On November 12, an English discussion panel on the topic of future career development was held for students of the fall semester Ph.D. English course.
Guest speakers included Dr. Jinghui Li, President of Auxora, Inc. from Los Angeles, Dr. Yingfeng Guan, Operational Excellence Manager at Guardian Industries from Michigan, Dr. Feng Guo, Machine Learning Manager at LinkedIn from Silicon Valley, and Dr. Kuang Yu, Assistant Professor at TBSI. Students learned from the experiences and expertise of keynote speakers as they shared their perspectives on forging a career in academia or industry.
The first session with Dr. Li, Dr. Guo and Dr. Guan was held online and hosted by teaching assistant Nana Owusu-Tieku. The panel answered questions posed by students and gave great insights on finding a mentor who can help you determine your career path, understanding your skills and abilities, and using this information to determine if a career in industry or academia suits your strengths and goals.
Students listening to guest speakers
During the second session, Dr. Yu shared his experience on pursuing a career in academia. He advised students to acquire multiple skills as “the boundary between different disciplines is becoming more and more blurred.” He told students that there is no secret to succeeding in academia, and both talent and luck are needed. Additionally, a career in academia does not have to be daunting. “The happier you are, the harder you work,” he said.
Dr. Yu also dispelled some common misconceptions about working in academia. He shared that young professors are expected to wear many hats -- perform research, advise students, apply for grants, and work long hours. Despite these aspects, Dr. Yu highlighted that this career allows you to truly explore and investigate your passions, and become an expert on a topic.
Mixture of onsite and remote interaction among teachers, students and guest speakers
Ph.D. English course is taught by Associate Professor Xiangming Li, with Nana Owusu-Tieku and Mariam Afolabi as the teaching assistants for the Fall 2020 semester. This course focuses on specialized language issues for journal publishing and communications in academic settings. Professor Li gives many typical writing examples of proper language use, especially from the perspective of journal manuscript reviewers, and students put these examples into practice by drafting a research paper based on their current research project. Additionally, students acquire real world applicable skills such as presentation skills by completing weekly skits that highlight important verbal and nonverbal presentation skills, and academic writing skills where students practice writing introduction, methods, results and discussion sections of a journal article.
Writer: Nana Owusu-Tieku
Photos: X.Y. Wen
Editor: Karen Lee
