A List of My Favorite Resources

Image by Pexels on Pixabay
I believe that sharing is caring, that emotions belong to academic writing and that it’s okay, that your productivity never determines your worth, that showing vulnerability makes us more connected.
The resources listed here reflect these values and commitments. As my everyday, emotional and academic world is multilingual, I share resources in English, German, and French.
Academic Writing
- Wendy Laura Belcher wrote an extensive page on “Solutions to Common Academic Writing Obstacles”, some of them being truly inspirational, so enjoy feeling seen!
- Here a collaborative bibliography on tips and resources (mostly in French, some in English as well), Ecritac.
- Cathy Mazak runs an inspiring podcast everyone should listen to, “Academic Womxn Amplified”.
- This blog post on “10 Counter-intuitive insights from an academic writing coach” demystifies some of the most common ideas about academic writing (I have commented on them in this Twitter thread).
- Jaclyn A. Siegel compiled a list of “free and low cost resources for graduate students, postdocs, and early career researchers (or really anyone else)” covering most aspects of academic life (ranging from softwares to creating/writing, lit reviews, social media, etc.). She has also written on “Creating an organization system that works for you“.
- If you’re writing one of your first abstracts in linguistics, check this list of resources.
Methods
- A collaborative document on Doing Fieldwork in a Pandemic by Deborah Lupton provides resources for researchers on various methods (journaling, online interviews, using Facebook groups, to name just a few).
- The blog and newsletter “Academia Made Easier” by Loleen Berdahl is full of tips on time management, learning how to say no, organizing your mailbox, and much more. A must-read!
Teaching / Higher Education
- Reflecting Allowed, Maha Bali’s blog about education, offers insightful reflections on digital literacies and intercultural learning, critical thinking, critical pedagogy, critical citizenship, openness in education.
- Barbi Honeycutt’s podcast offers practical tips for inclusive teaching experiences (a list of free resources, including a newsletter is available here).
- On her blog, Caroline Muller regularly reflects on her teaching practice in French. Some of my favorite texts include “Enseigner en féministe” on care work in higher education and “Le cours « de numérique » est un cours comme les autres” on including digital literacy into the curriculum.
- Isabel Steinhardt has created a collaborative bibliography on Teaching Open Science. Her blog (mostly in German) on qualitative social methods is worth having a look at, too! I love her post on “Autoethnographie als Reflexionsinstrument in Zeiten von Corona”. It led to a collaborative autoethnography and a book in open access (free download): Corona-Semester reflektiert – Einblicke einer kollaborativen Autoethnographie.
Gender-inclusive / non-binary language
- For those interested in gender-inclusive writing practices and non-binary language in French, this fantastic page from McGill University lists many resources and best practices, including a bibliography with academic papers and media articles.
Linguistics
- Recently Marie–Anne Paveau compiled a list of resources on linguistics (mostly podcasts and videos in French).
- On Twitter, under the hashtag #LisaLiestLinguistik, you’ll find book reviews (the threads are in German but the books reviewed may be in English).
Letting yourself be inspired
- I really enjoy reading Zwischenzeit_en by Teresa Bücker every Saturday morning, which she describes as “Ein Newsletter über Veränderung, Übergänge, die Wechselfälle des Lebens und die Fragen, die dazwischen auftauchen.”
- The Female Leadership Podcast by Vera Strauch (in German) offers practical tools and creative solutions for working environments where we feel heard, seen, valued. Many ideas can apply to academia, too!
- In her podcast Bulles Nomades in French, Florie Vine, a writer and artist, shares reflections on “simplicity and optimism as paths to explore our creative voice”. As she works mostly from home and as a freelancer, many of her tips can apply to academic writing as an embodied process or to everyday routines and structures.
- The dinosaur account, “a comic about depressed dinosaurs who find hope in each other”, is often cute and smart.
to be continued… (first posted on 10 April 2021, updated on 24 October 2021)
(You have a blog, a podcast, or some favorite resources that could become part of this list? Please share them with me per email at naomi.truan[at]uni-leipzig.de or on Twitter!)
Cite this article as: Naomi Truan, "A List of My Favorite Resources," in Ici et là, 10/04/2021, https://icietla.hypotheses.org/2428.