Opinions

Tips for Undergraduates: How to tackle a reading list

constantinakatsari July 28, 2010

Have you felt the panic rising, when you were handed an exceptionally long reading list? Have you felt the desperation taking over in minutes? If yes, you should read this post. You are not supposed to read every book on the list! I don’t expect you to do so. Most teachers know that this is more or less a wish list. Ideally, we would like our students to read everything but, in practice, we know that this is impossible. Books on the list make a great background reading on the period but usually ... »

Tips for Undergraduates: How to Start Writing an Essay

constantinakatsari July 24, 2010

The beginning of writing is always painful. You may feel uncertain about your ideas, you may feel that you have not studied enough, you may feel that your writing skills are inadequate. All these feelings may or may not be true. At some point, though, you should brush them aside, sit in front of the computer and start writing. The best way to start is by writing your… conclusions. Do not bother with the introduction or the main text. Jump directly into the conclusions. By the time you begin your... »

How to become a happy Academic

constantinakatsari July 18, 2010

The majority of academics in several different countries keep complaining about the quality of their lives. In all fairness, being an academic is not a small feat. The constant demands on our free time (if any of it is left), the ever increasing number of publications we should produce, the intense effort to enhance the cognitive abilities of our students, the regular trips abroad and, last but not least, the low quality of cafeteria food are the main factors for becoming discontented with our j... »

Tips for Undergraduates: How to Read a Book

constantinakatsari July 17, 2010

This week I have been contemplating my new administrative role in the department. I will leave behind me the Exchanges coordination for a while and I will get involved, instead, with the coordination of first year and second year undergraduate modules. Effectively, this means that I will also be responsible for guiding new students with their studies. Even if we have a very thick Handbook that explains Everything, I am very well aware that an infinitesimal number of students read all of it. So, ... »

Academic Pensions

constantinakatsari July 9, 2010

Why do you work (or you want to work) in the Academia? Is it the long hours (around 60 per week)? Is it the lack of holidays (Probably less than a week per year)? Is it the busy weekends (doing research or going to conferences)? Is it the low pay (with our qualifications we could earn double our current salary outside the Ivory Tower)? Is it the pension scheme?…. Well, the pension scheme was probably the one benefit we could get out of being academics. And I say WAS because everything is a... »

The moral right to distribute your own publications online

constantinakatsari July 7, 2010

A few days ago several academics commented (on facebook) on the state of our publication rights. It seems that the author comes up with an innovative idea for an article or a book, puts together a number of applications for funding or funds his/her own research, s/he struggles to find the evidence usually in distant countries, catalogues the available material, writes several drafts of the article, presents several papers in conferences. All in the space of five to ten years. Eventually, a publi... »

Academia.edu : Another Review

constantinakatsari July 3, 2010

When I am wrong, I do not hesitate to admit it. And this is the case with my views on the excellent site of Academia.edu . A few months ago I wrote a not so positive article on its operation. I was in Greece back then and the speed of the connection with the site was so low that I have not even managed to inspect its innermost pages. When I complained about it, some researchers answered that they never used it anyway and that they only checked out PHD Comics. At about the same time, the Academia... »

Teaching Ancient Coins: A Ray of Hope

constantinakatsari June 25, 2010

Following my latest post on the problems of teaching numismatics, I thought I should offer also some hope. The first solution that springs to mind is to “Teach the Teachers”. Most ancient Historians and Classicists refrain from using coins in the classroom for paedagogical purposes. There are several reasons for this: 1) They have never been formally taught numismatists; therefore they do not know the potential of such a study, 2) They do not understand the theory of monetary economics, 3) They ... »

Teaching Ancient Coins: Identifying the Problems

constantinakatsari June 23, 2010

Back in the old days, in order to master the discipline, the students had to have a strong background in a) Classical Archaeology, specifically Greco-roman sculpture and architecture, b) Basic knowledge of statistical analysis, c) Theory of Economic History and d) Political Theory. As far as I know, none of our British students have such a background. This is not a typically British characteristic. In fact, our colleagues in Frankfurt, where the subject is taught regularly, informed me that thes... »

The End of the Semester

constantinakatsari June 20, 2010

The external examiners left the city, the grades were handed out to the students, most of the administration has been done and dusted! So, what is left? The ordeal left me with mental fatigue, a sense of emptiness and a fuzzy brain. The terminology may not be accurate but the feeling is very real and it alters my plans. A few days ago I thought that this weekend will be the start of my research life. I was planning to finish the article I started months ago, I was hoping to visit a library and i... »