The Ebony Tower

Episode 6: Tea From The Tower: Graduate Student Unionization

In this episode, we interview Cherrie Bucknor, a PhD student in Sociology and HGSU-UAW Bargaining Committee Member at Harvard University, about the whats, the whys, and the hows of graduate student unionization in higher education. Specifically, we discuss graduate student working conditions, arguments against unionization, recent changes to the NLRB and the future of unionization, and strategies for successfully organizing a graduate student union. 

Resources: 

• Cherrie Bucknor’s Twitter - @CherrieBucknor
• Harvard Graduate Student Union - http://harvardgradunion.org
• NCFFDD (National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity) - https://www.facultydiversity.org 

Episode 5: Ask Ebony Anything I

In this first installment of Ask Ebony Anything, Daphne and Rachel discuss personal style and aesthetics in graduate school (0:45), the merits of a mixed-methods dissertation (4:00), how to overcome a bad reputation in your department (7:27), tips and strategies for writing your dissertation while away from campus (13:45), and the politics of rearranging the dissertation committee late in the process (23:05). 

Website: The Ebony Tower

Resources: Writing for Social Scientists (book), Anti-Social Productivity App, Forest Productivity App

Episode 4: Scholar Spotlight with Dr. Rockquemore

On this Scholar Spotlight episode, TET interviews Dr. Kerry Ann Rockquemore, Founder and CEO of the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity and author of The Black Academic’s Guide to Winning Tenure Without Losing Your Soul. We discuss Dr. Rockquemore’s educational trajectory, her inspo for starting the NCFDD, and Dr. Rockquemore gives us her best, “real talk” advice for staying productive and being successful in academia. Hint: it’s not that same old advice you are used to hearing!

Key Topics: 

• 2:30 - The Origins of the NCFDD
• 5:05 - The Importance of a Daily Writing 
• 9:15 - NCFDD Dissertation Success Program 
• 16:47 - Healthy Conflict in Academia 
• 27:34 - Biggest Mistake Newly Minted PhDs make
• 29:45- Piechart of Priorites/Success 
• 32:40 - Mistakes Postdocs Should Avoid 
• 35:05 - One Piece of Advice She’s Tired of Giving
• 41:20 - Advice on Becoming a Public Intellectual 
• 44:10 - Overcoming Fear of Failure 

For more information or to sign up for the Dissertation Success Resources mentioned in this episode and check out other NCFDD offerings for graduate students go to:

www. facultydiversity.org/graduate-students

Facebook.com/ NCFDD

Follow Dr. Rockquemore on Twitter  @divaprof

Episode 3: Tales from the Tower With The Founders

Rachel spills some tea on a particularly climactic eruption of an otherwise tense advisor-advisee relationship during her dissertation proposal defense, while Daphne discloses how and why she made the difficult decision to transfer, half way through one program, to a new Ph.D. program. 

Episode 2: Scholar Spotlight with Dr. Tyrell Connor

Today, we interview Dr. Tyrell Connor, assistant professor of Sociology and Criminology at Suny-New Paltz’s and founder of the Black and Highly Dangerous Podcast. We begin the conversation by discussing how he got into sociology and criminology (3:03), how his HBCU prepared him for graduate school (8:08), and why he chose academia over industry (13:11). We also discuss how he works to create change outside of academia (23:35) and how he balances teaching, service, activism, and community engagement (34:00). Finally, he gives us some good advice on the social aspects of academic interviews (18:34) and going on the academic job market (39:30-46:44).  

 

Links: 

Twiiter: @TConnorBhD

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BhDPodcast/ 

BhD Website: https://www.blackandhighlydangerous.com 

Episode 1: Introducing The Ebony Tower

Each year, U.S. universities award more than 55,000 doctoral degrees. Among degree holders, less than 15% are Black, Latinx, or Native American. Often serving as trailblazers in their communities and disciplines, scholars of color face unique challenges as they scale the Ivory Tower. Enter the Ebony Tower podcast—a resource, conversation and community for and by brilliant yet underrecognized and underrepresented scholars of color. Get to know Daphne and Rachel in their very first episode of The Ebony Tower Podcast!