Welcome to Humanities Careers!

October 17, 2018

Welcome to the “Humanities Careers: Re-Imagining Doctoral Education in the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences,” blog! Generously funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, this year-long project engages with faculty, graduate students, doctoral alumni, and other stakeholders to formally initiate a conversation about doctoral education. During the 2018-2019 academic year, our team will challenge traditional conceptions of doctoral education in order to optimize every student’s preparation for diverse high-impact careers. As the Graduate Student Assistant, I will be your project ‘tour guide,’ point person, and blog writer in the months to come.

Before you ask: no, we do not intend to make the PhD process any less rigorous, nor do we plan to dilute the scholarly integrity of our graduate students’ work. Instead, our goal is to show students that their current skills, the ones that they are already in the process of fine-tuning, are incredibly valuable both within and beyond the academy. Humanistic critical thinking, problem solving, inquisitiveness, and cultural sensitivity are, more than ever, an asset to the wider worlds of government, non-profits, and business. We want to foster a culture of transparency about job markets and provide students with the tools to explore not only what they can do upon completing their degrees, but what they want to do.

Recognizing the multifaceted experience of a PhD, from coursework to advisor-student relationships to internships to dissertation writing, we have sub-divided our team into three thematic working groups: ‘Curriculum,’ ‘Alumni,’ and ‘Partnerships and Public Humanities.’

The ‘Curriculum’ working group examines the humanities graduate student’s experience on campus, with special attention paid to seminars, milestones such as comprehensive exams, and alternative formats for the dissertation.

Alumni,’ in contrast, aims to strengthen our relationships with PhD Alumni who are employed in the public sector, industry, or non–profit world and who have put their doctoral training and humanistic skills to use in a variety of professions. Strengthening our relationships with Pitt doctoral graduates will provide current students with invaluable opportunities for mentorship in the non-academic realm.

Partnerships and Public Humanities’ goes beyond our campus to forge new partnerships in Pittsburgh’s diverse non-profit sector, cultural institutions, and local businesses.

How can you get involved?

  • Keep an eye for surveys (and actually do them! We very much appreciate your feedback!)
  • Check the humanitiescareers.pitt.edu site regularly for up-to-date blog posts and events
  • Look for graduate student focused workshops (How to Network, Converting Your CV to a Resumé, etc) – students at all stages and faculty members are both welcome to attend!
  • If you have a specific question, comment, or concern, feel free to email me at kylieseltzer@pitt.edu

Kylie R.J. Seltzer 
PhD Candidate | Department of the History of Art and Architecture 
Graduate Student Assistant | "Humanities Careers" Project 
kylieseltzer@pitt.edu