Description
This is Episode #9 of the A-KID-EMIA podcast (formerly Anscombe’s Juggle), the home for parent-scholars looking to balance personal and professional goals. In this Fall Semester episode, we welcome Christopher Tollefsen, a father of nine (yes, NINE!), professor of philosophy, and director of the Center for American Civic Leadership and Public Discourse at the University of South Carolina. Married to another academic, he tells us how his family managed the ‘Two-Body Problem’; what home education was like; and how he achieved prolificacy, both while seeking tenure and in later administrative roles as department chair and director of a research center.
Chapters
0:00 - Introduction
2:32-4:18 - Tollefsen’s Job and Family Background
4:18-7:45 - Having Kids in Grad School
7:45-9:54 - Bringing Kids on Campus
9:55-12:47 - Living Near Campus and Bringing the Campus Home
12:48-15:49 - The ‘Two-Body Problem’ and Whether Home Education is Possible
15:50-18:25 - Geographic Stability
18:26-20:32 - Productivity Tip #1: Scheduling Specifics
20:33-23:40 - Productivity Tip #2: How to Be More Creative
23:41-24:03 - Productivity Tip #3: Using Teaching as a Research Stepping Stone
24:04-25:09 - Productivity Tip #4: Vertically Integrating Popular Writing into Academic Rough Drafts
25:10-27:00 - Productivity Tip #5: Strategically Random Reading
27:01-29:04 - De-Integrating Family Responsibilities from Work
29:05-33:35 - Administrative Duties as Research Inspiration
33:36-37:19 - Staying Flexible Amid Fixed Administrative Duties
37:20-38:33 - Overcoming Learned Helplessness
38:34-40:05 - Making and Following Lists
40:06-41:12 - Wrap Up
