The Age of The Public Academic…But What About Grad Students?

In “The Googled Graduate Student” (2013) Christopher P. Long ignites a timely conversation on the ways in which new media “open source” information and the graduate student intersect. According to Long, an internet search on a job candidate’s identity is now a normative part of the academic job market. Instead of going into a panic Long sees this as a great opportunity and a new platform to showcase new works in progress. Long believes this is the perfect climate for “public writing” or a more familiar term the public intellectual. Longs argument stopped short at pro-public academic but does not go into detail on the how. However, in “Do You Need Your Own Website While on The Job Market?” a guest post by Jentery Sayers give an insightful detail on the many reasons why academic or public intellectual would want or need a website as an online present.

“Do You Need Your Own Website While on The Job Market?” was more informational than the lateral and brought up the potential of branding yourself and work through design. In other words, having the ability to design your own website allows the academic to stylize their scholarship and other works. As a graduate student, whose work focuses on aesthetics and critical design I found this aspect of the paper convincing, although I may be a bit bias in my judgement. I do think that there is something to be said about stylizing a teaching philosophy, works in progress and other scholarship in a cohesive design so that even if your work is comparative it appears connected and interrelated through the design and presentation. It also is a way of branding oneself. For instance, if the website has a minimalist vibe or avant garde it helps to understand a little more about the person in question. In this light I am excited to continue to work on my website and think through potential ways design can also speak to my scholarship platform. I am interested in having a website because I am curious about aesthetics within the digital/ virtual realm and how they play a part of social and cultural constructions of race, class, and gender. I am curious to know what website interface aesthetics are popular, what do they say about the person, and how do the aesthetics mediate the messages between the author and their interlocutors. For me, creating a website would bring about another medium to explore my research interest. In retrospect, another opportunity to showcase my website would be while applying to competitive fellowships or grants. The cite could function to further explain my multi-disciplinary research interest and experimental methodology and perhaps make me considerably more appetizing as a potential candidate. Inadvertently, I guess I am saying maintaining a website as a graduate student allows me to personally brand myself whether it is in the academy or expanding in multiple job markets. However, I am curious how my research and others alike that discuss “sensitive” topics such as race, class, gender, “rights to city” and other social issues may be received or perhaps misinterpret me.

Overall my reading experience for week 3 “On digital Publishing”, the articles were not only a timely but also practical. I appreciated how some of the articles even included a “pros and cons list” as to why academics and graduate students should maintain an online presence.