Skip to main content

PhD and Me: The Third Degree - UNC The Royster Society of Fellows

Listen:

PhD and Me: The Third Degree is brought to you by doctoral students from around the world. This podcast is about the real-life experiences of PhD students walking this sometimes vexing but meaningful path towards the final (third) degree. Listen as we share our experiences getting into and through our doctoral programs, the things that keep us up at night about our work, the higher ed issues that bring us together, and everything in between! Each episode features a rotating panel of PhD students, their international collaborators, and guests to discuss wide-ranging issues that matter to us.

PhD and Me is about the real-life experiences of PhD students walking this sometimes vexing but meaningful path towards the final (third) degree. PhD life often gives students the third degree, and through this podcast, we’re looking forward to returning the favor.
Episode 1: Introduction transcript
  • Kierra Peak (UNC, Occupational Science)
  • Matt Clayton (UNC, Psychology and Neuroscience)
First generation students are breaking new ground at all levels of academia. In this episode Chicas, Chris, Steven, and Burcu share the stories we tell our families, the stories we tell ourselves, and the stories we tell the world about what it means to be the first.
Episode 2: Being A First-Generation PhD Student transcript
  • Burcu Bozkurt (UNC, Health Policy and Management)
  • Herrison Chicas (UNC, Business Administration)
  • Steven Houang (UNC, Health Behavior and Health Education)
  • Chris Lane (UNC, Human Movement Science)

3. Issues and Ethics of International Research

Skip over episode 3 player

As burgeoning researchers in the international space, you will find yourself facing many obstacles and ethical dilemmas. In this episode of PhD and Me, Burcu, Chelsea, and Theo discuss their own trials as researchers and how they worked through them. Our hosts talk about ways to navigate bureaucracy, systems of privilege and inequity, and the socio-politico-cultural context of your location.
Episode 3: Issues and Ethics of International Research transcript
  • Burcu Bozkurt (UNC, Health Policy and Management)
  • Chelsea Ducille (UNC, Maternal and Child Health)
  • Theo Kassebaum (UNC, Anthropology)

4. A Forced Pause – Mental Health in the time of COVID-19 – Part 1

Skip over episode 4 player

COVID-19 has caused what has felt like a “forced pause” to daily routines and expectations for the future. In this episode, our hosts discuss how universities have responded to the pandemic from a mental health perspective and how the pandemic has affected the academic progress and emotional well-being of graduate students.
Episode 4: A Forced Pause – Mental Health in the time of COVID-19 – Part 1 transcript
  • Matthew Clayton (UNC, Psychology and Neuroscience)
  • Poushali Ganguli (KCL, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience)
  • Kierra Peak (UNC, Occupational Science)
  • Jamshaid Shahir (UNC Bioinformatics and Computational Biology)
  • Kelsey Thompson (UNC, Speech and Hearing Sciences)

5. A Forced Pause – Mental Health in the time of COVID-19 – Part 2

Skip over episode 5 player

COVID-19 has caused what has felt like a “forced pause” to daily routines and expectations for the future, resulting in complex implications for mental health. In this episode, our hosts discuss how the pandemic has altered relationships with peers, experiences as healthcare providers, and collective abilities to make and maintain connections.
Episode 5: A Forced Pause – Mental Health in the time of COVID-19 – Part 2 transcript
  • Matthew Clayton (UNC, Psychology and Neuroscience)
  • Poushali Ganguli (KCL, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience)
  • Kierra Peak (UNC, Occupational Science)
  • Jamshaid Shahir (UNC Bioinformatics and Computational Biology)
  • Kelsey Thompson (UNC, Speech and Hearing Sciences)
Covid-19 has altered every aspect of PhD life. In this episode, PhD students Sam, Danielle, and Steven take turns discussing their cutting-edge research, how they are dealing with misinformation, and the multiple forms of biases this pandemic has brought to light. This episode was recorded in June 2020.
Episode 6: Bias, misinformation, and COVID-19 transcript
  • Danielle Chappell (UNC, Pharmacology)
  • Sam Eiffert (UNC, Pharmaceutical Sciences)
  • Steven Houang (UNC, Health Behavior and Health Education)

7. Communicating across disciplines and globally

Skip over episode 7 player

Academia in the 21st Century is becoming more interconnected and interdisciplinary, and the importance of communication has likewise increased. In this episode Ben, Bethan, and guest speaker Ale share their experiences of communicating across different languages, social norms, and disciplines.
Episode 7: Communicating across disciplines and globally transcript
  • Bethan Cornell (KCL, Physics)
  • Ben Lee (UNC, Occupational Science)

8. How to teach a class during graduate school

Skip over episode 8 player

Anxious about teaching your first class as a graduate student? Royster Fellows Kate Saylor, Chad Hobson, and Joshua Conrad Jackson describe their experiences teaching the First Year Seminar “Science and Society,” and give tips about how to teach for the first time, how to teach in a team, and how to design a new course.
Episode 8: How to teach a class during graduate school transcript
  • Chad Hobson (UNC, Physics and Astronomy)
  • Joshua Conrad Jackson (UNC, Psychology and Neuroscience)
  • Kate Saylor (UNC, Public Policy)

 

Podcast Editor: Matthew Clayton

Podcast Assistant Editor: Chelsea Ducille

Podcast original music: Matthew Clayton. Strings by Kate Saylor.

Administrative team: Royster Distinguished Professor Banu Gökarıksel and Fellowships Program Coordinator Laura Pratt

2019-2020 Royster Global planning committee: Burcu Bozkurt, Danielle Chappell, Herrison Chicas, Matthew Clayton, Bethan Cornell, Chelsea Ducille, Samantha Eiffert, Arianne Ekinci, Poushali Ganguli, Chad Hobson, Steven Houang, Joshua Conrad Jackson, Theo Kassebaum, Chris Lane, Ben Lee, Kierra Peak, Kate Saylor, Jamshaid Shahir, and Kelsey Thompson

Special thanks to: Royster Fellows Joshua Conrad Jackson, Allison Lacko, Kristopher Nicholas, and Caitlin Williams for sharing their insights and experiences during the planning process.