Faculty of ArtIf once seen as side of desk, collaborative work is urging its way into the core of Arts and Humanities.
In an interview for the Humanities Without Walls podcast, two recently graduated PhDs discussed how pursuing collaborative and interdisciplinary opportunities changed their career pathways (you can listen to the episode or read the transcript). It’s worth listening for the specifics of their projects, but to summarize some of their key points:
- Eligibility: The tools and skills acquired through their interdisciplinary projects widened their eligibility to teach in departments outside the disciplines of their PhDs, because they could prove they work well in other disciplines.
- Job security: Having collaborators in both academic and non-profit organizations reduced the stakes of securing a tenure-track job, because the applicant knew they were well-positioned to continue their collaborations and meaningful work in either sector.
- Networking: Investing in community, collaboration, and networking can lead to unexpected and more meaningful professional opportunities.
- Funding opportunities: Some granting agencies fund new or small projects that show potential to develop into larger initiatives. In other words, investing in new, small initiatives can result in longer-term collaborations.
Whether or not you’re pursuing a career in academia (or if you don’t know yet), collaboration, networking, and interdisciplinary skills are valuable assets for a career path. Promoting these kinds of pursuits also helps us work towards reimagining humanistic scholarship as less individualistic, more co-creative, and able to integrate those skills and interests that might not otherwise fit within the traditional seminar paper or dissertation.
Interested in collaborative opportunities while in grad school? The Arts Amplifier seeks to support graduate students who want to pursue these collaborative, cross-disciplinary, and professional opportunities to develop skills or experience for crafting a meaningful career path after graduation—whether in academia or elsewhere. Our programming this year covers topics in entrepreneurship, networking, and grants writing.