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Background Readings and Pitt Resources

The goal of Humanities Engage is to foster a culture change in how arts and humanities departments, faculty, and doctoral students in the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences envisage the broader importance of humanities Ph.D.s and the societal impact of humanistic training. 

Discover Humanities strengths at the University of Pittsburgh:

Learn more about the national conversation around humanities PhD professional development.

​CGS NextGenPhD Consortium (2017)

Read more about the CGS NextGenPhD Consortium »

  • CGS summary of lessons learned from first cohort of NEH Next Gen PhD program (2017)
  • CGS summary of previous work in Humanities PhD career diversity.

CGS PhD Career Pathways Project

Closing Gaps in our Knowledge of PhD Career Pathways: How Well Did a Humanities PhD Prepare Them? (2018)

Key Findings
  • A large majority of survey respondents believe that their humanities PhD education prepared them well for their jobs. 
  • A large majority of survey respondents said that they would pursue a PhD in general or in the same field, if they had to start over again. 
  • Between humanities PhDs working in academia and elsewhere, there are more similarities than differences in key workforce skills and attributes. 

PhD Professional Development: Value, Timing, and Participation (2021)

Brief Readings

A.W. Mellon Foundation, What Can You Do With a PhD?  (June 2016)

Grossman, James, “Career Diversity Is Not New, But Let’s Get It Right This Time,” Perspectives on History  (April 2015)

Kim, Joshua, "Defining Alt-Ac Before We Systematize Alternative Academic Career Guidance," Inside HigherEd  (November 2018)

Larson, Zeb, "We Need to Systematize Alt-Ac Career Guidance," Inside HigherEd  (November 2018)

Mintz, Steven, "The Humanities: A Status Report," Inside HigherEd  (May 2020)

Patel, Vimal, "Rebranding the Ph.D," Chronicle of Higher Education  (March 2018)

Parry, Marc, "The New Ph.D.: Momentum grows to rewrite the rules of graduate training," Chronicle of Higher Education  (February 2020)

Pszczolkowski, Amy, "Advice and Encouragement to Humanities PhDs in Pursuing Diverse Career Paths," Inside HigherEd  (November 2016)

Rogers, Katina, "10 Steps to Reform Graduate Education in the Humanities," Chronicle of Higher Education  (December 2020)

Wood, L. Maren  and Beatrice Gurwitz, “Who Prepares Humanities PhDs for a Nonacademic Search?” Chronicle of Higher Education  (July 2013)

National Reports

Allum, Jeffrey R., Julia D. Kent, and Maureen Terese McCarthy, "Understanding PhD Career Pathways for Program Improvement," Council of Graduate Schools  (2014)

Bell, Nathan, Brent Bridgeman, Fred Cline, Julia Kent, Ross Markle, Patricia McAllister, and Cathy Wendler, "Pathways Through Graduate School and Into Careers," Council of Graduate Schools  (2012)

Cassuto, Leonard and Robert Weisbuch, "Reforming Doctoral Education, 1990 to 2015 Recent Initiatives and Future Prospects," A Report Submitted to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation  (2016)

Loss, Christopher P., "Future of the Dissertation," Council of Graduate Schools  (2015)

MLA Task Force, "Doctoral Study in Modern Language and Literature," Executive Summary  (2014)

MLA Task Force, "Doctoral Study in Modern Language and Literature," Report  (2014)

Staff of the Humanities Indicators, "The State of the Humanities In Four-Year Colleges and Universities (2017)," American Academy of Arts and Sciences 

Wood, L. Maren and Robert B. Townsend, "The Many Careers of History PhDs: A Study of Job Outcomes, Spring 2013," A Report to the American Historical Association 

Innovative US Doctoral Programs

 

Please contact the project leadership team for access to extensive further bibliographies and reading materials.