Student Support

Hello SOAN grad students,

My name is Samantha McAleese and I am the Sociology & Anthropology Graduate Student Self-Care and Wellness Mentor for 2018/2019. I’m a PhD Candidate in Sociology, with a background in Criminology and experience working, volunteering, and advocating alongside non-profit organizations in Ottawa.

As the Self-Care and Wellness Mentor, my role is to provide you with resources and supports that contribute to your well-being. The department recognizes that there are unique struggles associated with graduate school and being a graduate student, and so they want to make sure that you have access to the supports that you need to help you through some of those tough moments.

While I am not a mental health counsellor, I can help connect you to services and supports (either at Carleton University or in the Ottawa area) that will best meet your needs. I will be available throughout the year by e-mail and in person around the department if you need to reach out at any point.

Throughout the year, I will work with Amanda (your TA Mentor) to plan workshops, discussion sessions, and social outings. We hope that you will do your best to make it out to as many events as possible – this is a great way to stay connected to the department, especially for those of you who have completed coursework and need a reason to come to campus!

One reoccurring event is the Grad Student Coffee Hour (*free coffee and snacks*) that takes place once a week in the Department Lounge. This is a great place to sit and chat with fellow grad students, and you can also ask me any questions you have about self-care and wellness resources, supports, and services during this time. Please click here for our calendar of events, which includes the Grad Student Coffee Hour.

You will continue to receive e-mails from me throughout the year, but I will also post information on the department’s Facebook page – so keep an eye out for upcoming events!

That’s all for now! I look forward to seeing you around the department throughout the semester.

Take care,

Samantha

Additional support and resources are also available on Carleton’s Mental Health and Well-Being page. Additionally, Carleton’s Health and Counselling Services page offers information about medical and counselling services, and information about emergencies and crisis (e.g., urgent mental health problems, sexual assault, domestic violence, etc.). Please click here for more information about crisis support, and here for a list of on- and off-campus emergency numbers, mental health crisis hotlines, suicide prevention hotlines, sexual assault hotlines, violence and domestic violence hotlines, addiction and substance abuse hotlines, AIDS/HIV hotlines, and gender and culture specific hotlines.

Hi!

My name is Amanda van Beinum and I am the Sociology & Anthropology TA Mentor for 2018/2019. I am a 3rd year Sociology PhD student, with a background in health sciences research. When I’m not at school, you can find me working at the hospital, biking or running along the river, or at home hanging out with my partner and my dog.

As your TA Mentor, my role is to support your development as a current and future educator. Teaching Assistants play an important role in the educational experience of undergraduate students, and I’m here to help you excel at this position. This does not mean that I am some kind of teaching guru. Rather, I am committed to doing my best to connect the TAs in our department with available resources about teaching so that we can all learn and improve together. I am supported in my role by Carleton’s Educational and Development Center (EDC).

Here are some of the ways that I will be doing my best as your TA Mentor to support you throughout this academic year:

• I’ll be available by email and in person around the department to answer any questions you have about being a TA
• I’ll be facilitating paid TA-training workshops on topics such as: new TA orientation, facilitating tutorials, using rubrics, providing feedback, time management, dealing with challenging situations in the classroom, and more
• I can help you create and lead, or participate as a facilitator in a TA-training workshop on a teaching-related topic that you’re interested in (and help you get paid for doing this)
• I can set-up “micro-teaching” sessions where TAs can practice their teaching and facilitating skills and get tangible feedback for building Teaching Dossiers
• I can set-up and facilitate mentoring sessions with individual TAs or between TAs (these can also be counted towards training hours)
• I can facilitate peer feedback sessions and/or teaching evaluation sessions so that TAs can collect tangible evidence about their teaching skills
• I’ll be hosting a regular “Grad Student Coffee Hour” (with free coffee! And sometimes snacks!) for students to come together and hang out – this is a great place to come and ask any questions you have about being a TA or about graduate school life in general

In addition to these activities, I also maintain a page of resources for SOAN TAs on cuLearn (it’s called “Sociology & Anthropology – Mentor” and you can find it on the Dashboard page). On this page you’ll find more general orientation information about being a TA, ideas for tutorial activities, lists of campus resources for your undergrad students, and more.

I encourage you to send me an email or come up and say hello if you have any questions about being a TA or about graduate school life in the department. I’m looking forward to meeting you all in the coming weeks, and I hope you have an excellent year!

Sincerely,
Amanda

Amanda van Beinum
PhD Student | TA Mentor
Department of Sociology & Anthropology
Carleton University
Amanda.vanbeinum@carleton.ca
Loeb D781

Additional information and resources are also available on Carleton’s TA Support Page. Information about Sociology and Anthropology TA Excellence Awards and TA FAQs can be found on our Teaching Assistant Information page.

My name is Christine Pich and I’m an Instructor and the Graduate Transitions Mentor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology. As the Graduate Transitions Mentor, I coordinate and organize the department’s Graduate Transitions Series which provides career transitions support for graduate students and alumni. The series focuses on providing resources, strategies, and information about a wide range of career paths (academic and alternative-to-academic) available to people who have a graduate degree. This is done through seminars on a range of topics, opportunities for students/alumni to get feedback on components of their job application (e.g., a mock job talk), the administration of a social media page featuring active job postings, and through one-on-one guidance and support.

In addition to providing institutionalized support and resources, the Graduate Transitions Series is a great opportunity to meet peers in similar experiences and to share advice, information, and support with one another. During the 2018/2019 year, the seminar topics include preparing job applications, preparing for interviews, information about different types of post-doctoral fellowships, how to write a teaching philosophy statement, and an alternative-to-academic career panel. In these seminars we go over and unpack a variety of items, such as communicating transferable skills, searching for jobs, the various components of a job application, what to expect and how to approach different types of interviews, and types of post-doctoral fellowship opportunities available.

Please click here for the department’s calendar of events, which includes these seminars. I will also post information, job opportunities, and seminars on the Sociology & Anthropology Grad Student Transitions page on Facebook.

Additional information and resources are also available on Carleton’s Career Services page. Career Services is Carleton University’s centralized office supporting all students and alumni across the different disciplines and levels of study on their career paths.

Please click here for more information about common areas of employment for Anthropology graduates. In addition, click here to check out what some of our very own M.A. and Ph.D. graduates in Anthropology are currently up to.

Please click here for more information about common areas of employment for Sociology graduates, and here to see what some of our own M.A. and Ph.D. graduates in Sociology are currently up to.