completion statistics and graduation rates. Complete the exercises in Ch. 1 of The Happy Doc Student Handbook. See episodes below.·      There are unique challenges for first-generation college students and navigating the unfamiliar territory of graduate school can add to an already stressful environment. ·      Graduate school will happen in the context of your LIFE; there are no easy answers when it comes to deciding how to manage your own mental health, supporting others, building a career, etc.·      Knowing your core values is key; you will have to let some things go; be honest in terms of your priorities during this season.·      Embracing a part-time program may allow you to balance work, academia, and family life.·      Like stepping into a doctoral program, stepping out of one is also a big decision. Be cautious of “reacting."  Instead, responded thoughtfully to these feelings (see the I-Think-I-Want-To-Stop activity in The Happy Doc Student Handbook). ·      If you do decide to step out (whether forever or for a season), refrain from feelings of guilt/failure and listen to the Good Goodbye episode:  https://www.buzzsprout.com/1547113/8016142 Connect with Adamhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-baldry-ab6501117/Relevant episodes for when you are researching programs:#2 The Doc Journey: Things You Need to Know (that they probably won't tell you)#21 Should I Pursue a Doctoral Degree? with Dr. Chris Cappannelli#31 Reality Check: Is a Doc Program for You? with Jamie Hillman#53 Are We Teaching Students To Be Unhappy? with Dr. Leonard Cassuto#69 Career Diversity & The Doctorate with Dr. Leonard CassutRelevant episodes for when you want to STOP:#7 When You Want to Quit with Dr. Jodie Hemerda#10 ABD, Limiting Beliefs and Giants with Dr. Scott BurrusSupport the showSupport this free content: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1547113/supporters/new Get The Happy Doc Student Handbook: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0578333732Other resources at: http://Expandyourhappy.com Treat me to a green tea: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/expandyourhappyWant to make my day? Rate, review, subscribe & share with someone you love.

In this episode, we continue this season's examination of graduate education, now looking into how institutions often overlook the need for preparing faculty to teach graduate students and graduate courses. We unpack the dead ideas that underlie this neglect with Leonard Cassuto, professor of English at Fordham University, and author of The Chronicle of Higher Education article “Why is There No Training on How to Teach Graduate Students?” (May 8, 2023).

Why do PhD programs assume students will become professors, when most people find careers outside academia? How can we better prepare graduate students for the post-grad career path? This episode explores: What a “Connected PhD” program is, and why it's necessary. The negative impact on students when they feel "less than" or as if they have failed when they can't land a tenure-track job. How to change the PhD so students graduate with multiple career options. Why faculty need to approach graduate programs differently. How students can build their mentoring and support network outside of their program, and outside of academia The Connected PhD program's impact on the culture of doctoral pedagogy. Our guest is: Dr. Alyssa Stalsberg Canelli, who is the Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs at Brandeis. Our co-guest is: Dr. Jonathan Shapiro Anjaria, who is the Faculty Director of Professional Development at GSAS, and associate professor in the Anthropology department at Brandeis. Our host is: Dr. Christina Gessler, a historian of women and gender. Listeners to this episode may also be interested in: Generous Thinking: A Radical Approach to Saving the University, by Kathleen Fitzpatrick Putting the Humanities PhD to Work: Thriving in and beyond the Classroom, by Katina Rogers Going Alt-Ac: A Guide to Alternative Academic Careers, by Kathryn Linder, Keven Kelly, and Thomas Tobin The New PhD: How to Build a Better Graduate Education, by Leonard Cassuto and Robert Weisbuch Slow Boil: Street Food, Public Space and Rights in Mumbai, by Jonathan Shapiro Anjaria Urban Navigations: Politics, Space and the City in South Asia, edited by Jonathan Shapiro Anjaria and Colin McFarlane Imagine PhD, created by the Graduate Career Consortium This podcast on reimagining the academic conference This podcast on hope for the humanities PhD Welcome to the Academic Life! On the Academic Life channel we are inspired and informed by today's knowledge-producers, working inside and outside the academy. Missed any of our episodes? You'll find more than 100 of the Academic Life podcast episodes archived and freely available to you on the New Books Network website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Why do PhD programs assume students will become professors, when most people find careers outside academia? How can we better prepare graduate students for the post-grad career path? This episode explores: What a “Connected PhD” program is, and why it's necessary. The negative impact on students when they feel "less than" or as if they have failed when they can't land a tenure-track job. How to change the PhD so students graduate with multiple career options. Why faculty need to approach graduate programs differently. How students can build their mentoring and support network outside of their program, and outside of academia The Connected PhD program's impact on the culture of doctoral pedagogy. Our guest is: Dr. Alyssa Stalsberg Canelli, who is the Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs at Brandeis. Our co-guest is: Dr. Jonathan Shapiro Anjaria, who is the Faculty Director of Professional Development at GSAS, and associate professor in the Anthropology department at Brandeis. Our host is: Dr. Christina Gessler, a historian of women and gender. Listeners to this episode may also be interested in: Generous Thinking: A Radical Approach to Saving the University, by Kathleen Fitzpatrick Putting the Humanities PhD to Work: Thriving in and beyond the Classroom, by Katina Rogers Going Alt-Ac: A Guide to Alternative Academic Careers, by Kathryn Linder, Keven Kelly, and Thomas Tobin The New PhD: How to Build a Better Graduate Education, by Leonard Cassuto and Robert Weisbuch Slow Boil: Street Food, Public Space and Rights in Mumbai, by Jonathan Shapiro Anjaria Urban Navigations: Politics, Space and the City in South Asia, edited by Jonathan Shapiro Anjaria and Colin McFarlane Imagine PhD, created by the Graduate Career Consortium This podcast on reimagining the academic conference This podcast on hope for the humanities PhD Welcome to the Academic Life! On the Academic Life channel we are inspired and informed by today's knowledge-producers, working inside and outside the academy. Missed any of our episodes? You'll find more than 100 of the Academic Life podcast episodes archived and freely available to you on the New Books Network website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/academic-life

Why do PhD programs assume students will become professors, when most people find careers outside academia? How can we better prepare graduate students for the post-grad career path? This episode explores: What a “Connected PhD” program is, and why it's necessary. The negative impact on students when they feel "less than" or as if they have failed when they can't land a tenure-track job. How to change the PhD so students graduate with multiple career options. Why faculty need to approach graduate programs differently. How students can build their mentoring and support network outside of their program, and outside of academia The Connected PhD program's impact on the culture of doctoral pedagogy. Our guest is: Dr. Alyssa Stalsberg Canelli, who is the Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs at Brandeis. Our co-guest is: Dr. Jonathan Shapiro Anjaria, who is the Faculty Director of Professional Development at GSAS, and associate professor in the Anthropology department at Brandeis. Our host is: Dr. Christina Gessler, a historian of women and gender. Listeners to this episode may also be interested in: Generous Thinking: A Radical Approach to Saving the University, by Kathleen Fitzpatrick Putting the Humanities PhD to Work: Thriving in and beyond the Classroom, by Katina Rogers Going Alt-Ac: A Guide to Alternative Academic Careers, by Kathryn Linder, Keven Kelly, and Thomas Tobin The New PhD: How to Build a Better Graduate Education, by Leonard Cassuto and Robert Weisbuch Slow Boil: Street Food, Public Space and Rights in Mumbai, by Jonathan Shapiro Anjaria Urban Navigations: Politics, Space and the City in South Asia, edited by Jonathan Shapiro Anjaria and Colin McFarlane Imagine PhD, created by the Graduate Career Consortium This podcast on reimagining the academic conference This podcast on hope for the humanities PhD Welcome to the Academic Life! On the Academic Life channel we are inspired and informed by today's knowledge-producers, working inside and outside the academy. Missed any of our episodes? You'll find more than 100 of the Academic Life podcast episodes archived and freely available to you on the New Books Network website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/education

Why do PhD programs assume students will become professors, when most people find careers outside academia? How can we better prepare graduate students for the post-grad career path? This episode explores: What a “Connected PhD” program is, and why it's necessary. The negative impact on students when they feel "less than" or as if they have failed when they can't land a tenure-track job. How to change the PhD so students graduate with multiple career options. Why faculty need to approach graduate programs differently. How students can build their mentoring and support network outside of their program, and outside of academia The Connected PhD program's impact on the culture of doctoral pedagogy. Our guest is: Dr. Alyssa Stalsberg Canelli, who is the Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs at Brandeis. Our co-guest is: Dr. Jonathan Shapiro Anjaria, who is the Faculty Director of Professional Development at GSAS, and associate professor in the Anthropology department at Brandeis. Our host is: Dr. Christina Gessler, a historian of women and gender. Listeners to this episode may also be interested in: Generous Thinking: A Radical Approach to Saving the University, by Kathleen Fitzpatrick Putting the Humanities PhD to Work: Thriving in and beyond the Classroom, by Katina Rogers Going Alt-Ac: A Guide to Alternative Academic Careers, by Kathryn Linder, Keven Kelly, and Thomas Tobin The New PhD: How to Build a Better Graduate Education, by Leonard Cassuto and Robert Weisbuch Slow Boil: Street Food, Public Space and Rights in Mumbai, by Jonathan Shapiro Anjaria Urban Navigations: Politics, Space and the City in South Asia, edited by Jonathan Shapiro Anjaria and Colin McFarlane Imagine PhD, created by the Graduate Career Consortium This podcast on reimagining the academic conference This podcast on hope for the humanities PhD Welcome to the Academic Life! On the Academic Life channel we are inspired and informed by today's knowledge-producers, working inside and outside the academy. Missed any of our episodes? You'll find more than 100 of the Academic Life podcast episodes archived and freely available to you on the New Books Network website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, I continue the conversation with Dr. Leonard Cassuto,  professor of English at Fordham University.Be sure to listen to episode #53: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1547113/9484429Highlights:1.     Tenure-track jobs are diminishing, so if we teach doctoral students to want those jobs above all other jobs, we are teaching them to be unhappy. 2.     As a doctoral student you MUST be the CEO of your education (and where it lands you).3.     Think about what REALLY interests you (ask: What sparks joy in me?) and then view your doctoral education as a mechanism for gaining skills that will allow you to explore many possibilities on the job market. 4.     You are learning broad and transferable skills - you are becoming an information specialist, you are learning how to teach people things (orally, in the written word, formally, informally) etc.5.     Stop thinking too narrowly when you think about your doctorate (truly the sky is the limit!).6.     Career diversity is about taking the skills you have learned and combining them with a profession that gives you pleasure. Check out Imagine PhD here: https:/https://www.imaginephd.com/Listeners can receive a 30% discount on The New PhD with the code HTWN from the publisher's site, press.jhu.eduConnect with Len twitter: @LCassuto instagram: l_cassuto More resources at: http://expandyourhappy.comGet the Happy Doc Student Handbook here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0578333732

Are we teaching students to be unhappy? In this episode, I chat with Dr. Leonard Cassuto. He is a professor of English at Fordham University. He writes the graduate advisor column for the Chronicle of Higher Education and has been on the graduate education frontline for years – publishing The Graduate School Mess – What Caused It and How We Can Fix It in 2015 and more recently co-authoring The New PhD: How to Build A Better Graduate Education with Dr. Robert Weisbuch.They argue that graduate school has been preparing PhD students for jobs that don't exist and encouraging students to want those jobs to the detriment of their career success and personal wellbeing. 8 – 4 – 2 – 18 people begin, 4 complete, of those only 2 end up in a tenured track job and only 1 of those 2 end up at a research university/university like where they went to grad school.How do we teach students how to be happy and satisfied?Three major themesCareer diversity - Degree leads to expertise in other social sectors. No shortage of jobs if you are creative – skills you learn can apply to nearly every career imaginable.Career counseling – what to do with what you know. Socially engaged / Public Facing – Apply what you know  Higher education should benefit all of society – let's reform graduate school so that it illustrates public good that higher ed is and should be. Student-Centered – versus functionary of faculty researchCare for the student – Ethically and responsiblyStakeholdersAdministrators – create the structure that allows change to happen – the buck stops at the president's office. Empower the graduate deans. Faculty – need to understand that students become first – this is a push back against history – implied and practical understanding that it is NOT for students it is an off-shot of faculty researchStudents – you have a choice – be the CEO of your graduate education – you will live the choices you make and that will become the life you live. Be thoughtful, aware, and informed.  We've known what the problems are – time to do something about it! Listeners can receive a 30% discount on The New PhD with the code HTWN from the publisher's site, press.jhu.eduConnect with Lentwitter: @LCassutoinstagram: l_cassutoThis Podcast is brought to you by: http://Expandyourhappy.com/storeGet your Happy Doc Student Swag: https://www.bonfire.com/store/happy-doc-student-podcast-swag/ Get the Happy Doc Student Handbook here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0578333732

Graduate school trains scholars to work at research universities, even though only a small fraction of them will ever gain a permanent position at one of these institutions. For most doctoral students in the humanities and allied fields, the jobs they are being trained for don't exist. In their recent book, The New PhD, Leonard Cassuto and Robert Weisbuch seek to overturn conventional wisdom in a clarion call for student-centered, career-diverse graduate education. I sat down with the authors, one of whom was an influential figure in my own doctoral program, to hear their take on how to fix the problems of a PhD that “turns inward,” rather than one that “looks outside the walls of the university.”

In this episode, host Maggie Nettesheim Hoffmann talks to Dr. Leonard Cassuto and Dr. Robert Weisbuch about their book The New PhD (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2021) and ways of reforming graduate education in the United States. Len and Bob discuss the role faculty, senior university administrators and other entities within American higher education infrastructure can work toward meaningful actions and reform that can prepare PhD students for careers inside and outside the academy. Full audio transcript of this podcast is available on our website. 

Whether and how to reform, indeed to transform graduate education has been a matter for debate, discussion and experimentation over the past 30 years – at least. In The New PhD: How to Build a Better Graduate Education (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2021), Leonard Cassuto and Robert Weisbuch look back at the many attempts, successes and failures to do so since the 1990s. They argue that graduate school has been preparing PhD students for jobs that don’t exist and encouraging students to want those jobs to the detriment of their career success and personal wellbeing. Cassuto and Weisbuch propose what they call a more humane and socially dynamic PhD experience that reconceives of graduate education as a public good. In The New PhD, Cassuto and Weisbuch provide recommendations from admissions to advising to curriculum to the dissertation, as well as suggestions for how to begin conversations at the departmental and graduate school level to make changes. Leonard Cassuto is a professor of English and American Studies at Fordham University. He is the author of The Graduate Adviser column for The Chronicle of Higher Education, which inspired his book The Graduate School Mess: What Caused It and How We Can Fix It. Robert Weisbuch, formerly a professor of English, department chair, and dean at the University of Michigan, served as the president of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, and the eleventh president of Drew University. Amanda Jeanne Swain is executive director of the Humanities Center at the University of California, Irvine. She holds a PhD in Russian & East European European History from the University of Washington. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Whether and how to reform, indeed to transform graduate education has been a matter for debate, discussion and experimentation over the past 30 years – at least. In The New PhD: How to Build a Better Graduate Education (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2021), Leonard Cassuto and Robert Weisbuch look back at the many attempts, successes and failures to do so since the 1990s. They argue that graduate school has been preparing PhD students for jobs that don’t exist and encouraging students to want those jobs to the detriment of their career success and personal wellbeing. Cassuto and Weisbuch propose what they call a more humane and socially dynamic PhD experience that reconceives of graduate education as a public good. In The New PhD, Cassuto and Weisbuch provide recommendations from admissions to advising to curriculum to the dissertation, as well as suggestions for how to begin conversations at the departmental and graduate school level to make changes. Leonard Cassuto is a professor of English and American Studies at Fordham University. He is the author of The Graduate Adviser column for The Chronicle of Higher Education, which inspired his book The Graduate School Mess: What Caused It and How We Can Fix It. Robert Weisbuch, formerly a professor of English, department chair, and dean at the University of Michigan, served as the president of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, and the eleventh president of Drew University. Amanda Jeanne Swain is executive director of the Humanities Center at the University of California, Irvine. She holds a PhD in Russian & East European European History from the University of Washington. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/education

Whether and how to reform, indeed to transform graduate education has been a matter for debate, discussion and experimentation over the past 30 years – at least. In The New PhD: How to Build a Better Graduate Education (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2021), Leonard Cassuto and Robert Weisbuch look back at the many attempts, successes and failures to do so since the 1990s. They argue that graduate school has been preparing PhD students for jobs that don’t exist and encouraging students to want those jobs to the detriment of their career success and personal wellbeing. Cassuto and Weisbuch propose what they call a more humane and socially dynamic PhD experience that reconceives of graduate education as a public good. In The New PhD, Cassuto and Weisbuch provide recommendations from admissions to advising to curriculum to the dissertation, as well as suggestions for how to begin conversations at the departmental and graduate school level to make changes. Leonard Cassuto is a professor of English and American Studies at Fordham University. He is the author of The Graduate Adviser column for The Chronicle of Higher Education, which inspired his book The Graduate School Mess: What Caused It and How We Can Fix It. Robert Weisbuch, formerly a professor of English, department chair, and dean at the University of Michigan, served as the president of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, and the eleventh president of Drew University. Amanda Jeanne Swain is executive director of the Humanities Center at the University of California, Irvine. She holds a PhD in Russian & East European European History from the University of Washington. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

Hear from the authors recently released book, The New PhD: How to Build a Better Graduate Education, Leonard Cassuto and Robert Weisbuch, about the state of graduate school today and the possibilities for reforming graduate education.

(2/11/21) For too many students, today's PhD is a bridge to nowhere. According to The New PhD: How to Build a Better Graduate Education by Leonard Cassuto and Robert Weisbuch, 50 percent of students entering graduate school never complete the degree. Of those that do, less than one in eight will find full-time employment in their field of study. Join us for a look at why universities don’t prepare grad students for the jobs they can actually get in this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI.

The PhD degree lies in ruins. That's the first sentence of a preview written about the new book called THE NEW PhD: How to Build a Better Graduate Education. The authors feel the PhD needs to quickly evolve to serve the needs of students and society. Here to talk about the book are those authors. […]

Does grad school need a makeover? This is the question discussed with Leonard Cassuto a Fordham University professor concerned with setting expectations for aspiring grad students. We deviate from the heaviness of reform to the even heavier topic of true crime.

Nikolai DiPippa, Clinton School Director of Public Programs, sat down with Leonardo Cassuto. Leonard Cassuto is graduate education columnist for The Chronicle of Higher Education and professor at Fordham University. In his new book, The Graduate School Mess: What Caused It and How We Can Fix It, Cassuto explores the root of the problems in graduate education – students taking too long to complete their studies and facing a dismal academic job market if they succeed – and offers concrete solutions for revitalizing graduate education in the humanities. He argues that universities’ heavy emphasis on research comes at the expense of teaching and that graduate education must recover its mission of public service. He also argues that professors should revamp the graduate curriculum and broaden its narrow definition of success to allow students to create more fulfilling lives for themselves both inside and outside the academy. In The Graduate School Mess, Cassuto follows the graduate student from admissions to the dissertation and placement, and considers how each stage of graduate education is shape by unexamined assumptions and ancient prejudices that need to be critically confronted.

This inaugural episode of The University of Pittsburgh Year of the Humanities podcast features an interview with Leonard Cassuto, professor of English at Fordham University. As a scholar, Dr. Cassuto has written several books on American literature and culture; as a columnist, Cassuto writes a regular column for the Chronicle called “the graduate advisor,” in which he focuses on the current state of graduate education in American colleges and universities. The interview focuses on Professor Cassuto’s work within and beyond the University, and his thoughts on how to bridge the two.

The discontented graduate student is something of a cultural fixture in the U.S. Indeed theirs is a sorry lot. They work very hard, earn very little, and have very poor prospects. Nearly all of them want to become professors, but most of them won’t. Indeed a disturbingly large minority of them won’t even finish their degrees. It’s little wonder graduate students are, as a group, somewhat depressed. In his thought-provoking book The Graduate School Mess: What Caused It and How We Can Fix It (Harvard University Press, 2015), Leonard Cassuto tries to figure out why graduate education in the U.S. is in such a sadstate. More importantly, he offers a host of fascinating proposals to “fix” American graduate schools. Listen in. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The discontented graduate student is something of a cultural fixture in the U.S. Indeed theirs is a sorry lot. They work very hard, earn very little, and have very poor prospects. Nearly all of them want to become professors, but most of them won’t. Indeed a disturbingly large minority of them won’t even finish their degrees. It’s little wonder graduate students are, as a group, somewhat depressed. In his thought-provoking book The Graduate School Mess: What Caused It and How We Can Fix It (Harvard University Press, 2015), Leonard Cassuto tries to figure out why graduate education in the U.S. is in such a sadstate. More importantly, he offers a host of fascinating proposals to “fix” American graduate schools. Listen in. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The discontented graduate student is something of a cultural fixture in the U.S. Indeed theirs is a sorry lot. They work very hard, earn very little, and have very poor prospects. Nearly all of them want to become professors, but most of them won’t. Indeed a disturbingly large minority of them won’t even finish their degrees. It’s little wonder graduate students are, as a group, somewhat depressed. In his thought-provoking book The Graduate School Mess: What Caused It and How We Can Fix It (Harvard University Press, 2015), Leonard Cassuto tries to figure out why graduate education in the U.S. is in such a sadstate. More importantly, he offers a host of fascinating proposals to “fix” American graduate schools. Listen in. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The discontented graduate student is something of a cultural fixture in the U.S. Indeed theirs is a sorry lot. They work very hard, earn very little, and have very poor prospects. Nearly all of them want to become professors, but most of them won’t. Indeed a disturbingly large minority of them won’t even finish their degrees. It’s little wonder graduate students are, as a group, somewhat depressed. In his thought-provoking book The Graduate School Mess: What Caused It and How We Can Fix It (Harvard University Press, 2015), Leonard Cassuto tries to figure out why graduate education in the U.S. is in such a sadstate. More importantly, he offers a host of fascinating proposals to “fix” American graduate schools. Listen in. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The discontented graduate student is something of a cultural fixture in the U.S. Indeed theirs is a sorry lot. They work very hard, earn very little, and have very poor prospects. Nearly all of them want to become professors, but most of them won’t. Indeed a disturbingly large minority of them won’t even finish their degrees. It’s little wonder graduate students are, as a group, somewhat depressed. In his thought-provoking book The Graduate School Mess: What Caused It and How We Can Fix It (Harvard University Press, 2015), Leonard Cassuto tries to figure out why graduate education in the U.S. is in such a sadstate. More importantly, he offers a host of fascinating proposals to “fix” American graduate schools. Listen in. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We get our freak on with a post-halloween conversation about the American Freak Show, with Fordham English professor Leonard Cassuto.