Graduate Study for the Twenty-First Century: How to Build an Academic Career in the Humanities

by Gregory M. Colon Semenza

Many graduate students continue to be regarded as "apprentices" despite the fact that they are expected to design and teach their own classes, serve on university committees, and conference and publish regularly. The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that the attrition rate for American Ph.D. programs is at an all-time high, between 40% and 50% (higher for women and minorities). Of those who finish, only one in three will secure tenure-track jobs. These statistics highlight waste: of millions of dollars by universities and of time and energy by students. Rather than teaching graduate students how to be graduate students, then, the guide prepares them for what they really seek: a successful academic career.

Genres: Nonfiction, Academia, Grad School, Self Help, Education, Reference, Academic

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

So you're getting a PhD in the humanities. My first word of advice: flee to the hills. My second word of advice: read this book.

This is a refreshingly cold-blooded and practical look at the unwritten expectations and obligations we face. It assumes that in addition to wanting to be scholars, we also want to eat regular. In other words, this book is all about surviving our jobs as bargain-bin course instructors and positioning ourselves to compete for America's vanishing tenure-track jobs. To that end, it tries to cover everything we need to know to be professionals -- from office politics to seminar papers, comprehensive exams, and publication. The book is designed for those who want full-time academic jobs, but many of its chapters will be useful for other grad students.

Highly recommended for all to whom it applies.

[Angelina · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I'm all for learning everything you can about a field and I generally enjoy overview books, this book made it seem like the only possible end for attending grad school was to become a college professor. In fact, the repeated advice to get out of grad school unless it was the ruling passion in your life was a little bit frustrating, though I can see where he was coming from: grad school costs a ton of money and massive amounts of time, and if you're not all in, it's not going to be worth it.

While Semanza's advice was perfect if you're going that route, it was a little bit tough for me to get through since I found myself constantly saying, "But this doesn't apply to me." I suppose I'll either have to come to terms with having spent a semester reading advice I probably won't take or change my career goals and become a college professor. ;)

[Ash · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's a few tidbits of advice that are useful. Other bits of advice are extremely outdated despite the book's title. The rest feels like mean spirited hazing. The younger generations of academics are trying to turn things around so you don't have to do things like work 90+ hours a week or be considered a failure; this sort of nonsense just leads to mental health issues. There's also some gross gender "norms" that Semenza seems to be holding onto. I feel sorry for the students he is the advisor of and for his wife.
Just remember, you come to grad school to learn, so it's okay if you can't get through a George Eliot book on your own. That's a skill that has to aquired. Enjoy your time in grad, put down studying a night or two a week and go out with your cohort. A happy healthy you is more likely to do well in other areas of your life.

[Alexa · Rating 2 out of 5]

This text has "Twenty-First Century" in the title, but Semenza's ideas and arguments often feel like they're being taken from the 80s. There's some important information about the mechanics of grad school present in this text but if it's going to be touted as being for the "twenty-first century," it needs to do work to catch up.

[Jerzy · Rating 3 out of 5]

p.214: "The first thing to do is have a drink."

It's a pretty harsh book. But you do need to be able to take it if you want to get anything out of grad school.
Focused very much on humanities, but still has some useful points that relate to grad school in STEM and other fields.

p.12-14: clarifies the distinctions between Assistant Professor (just started, still working towards tenure); Associate Professor (tenured); and Full Professor (promotion based on major new credentials beyond those that earned you tenure).

p.29: "Because I will have to write a dissertation, publish, teach well, and serve my department just in order to get a job interview, and since I still have to learn how to do all of those things, I should be working at least as hard as those who already know how to do them. ... Act like your professors, not like your students."
(Later he points out his 10 hours/weekday plus 5-13 hours/weekend schedule. Ooof.)

p.55: "In an ideal world, you'd wait until your dissertation had been revised for publication (or other major tenure requirements were met) before starting a family."
(Whoa. This guy has really low expectations for his "ideal." In a truly ideal world, it would be possible to maintain healthy work-life balance in academia, so you wouldn't need to *worry* about timing children vs. tenure!)

p.72: "But is it really worth it to take a course simply because it might prevent you from having to read The Mill on the Floss on your own? A word of advice on this point: if you find yourself lacking the energy to read a George Eliot novel on your own, leave graduate school now."
(That's fair. I didn't feel ready to go to grad school in statistics for a while, until I noticed I *was* reading textbooks & articles and learning new statistical techniques in my spare time.)

p.101: Anytime you have to write a seminar paper, ask your professor if (and how) they think it could be revised for publication.

p.107: For job talks, be prepared to say what writers on education have most influenced your teaching... i.e., be able to show you've at least read *something* on education/pedagogical theory.

p.110: Use the syllabus to reinforce that "academic dishonesty will not be tolerated and that the maximum penalty for violators will be enforced."

p.123: When TA'ing, ask the professor if you can teach a class. You can use the materials for your teaching portfolio (and perhaps get the professor to write a teaching observation for the portfolio as well).

p.124: Keep a teaching file with syllabi from courses you taught, sample lesson plans, sample assignments, photocopied graded papers so you can show the feedback you give, student evals, letters of recommendation or observation memos, any unsolicited positive feedback from students (emails etc), and ideas for future courses/assignments.
Keep a teaching CV, listing what you've taught and any awards/honors, teaching-related service, and pedagogical articles you've written/presented.
Write up your teaching philosophy, incl. any sources it's based on and concrete examples of how you put it into practice.
Before you go on the job hunt try to have an observation letter from your major advisor and at least one from a former student.

p.139-140: "What's ironic about the fact that so many people wind up hating their exams so much is that the comps period could be the best time in one's graduate career if one were to approach them sanely and systematically. Think about this: your advisor tells you to go away for four or five months so that you can read a hundred or more books. You don't have to go to class anymore. You don't have to write seminar papers. You don't even have to leave your apartment. You just have to read. What most Ph.D.s realize long after comps have ended is how badly they long for the freedom to read and learn that they were granted back then. Take my advice: be sure to exercise whatever precautions are necessary for you to avoid becoming lonely or embittered, but remember to enjoy the freedom you've been granted. When you begin your preparations for comps, you will know a lot about your field. When you turn in your exams half a year later, you will be an expert in your field. This sort of intellectual growth is precisely what you came for."

p.152: "Once course-work ends, successful scholars demonstrate an unusual ability to impose structure where, practically speaking, almost no structure exists."

p.184: Five good reasons to attend conferences: (1) Vet your research/ideas before getting them published. (2) Advertise your research, so that people associate that topic with your name. (3) Networking. (4) Pitch research to book and journal editors. (5) "Immerse yourself in the professional culture of academe."
But they're not good for the sake of CV-building: they can form a nice supplement but should not be the core of your CV, especially "graduate student conferences" (as opposed to "real conferences"?).

p.195: Have a very short bio written up and bring it with you when you present, in case the organizer wants to introduce speakers.

p.201: "There is no reason any more to hire a Ph.D. who has yet to prove she can publish."

p.207: Talk to your professors to figure out what are the most important journals in your field. "A recommended practice is to construct a list, relatively early in your Ph.D. career, of the top five journals in which you hope to publish."

p.230: Service is less important on your CV than Research and Teaching, but it *is* still important, so be smart and volunteer for service activities that will be most helpful to you. (1) "Be a force in your field": show up to talks in your field and social events, attend and organize reading groups and talks, help to recruit grad students, and get involved in job searches. All of these will give concrete things for your rec-letter writers to say about how you're invested in this field's community. (2) Grad student government: get a sense of negotiating academic/department politics. (3) Admin or professional posts, e.g. advising undergrads, helping edit a journal or organize a conference: a useful way to diversify your experience, as long as you keep also getting teaching experience.

p.241: Recommends Surviving Your Academic Job Hunt: Advice for Humanities PhDS

p.244: Go to job training sessions at your school, at least a year before your job search actually starts. Also read The Chronicle of Higher Education . (Do statisticians read this too, or is it more geared at humanities folks?)

p.254: "Memorize 30-second, 2-minute, and 5-minute oral summaries of your dissertation." Every interviewer will ask about it.

p.255: Qs you'll be asked at job interviews: (1) About your interest in that type of school (esp. if you went to another, e.g. big research uni vs small liberal arts college). (2) Pedagogical vision: Who's influenced your teaching? Dream course to teach? (3) Practical teaching skills: How to deal with apathetic student? With an unruly one? Views on mandatory attendance? (4) Curricular politics: what courses should be required? (5) Research expertise: what's most influential right now? (6) Ability to handle challenges: they may ask an intentionally offensive Q or challenge the need for your field, just to see how you respond. (7) University politics: how to justify tenure? What's with the scandal at such and such uni? (8) Personal character or history: why'd you choose this field? What motivates you? (9) Future goals: What will you bring to the school that hires you?
Also, Qs you should ask them: "What areas would you hope that I might develop for you?" and "What are you hoping this hire can do for your department?" Don't ask things you should already know, like department size.

p.267: When negotiating job offer, ask about computer support; travel support for research or conferences; moving expenses... And, is the department able to help find work for your partner?
(I had no idea people can even ask this last one. Is that common? Is it only for people with an academic partner, or in general?)

p.272: Some of the sample syllabus wording is good:
"The professor does not take kindly to excessive absences. Because your understanding and engagement of the material depends on your presence in our class, I will take absences seriously."
"Please make it a point to turn off your cell phone before class begins."
"Plagiarism demonstrates contempt for your instructor, peers, and the purposes of liberal education. If you are caught plagiarizing, you will automatically fail the course for violation of the student code and be referred to the dean of students for judicial affairs."
"Everyone may automatically drop one quiz grade. If you take all the quizzes, you may drop one additional quiz grade. To dissuade lateness, I will give most quizzes in the first five minutes of class... Please be here on time."

[Sarah Strucker · Rating 1 out of 5]

A needlessly mean-spirited and outdated book about graduate study in the humanities with a near-fundamentalist faith in neoliberalism and free markets. Basically a bunch of concern trolling.

It's not completely useless--some of the early chapters are useful for demystifying graduate study (how to write a seminar paper, how to conduct yourself in seminar, how to balance teaching with research), but more often than not Semenza does some masterful gaslighting.

Want to have children while you're in grad school? Semenza's there to remind you that, if you're a woman, you really only have until you're 35 anyway; anything past that is "high risk" (I didn't know that having a PhD in literature qualified him as a fertility specialist). If you do have children, you will simply have to "work harder" and give up free time, like millions of Americans do each year. Oh, except for Semenza--he has a wife who can take care of the kids and drive him and his family to see "Aunt Joanie" while he sits in the back seat and gets research done.

Fall ill during graduate school? Don't even think about it. Unless you're in an iron lung, you can't miss a seminar. The evidence? Well, Semenza only missed one seminar in his entire graduate career because he woke up in the hospital. When he was conscious enough to make a phone call, the first person he called was his professor, who demanded to know what hospital and to see a doctor's note.

Get a B in graduate school? Actually, it's the same thing as an F, and a signal that you should not be admitted to further study.

Get poor teaching evaluations as a grad student? Well, everyone knows that evals are BS anyway ... but of course not really. Semenza says he knows this, but he still judges harshly anyone who doesn't have stellar ones, or who doesn't make entire sets available. (Never mind the fact that women and minorities get poorer evaluations than white males as a matter of course--gee, no wonder they're underrepresented in the higher tiers of academia, with people like Semenza acting as gatekeepers.)

On the plus side, he sure does give good tips on organizing your bookshelves and filing cabinets.

[Madelaine Pope · Rating 2 out of 5]

Semenza's book is helpful in outlining the different aspects of grad school and the early stages of an academic career. Additionally, he does a nice job walking through and providing examples of various professional materials such as CVs, cover letters, job applications, etc.

However, these helpful aspects barely make up for the fact that Semenza is overbearing and assumes everyone in grad school wants to become a tenure-track professor at a research university. Semenza paints everything in grad school as being bleak, basically tells the reader that they will get depression, and informs the reader that no one cares about them in higher ed, not even their own advisor, their family, or their dog. Although this may be true in many cases, I do not think it can be true everywhere, and the fact that Semenza assumes as much is problematic. Finally, Semenza is overall condescending and tells grad students they need to be just like him or they won't get a job.

So again, while this book does contain some helpful information, read it knowing that Semenza will present the bleakest possible outlook on grad school and higher ed and that the book will make you want to cry and never leave your house again.

[Rebecca Cantor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very helpful. Easy to read, insightful and even inspirational. Semenza does a great job of making the huge tasks (read dissertation) feel manageable. He also has great advice about publishing, quals, dealing with advisors, teaching, and the dreaded job market.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes I read this-- NO ONE MAKE FUN OF ME. It was actually very helpful. I have now learned that I will need to acquire a filing cabinet, and an additional five hours for each day.

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

very useful

[Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Slightly patronizing, overly detailed and thorough, and somewhat helpful for "down the road." I'm probably not the target reader for this book, since I worked in a university English department and participated in service, job searches, etc. Many of the chapters were redundant given my experience, though I know many of my classmates think this book is helpful so I shouldn't be so dismissive. But it's unclear who the audience for this is, since it covers every stage of the grad school process and beyond--I mean, some of my classmates are 7+ years away from many of the book's topics.

The most useful and helpful chapter, which I may scan and refer to later, discussed publishing, which is one area I'm not familiar. But overall, this is a book I should've read about 8 years ago when I first began my M.A. program.

Finally--the author is operating under the assumption that readers will get tenure-track jobs at R1 schools. I would've liked something about the differences between R1 and other schools, as well as other options, e.g. lecturers and other non-tenure track jobs. I know that tenure is the goal, but those jobs are few and far between, so not acknowledging those other opportunities seems like a disservice.

[Michelle Swann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gregory Colon Semenza’s Graduate Study for the Twenty-First Century is an indispensable guide for anyone pursuing or considering graduate studies in the humanities. Written with candor, wit, and a deep understanding of academic culture, Semenza offers practical, sometimes hard-hitting advice on everything from choosing the right program and managing coursework to publishing, networking, and navigating the job market. What sets this book apart is its honest portrayal of academia—not as a romantic intellectual haven, but as a demanding profession requiring strategic thinking, resilience, and self-awareness.
Semenza strikes a balance between encouragement and realism, making the book both sobering and empowering. His tone is that of a seasoned mentor who genuinely wants graduate students to succeed, not only by mastering research and teaching but by developing sustainable habits and professional boundaries. Updated for the realities of the twenty-first century, it remains a must-read for aspiring scholars who want a clear-eyed view of what it takes to build—and survive—a career in the humanities.

[Luna Logan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book to understand how academia functions in the modern day - current public opinion, job market, MA/PhD processes, and different variables new academics face (mainly push-to-publish pressures). Semenza's honesty is direct and refreshing, but it is important to keep in mind that many "tips" are provided to survive as an academic - it seldom tackles the reality that our current system is antiquated and is in desperate need of restructuring. Granted, it does highlight the importance of Graduate Unions and talking freely about long suffered issues, but it doesn't stray far from the technicities of daily student life. This is great to alleviate the more micro pressures incoming students have (imposter syndrome, time management, university politics) and I highly recommend this book to those looking for guidance in these areas.

If you're looking for something on a more macro scale, this is a great jumping point to launch from.

[Massanutten Regional Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liana, Central reference volunteer, September 2015, 4 stars:

Gregory Colon Semenza does not sugar-coat anything in this book, but for people interested in beginning an academic career in the humanities, I think it is solid, essential (if somewhat bleak) reading. While I am reading it for a graduate school course, I would totally recommend it to anyone who has interest in doing academic work in the humanities, whether it be a high school or undergraduate student, or even someone who has a friend or relative who works in the academic humanities and doesn't know what the heck their friend actually does for a living. For the tough-love, realistic perspective, I give Graduate Study for the 21st Century a solid four out of five stars.

So, while in a way I am still reading this book, I actually finished it some time ago. Graduate Study for the Twenty-First Century was included on my syllabus for my introductory research methods class for my English MA program, and while we were very strongly encouraged to read the entire thing over the summer, it has also been included in our weekly discussion schedule for this semester. However, most of my classmates, myself included, did end up reading the entire book before the semester started. (I've just been revisiting and reviewing the chapters for discussion each week.)

That's definitely what I'd recommend -- to read it as either an exploratory text long before you begin graduate school, or as a framing text just before beginning a graduate program. Semenza approaches this as a how-to guide, but spends much of the introduction differentiating it from other how-tos out there: Most of the current how-tos for grad school are about getting in; this how-to is about behaving professionally, building good habits, and advancing your career once you are in, and it covers a lot of practical knowledge from the first-semester master's student up to the newly-minted assistant professor. If you read it as an exploratory text, try not to let it scare you too much, and if you read it as a framing text, try not to let it ruin your excited mood.

Semenza hits a lot of things that could definitely ruin your mood or scare you: He looks very frankly at the difficult job market, at the sometimes-deplorable condition of adjunct professors and Ph.D. students whose pay is grossly disproportionate to the amount of work being asked of them, and at the sometimes unhappy condition of being a graduate student in the humanities, especially those "ABD" students who are completed with "all but dissertation" and slogging through the process of actually doing the dissertation.

However, Semenza's book also contains a lot of really helpful practical knowledge as well as motivational thoughts and wisdom, though that motivation is coated pretty heavily in tough love.

He covers quite a bit about writing both seminar papers and journal articles, which I am certain will be helpful to me later in the semester, but which could also help undergraduates improve their writing. I'm also foreseeing myself returning to this book months in the future to consult the very detailed chapters on publishing and conferencing, and years in the future to consult the information about job hunting and interviewing tips.

Chapter three, on time management, was easily the stand-out favorite for me at the present moment, especially since I am currently not looking at a Ph.D. in the near future. Despite that fact, the time management section was full of good tips for anyone at any phase of their education. I especially also liked some of the discussions about thinking and acting like your professors, not like your students; about being a somewhat jealous guardian of your time; about setting a regular schedule in order to get all of your work accomplished; and to remember two things (which I unfortunately have to paraphrase, not having the book in front of me -- Semenza states these much more eloquently): That graduate students ought to truly want to, at the minimum, know something ordinary in a deep way; and that a person who will not willingly of their own volition read a Victorian-era novel or other difficult text that was recommended to them should probably not consider a career in the academic humanities.

A note: The book is generally oriented toward people going into the humanities, but in the newest edition, which came out in 2009, Semenza writes in the updated introduction that he learned that when the book was first released in 2005, many professors in fields such as psychology and business were also assigning the book to their students; in the updated 2009 edition, Semenza made an effort to revise to make the book somewhat more interdisciplinary-friendly than the original edition. However, I read the most recent edition, and while I can see how some of the information could be very interdisciplinarily applicable, I would still say that a person planning to go into sciences or health sciences may not relate quite as much to or get quite as much out of the book as someone who's planning to go into the humanities or social sciences would.

Despite the large amount of information contained in the book, Semenza's prose is for the most part very clear and well-organized, and I found it to be an interest-holding and fairly quick read. And again, being an academically-oriented book does not make it dry or exclusive. I think that any curious reader or interested student could find something new to learn or think about in Graduate Study for the 21st Century, even if they are not planning on going to graduate school in a humanities field.

[Christian · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with many books like this, the exhaustive details leave you feeling two things: "Does anybody actually check all these boxes?" and "If they do, is it worth it?" Maybe Semenza did incorporate all of his own strategies during his PhD program. Maybe not. The point is that there's a lot of good advice here, but you'd go mad if you tried to follow it all. At the very least, this book was a good wake-up call for me - here's what to expect from an academic career - and it's prompting me to ask that second question, "If this is what the career looks like, is it worth it?"

Good for box-checkers and soul-searchers.

[Liana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gregory Colon Semenza does not sugar-coat anything in this book, but for people interested in beginning an academic career in the humanities, I think it is solid, essential (if somewhat bleak) reading. While I am reading it for a graduate school course, I would totally recommend it to anyone who has interest in doing academic work in the humanities, whether it be a high school or undergraduate student, or even someone who has a friend or relative who works in the academic humanities and doesn't know what the heck their friend actually does for a living. For the tough-love, realistic perspective, I give Graduate Study for the 21st Century a solid four out of five stars.

So, while in a way I am still reading this book, I actually finished it some time ago. Graduate Study for the Twenty-First Century was included on my syllabus for my introductory research methods class for my English MA program, and while we were very strongly encouraged to read the entire thing over the summer, it has also been included in our weekly discussion schedule for this semester. However, most of my classmates, myself included, did end up reading the entire book before the semester started. (I've just been revisiting and reviewing the chapters for discussion each week.)

That's definitely what I'd recommend -- to read it as either an exploratory text long before you begin graduate school, or as a framing text just before beginning a graduate program. Semenza approaches this as a how-to guide, but spends much of the introduction differentiating it from other how-tos out there: Most of the current how-tos for grad school are about getting in; this how-to is about behaving professionally, building good habits, and advancing your career once you are in, and it covers a lot of practical knowledge from the first-semester master's student up to the newly-minted assistant professor. If you read it as an exploratory text, try not to let it scare you too much, and if you read it as a framing text, try not to let it ruin your excited mood.

Semenza hits a lot of things that could definitely ruin your mood or scare you: He looks very frankly at the difficult job market, at the sometimes-deplorable condition of adjunct professors and Ph.D. students whose pay is grossly disproportionate to the amount of work being asked of them, and at the sometimes unhappy condition of being a graduate student in the humanities, especially those "ABD" students who are completed with "all but dissertation" and slogging through the process of actually doing the dissertation.

However, Semenza's book also contains a lot of really helpful practical knowledge as well as motivational thoughts and wisdom, though that motivation is coated pretty heavily in tough love.

He covers quite a bit about writing both seminar papers and journal articles, which I am certain will be helpful to me later in the semester, but which could also help undergraduates improve their writing. I'm also foreseeing myself returning to this book months in the future to consult the very detailed chapters on publishing and conferencing, and years in the future to consult the information about job hunting and interviewing tips.

Chapter three, on time management, was easily the stand-out favorite for me at the present moment, especially since I am currently not looking at a Ph.D. in the near future. Despite that fact, the time management section was full of good tips for anyone at any phase of their education. I especially also liked some of the discussions about thinking and acting like your professors, not like your students; about being a somewhat jealous guardian of your time; about setting a regular schedule in order to get all of your work accomplished; and to remember two things (which I unfortunately have to paraphrase, not having the book in front of me -- Semenza states these much more eloquently): That graduate students ought to truly want to, at the minimum, know something ordinary in a deep way; and that a person who will not willingly of their own volition read a Victorian-era novel or other difficult text that was recommended to them should probably not consider a career in the academic humanities.

A note: The book is generally oriented toward people going into the humanities, but in the newest edition, which came out in 2009, Semenza writes in the updated introduction that he learned that when the book was first released in 2005, many professors in fields such as psychology and business were also assigning the book to their students; in the updated 2009 edition, Semenza made an effort to revise to make the book somewhat more interdisciplinary-friendly than the original edition. However, I read the most recent edition, and while I can see how some of the information could be very interdisciplinarily applicable, I would still say that a person planning to go into sciences or health sciences may not relate quite as much to or get quite as much out of the book as someone who's planning to go into the humanities or social sciences would.

Despite the large amount of information contained in the book, Semenza's prose is for the most part very clear and well-organized, and I found it to be an interest-holding and fairly quick read. And again, being an academically-oriented book does not make it dry or exclusive. I think that any curious reader or interested student could find something new to learn or think about in Graduate Study for the 21st Century, even if they are not planning on going to graduate school in a humanities field.

[Liz Busby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though the references to keeping everything on paper make this book a bit dated, it's still the most comprehensive guide I've found to seeking an academic career in the humanities. Much of what you find online about grad school is geared towards STEM or social science fields, which operate very differently than the humanities. The individual chapters can be read individually as needed, but they also operate together as a whole. I look forward to applying this approach in my future endeavors.

[Brittany Maloy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciate the author’s attempt to give greater transparency to the humanities academic career. And I think there’s some good advice in here although it was overkill when he started giving advice on marriage and family decisions while in grad school. And he doesn’t allow for any variations of individual experience while on this journey.
Worth reading if considering a career in academia, but don’t take everything in here as gospel.

[Darcy Bird · Rating 4 out of 5]

Occasionally out of date and hyper focused on English research, this book provides a helpful view of grad school for the graduate student determined to succeed. Perhaps all the advice is relevant to English grad students even today, but a portion of this very helpful book is just unhelpful or even inaccurate for this anthropology PhD student with a master’s.

[Morgan Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit too holier-than-thou and outdated for the purposes of our class and studies. While some of the advice is good, the fact that it is primarily geared towards PhD-track individuals and that it does not seem to take into account individual variances made this book rather unpopular in my class.

[Tristan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lot of anxious people dreading grad school and overthinking every step—minutiae or otherwise. Its a blast to study what you’re interested in and everything will fall into place. It’s really not that bad and there’s no benefit of stressing the process.

Stay off Gradcafe.

[Kelly Sauskojus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super practical and useful, but sometimes Semenza’s tone is a bit extreme. More geared to PhD students than MA students, but this is definitely one I’ll keep on my shelf.

[Jordan H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the best guide to preparing for graduate school for the prospective graduate student in the humanities.

[Donald Quist · Rating 1 out of 5]

You should become a professor because “you believe it is the single most important thing you can pass on to other people. Nothing else will do” (38). Ugh.

[Elari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tsoké.

[Harrison Glaze · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

[Derek Jacoby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bursting with information. Not a pleasure read tho lol

[Micah Spiece · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though already quite dated, this remains an excellent and useful resource for practical ways to professionally improve yourself during graduate studies in the humanities. Even Semenza’s occasionally blistering pessimism is accompanied by practical approaches to nearly all aspects of grad school and early career steps in academia.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this book twice now, and while some of it is common sense about being organized and maintaining good time management skills, etc, I can't fault Semenza for being thorough. I just reread this as I am beginning a Ph.D. program in English this August, and I wanted to be better prepared for what I was diving back into. I love the way that the book focuses on the job search throughout all the chapters, offering reminders in the teaching chapter of what sorts of materials to save for your teaching portfolio as well as asking possible interview questions dealing with pedagogical and theoretical concerns.

I've already been through my Masters, so writing seminar papers and participating in service is not unfamiliar, but I think I can take a lot of helpful advice from the chapters on teaching, Ph.D. exams, and the dissertation writing process. Also, there are so many great examples of the types of material anyone in the humanities will need to generate such as CVs, cover letters, and dissertation abstracts. I know I will be referencing this book again when it's time to go on the job market.

[Kathleen O'Neal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great guidebook for the contemporary graduate student who is serious about a career in academia and most of the advice seems practical, ethical, and accessible for students at all stages of their graduate school careers. My biggest complaint about the book is that all of the author's examples are drawn from English literature and art history. It makes sense to some degree that this is the case since these are the fields the author knows best from personal experience, but as someone pursuing a philosophy career, I felt that as a result of this feature of the book, much of the supposedly general advice in the book was actually fairly particular to people in one or two academic disciplines. I think the book could have benefited from more involvement by people working in other areas of the humanities like philosophy, religious studies, and history. Nonetheless, I still found this book to be really helpful and encouraging for someone in my position. I feel that time will tell for me how applicable the advice in the book really is.