I wrote this blog in 2013 and 2014 while I was at Vanderbilt University.
A Beginning
I’ve never been much of a blogger—I don’t even follow many blogs—but here I start a blog series. Why? Based on my constellation of experiences and what I’ve been learning more recently,…
Keep readingThe Easy Way & The Easier Way
I came to mindfulness only in recent years—first through a regular yoga practice and a handful of retreats, then through guided meditation, then through a mindfulness-based stress-reduction (MBSR) course and a few…
Keep readingPaying Attention
I hope my first two posts whetted your appetite, and now you’re wondering how to start. Call it “stealth mindfulness”: you’ve already started. “A Beginning” turned your attention to your breath, and…
Keep readingReducing Stress
In recent weeks, I’ve talked with quite a few colleagues–faculty (full-time and part-time) and graduate students–who were nervous about teaching their first class, or their first class on this campus, the first…
Keep readingBeing Fully Present in the Classroom
A recent study on students’ laptop use in the classroom has brought a lot of attention to the issue of, well, attention in the classroom. As their title indicates, Sana, Weston, and…
Keep readingPlaying with Others
I recently received an email that, in another time, would have tested me. It’s a genre familiar to all of us: several paragraphs registering a complaint, only some of which we have…
Keep readingThis Embodied PhD
Two weeks ago today, I had a lumpectomy, and October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, so I’m writing a bonus post this week to celebrate–and to stake a faculty claim in the…
Keep readingStories of the Slow Professor
Last week, I attended my 10th consecutive conference of the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL)–in many ways, the highlight of my academic year, as it feels very…
Keep readingHow It Works, I
My recent posts have been focused on issues of stress, mostly because I’ve seen the effects on my own life and worry about colleagues, students, and friends. Some of you have asked…
Keep readingHow It Works, II
This is the second of four posts about how mindfulness works, or the documented effects and how they occur. Last week was devoted to attention regulation; this week explores the increased body…
Keep readingHow It Works, III
This is the third of four posts about how mindfulness works, or the documented effects and how they occur. The first was about attention regulation, the second body awareness, and now we…
Keep readingHow It Works, IV
This is the fourth and final post about how mindfulness works, or the documented effects and how they occur. The first was about attention regulation, the second body awareness, the third emotional…
Keep readingReading Like Bruce Lee
I teach literature. My students read a lot, and I want them to read well—closely, carefully, attentively. I’ve always heard that the best readers were read to when they were young and…
Keep readingLabyrinths & Learning
I’ve been reading everything I find about mindfulness, but I’m eager for more evidence-based work on its effects on learning in the college classroom. As my previous posts indicate, recent years have…
Keep readingGratitude Journals
It’s the Thanksgiving break on campuses in the United States, and I’m recovering from another surgery, so this week’s post will be brief. I’ve been enjoying the daily “I’m thankful for…” posts…
Keep readingInspiration, Creativity, & New Ideas
In “The Science of Inspiration” (2013), Eric Ravenscraft highlights the neuroscientific view of inspiration, epiphanies, and “‘a-ha’ moments”: “When you make a new connection between two ideas, it’s not just a metaphor.…
Keep readingDifficult Discussions
Several recent campus conversations have focused on facilitating difficult discussions with students in and out of class. I’ve long taught multicultural American literature and women’s studies courses, so I appreciate how hard…
Keep reading2013 Top 10
I just realized this will be my last entry for 2013.* As my social media feeds fill up with Top 10 Lists, I thought I’d pause at the end of the year…
Keep readingSupport for Stressed Students
The new semester started yesterday here at Vanderbilt. My students were bright-eyed and enthusiastic, though I know they were experiencing those first-day uncertainties about their new classes, professors, and classmates. Soon enough,…
Keep readingEnduring Effects
I recently announced on Facebook that I take requests. My friend and former colleague Marnie Bullock Dresser asked the following question: “I can already tell there are fewer monkeys when I’m in…
Keep readingDoodling & Knitting
Last week, I had a great conversation about class participation with SoTL Scholar Hasina Mohyuddin and my Graduate-Teaching-Fellow partner in teaching the SoTL Scholars Program Andrew Greer (both PhD candidates in the…
Keep readingAfter the Honeymoon
My class is still in the “honeymoon phase,” those carefree weeks in the beginning of the semester when students and instructor alike enjoy each other’s company and insights, before any major papers or…
Keep readingTime, the Superbowl, & Bandwagons
This past week brought a kind of harmonic convergence of mindfulness in popular culture. First, Time magazine featured “The Mindful Revolution” on the cover. Then, or perhaps simultaneously, word spread (from ESPN…
Keep readingDaydream Believer
I’ve previously written about the specific kind of meditation that leads to “Inspiration, Creativity, & New Ideas,” but I want to return to this issue. Creativity is a necessary skill in all…
Keep readingOpening Our Eyes
In the rhythm of academia, right as we began this semester, we also selected our courses for next year. I decided to revisit my course on monsters. Soon after, a friend gave…
Keep readingBusy-Shaming
My Women & Gender Studies class talked about “slut shaming” recently, and I’ve since been thinking about another kind of shaming that worries me–and that I want to be careful to avoid.…
Keep readingAbout Time
This work of mindfulness–in essence, focusing awareness on the present moment–has me noticing more clearly how I experience time. Despite the best efforts of clocks and schedules, time is a subjective, varying,…
Keep readingThe Continual Unfolding of Our Work
This week was an especially stressful time of the semester. Some of you are looking forward to spring break, but Vanderbilt’s was at the very beginning of March. The week after break–or,…
Keep readingRevisiting Boice
I’ve been preparing a one-week summer workshop in humanities pedagogy for a few post-docs starting their positions this fall. My partner in this development is one of our Graduate Teaching Fellows, Jessica…
Keep readingUp in the Clouds
I’ve finally done it. I’ve missed my deadline for posting to The Mindful PhD for the first time. I was in Savannah, Georgia, all week for the SoTL (Scholarship of Teaching and…
Keep readingLooking into the Fire
In preparation for a talk next week, I was sitting on my floor next to my bookshelves, surrounded by open volumes of literature. (This is the literary scholar’s version of a kid…
Keep readingIt’s About Our Students
Today is my last day of class, and I feel a little antsy, even a little edgy. I already have a stack of materials to grade, and I’ll be getting another stack…
Keep readingOn Another Planet
Last year, Forbes declared university professor the Least Stressful Job of the Year (Adams). The response was so strong that the writer issued a corrective Addendum, and the magazine published a variety…
Keep readingIn Case of Emergency
Before flying, we’re told to locate our nearest emergency exits. If we’re sitting in the emergency row, we must verbally agree to the responsibility of working the doors and helping our fellow…
Keep readingReading Here & Now
I’ve used the phrase “be here now” to describe what mindfulness looks like. It’s bumper-sticker-ease for the practice of observing the present moment right in front of us, paying attention to the…
Keep readingHoming In
My post-semester sabbatical from blogging lasted a bit longer than I’d anticipated. Nothing bad happened: I simply devoted 100% of my writing efforts to a few manuscripts I wanted to get off…
Keep readingA Room of One’s Own
I have a new favorite place on campus. It may not look like much–small room with a recliner and a lamp, a desk with a computer and handbook, a tv screen with…
Keep readingSitting Down & Staying Still
The progressive breakdown of my computer and resulting residencies of IT guys have conspired to force me to read some of the books I have stacked on my desk. Today, I read…
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Nancy L. Chick 