Graduate School

FiGLI Virtual Info & Membership Recruitment Session
2024-10-02 17:30 - 18:30 (America/New_York)
FiGLI Virtual Info & Membership Recruitment Session
Please join us for our upcoming virtual info session to learn more about efforts to revitalize FiGLI – the First Generation & Low Income Graduate Student Organization! Learn how you can get involved in a community committed to supporting the well-being and sense of belonging of graduate students who are first-generation college graduates!
Date: Oct 2, 2024
Time: 5:30 PM Eastern Time
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://cornell.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIrdeuvqjIrE9CXxiIEEA4ZUOdcIiDI8t7L
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Ask the Advisor
2024-10-04 10:00 - 11:00, 2024-10-08 10:00 - 11:00, 2024-10-11 10:00 - 11:00, 2024-10-15 10:00 - 11:00, 2024-10-18 10:00 - 11:00, 2024-10-22 10:00 - 11:00, 2024-10-25 10:00 - 11:00, 2024-10-29 10:00 - 11:00 and 6 more dates | Big Red Barn, 135 Presidents Way, Ithaca, NY, 14853, United States
The Office of Graduate Student Life is offering drop-in hours with Graduate Student Life Advisor Olivia Hopewell at the Big Red Barn to hear any student life questions every week on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Careers Beyond Academia Small Group Discussion
2024-10-09 15:00 - 16:00, 2024-11-08 09:00 - 10:00 | Zoom
Does your career plan need a tune-up? Join us online to find out how we can help you get the most out of Careers Beyond Academia. If you are interested in exploring your options and want to meet colleagues who are considering careers outside of a traditional tenure-track role, sign up for a small group session. Bring your questions, share your career aspirations and trepidations, receive guidance on how to get started on your career search, and specific advice on how to approach your advisor or make a career decision. We’ll exchange tips, tricks, and tools to efficiently explore your options, build your skills and take action to prepare for your future. Feel free to pop in anytime during this hour that suits your schedule. ALL DISCIPLINES WELCOME!

Create an Employer-Ready LinkedIn Profile
2024-10-17 14:00 - 15:30 | 276 Caldwell Hall, 121 Reservoir Ave, Ithaca, NY, 14853, United States
We’ll start with a short overview presentation with pro tips on how to use LinkedIn, some exercises to identify a good tagline, and a very interactive session where participants work on their own profiles and critique others’ –so you will need to bring your own computer. Handy tips will be shared among participants at the hands-on session.
Due to the interactive nature of this in-person workshop, we will limit the number of participants to 15. So if something comes up after you register, be sure to let us know so we can invite someone else to take your place.
Register via this Google form for the date that works for you with your Cornell netID.

Translating Your PhD to Careers in Organized Labor and Museum Curation
2024-10-18 12:00 - 13:15 | 404 Morrill Hall, 159 Central Ave, Ithaca, NY, 14853, United States
Join Careers Beyond Academia for a professional development workshop with Dr. Alana Staiti. Lunch will be provided! Register now to attend.
Speaker Information: Alana Staiti, Ph.D. ’18 (Science & Technology Studies) is a Research and Organizing Manager with the AFL-CIO Dept. of Professional Employees and a former museum curator at the Smithsonian Institution.

OISE Dine & Engage
2024-10-24 16:00 - 17:30 | G01 Biotechnology Building, 215 Tower Rd, Ithaca, NY, 14853, United States
OISE Dine & Engage
The OISE Dine & Engage is a series of informal and intimate dinners where faculty members will have the opportunity to share their life and professional journeys while engaging with our vibrant graduate community. By facilitating these interactions, we aim to cultivate a stronger sense of belonging and boost student-faculty collaboration at Cornell.
This is an initiative of the Graduate School Office of Inclusion and Student Engagement and a testament to our commitment to creating a supportive and inclusive environment where diverse voices are heard, valued, and appreciated.
When: October 24, 2024 (ET)
Where: Biotech G01
Speakers: Dr. Praveen Sethupathy, Chair of Biomedical Sciences, Professor of Physiological Genomics, and Director of the Center for Vertebrate Genomics
RSVP: OISE Dine & Engage
This is a space-limited event. RSVP required!

Debunking Academia vs. Industry Myths: Be the Entrepreneur of Your Own Career
2024-10-24 17:30 - 18:30 | Zoom
The Versatile PhD offers the PhD Pathways Series to provide an “outside the academy” perspective on career preparation and job opportunities across a range of skills, trends and industries. The next session will meet on October 24th to discuss “Debunking Academia vs. Industry Myths: Be the Entrepreneur of Your Own Career” with Dr Kaidi Wu.
Less than a third of PhDs get tenure-track jobs. The vast majority of PhDs are left to figure out the labryinth of a non-academic job market on their own. Yet, the 2024 industry job market is far from the panacea it was touted to be: intense competition, mass layoffs, dwindling job security, rigidity of the 9-to-5, lack of intellectual rigor, discriminatory treatment of international job candidates. This talk will take an honest look at the challenges faced by PhDs in both academia and industry. It will explore ways to design a fulfilling career that ultimately provides stability and security for doing what you enjoy.
Kaidi Wu, Ph.D. helps PhDs create the careers they want in and out of academia. She obtained her piano performance degree from the University of Michigan, went on to receive her PhD in social psychology at the University of Michigan, and completed her postdoc at UC San Diego. She has worked at Amazon, Meta, and Match, and currently helps PhDs realize the tremendous value of their PhD beyond the traditional career pathway.
Register to attend.

Inclusive Teaching Institute for Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Scholars
2024-10-25 09:30 - 15:30 | ILR Conference Center, King-Shaw Hall, 140 Garden Avenue, Ithaca, NY, 14853, United States
This interactive workshop invites participants to reflect and connect with each other to share knowledge, explore how and why social identities come into play in the learning environment, consider how to remove barriers and increase accessibility, and create a plan to support student learning. (Sponsored by the Center for Teaching Innovation and the Graduate School’s Future Faculty and Academic Careers office). More information.
This program is an in-person retreat from 9:30 am – 3:30 pm on Friday, October 25, 2024, with a follow-up 90-minute online (Zoom) workshop the following week required to complete the program. As space in the institute is limited, please register early to save a place. Register for October 2024
If you have any questions please contact Melina Ivanchikova (md734@cornell.edu) at the Center for Teaching Innovation or Colleen McLinn (futurefaculty@cornell.edu) at the Graduate School’s Future Faculty and Academic Careers program.

Graduate School Dean's Scholars Pinning Ceremony
2024-11-07 16:00 - 17:30 | G10 Biotechnology Building, 526 Campus Road, Ithaca, NY, 14853, United States
On behalf of the Graduate School Office of Inclusion & Student Engagement, we invite you to join us for the 2024 Graduate School Dean’s Scholars Pinning Ceremony for all new and continuing Graduate School Dean’s Scholars. This community celebration serves to recognize our distinguished community of scholars for their academic achievements, commitment to excellence, and potential for making meaningful contributions to their respective disciplines.
Date: Thursday, November 7, 2024
Time: 4:00-5:30 pm ET with a dessert reception to immediately follow
Location: G10 Biotech
Dress Code: Come as you are!
RSVP Link: https://bit.ly/DeansPinCeremony
RSVP Priority Date: Thursday, October 31
About the Dean’s Scholars
Graduate School Dean’s Scholars are recipients of one of the following fellowships in support of diversity or are nominated and selected scholars who have demonstrated a strong commitment to academic excellence and advancing aspects of diversity, access, equity, inclusion, and belonging within the academy and other communities.

Graduate School Deans Excellence Fellowship
Deans McNair Fellowship
Deans Mellon Mays Fellowship
SUNY Graduate Diversity Fellowship
McNair SUNY Graduate Diversity Fellowship
Mellon Mays SUNY Graduate Diversity Fellowship
Provost Diversity Fellowship
Cornell Colman, Lance R. Collins, and Robert F. Smith Fellowships (College of Engineering)
Cornell Sloan Fellowship
Cornell GEM Ph.D. or M.S. Fellowship
Cornell IMSD Program
Cornell Bowers Computing & Information Science (CIS) Deans Excellence and Hopper-Dean Fellowships
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) Stadtman Fellowship
College of Veterinary Medicine Deans Excellence Fellowship
College of Human Ecology Deans Excellence Fellowship

Should I Do a Postdoc?
2024-11-12 12:30 - 13:30 | Zoom
Are you a graduate student wondering if you might want to seek a postdoctoral position on the way to the next stage of your career? Come hear an interactive presentation and engage in discussion about your questions. Topics discussed will include: reasons to do a postdoctoral position, types of postdocs, and how to apply and get funded.
Note: Event was rescheduled from October 21.
Register to attend.
Presented by Graduate School Career and Professional Development staff and aimed at Ph.D. students and postdoctoral scholars.
Presenters: Christine Holmes, Director of Postdoctoral Studies and Colleen McLinn, Associate Dean for Professional Development

Graduate School Walking Break and Lunch
2024-11-13 12:00 - 13:00, 2024-11-14 12:00 - 13:00 | Big Red Barn, 135 Presidents Way, Ithaca, NY, 14853, United States
Being out in nature, moving your body, eating good food and being in community with others is worthy and a fantastic way to “do” what is required to take care of yourself. Come as you are to join the Office of Student Life to explore campus, and end with a free lunch.
Meet Janna Lamey, associate dean for student life, and Olivia Hopewell, graduate student life advisor, at the Big Red Barn Graduate and Professional Student Center to leave from there.

Supportive Connection During Stressful Times
2024-11-14 10:00 - 11:00
Supportive Connection During Stressful Times
Thursday, November 14 at 10 a.m.
Attend Supportive Connection During Stressful Times on Zoom.
Meeting ID: 974 5380 1425
Passcode: [REDACTED]
This protected time is an opportunity for our graduate and professional student and postdoc community to come together in community during what may be a stressful time. During this session, we will focus on your experiences, brainstorm options that can support your well-being, and identify important strategies and helpful resources. While this is not a counseling session, Travis Winter from Cornell Health will facilitate this gathering. Join us in community.
Facilitator: Travis Winter, LCSW-R

2024 Bouchet Lecture at Cornell University
2024-11-14 15:30 - 17:00 | G10 Biotechnology Building, 526 Campus Road, Ithaca, NY, 14853, United States
The Emancipatory Vision of L. C. Dorsey: Black Food Futures and the Struggle for Civil Rights
Date: November 14, 2024
Time: 3:30 – 5:00 pm ET
Location: G10 Biotech & Zoom
*Zoom option is available for those for whom in-person engagement is not a viable option.
Registration now open
Please join us for the inaugural Bouchet Lecture at Cornell University on November 14 featuring Cornell Bouchet Society and Ph.D. Alum, Dr. Bobby J. Smith II.
Session Summary
This lecture challenges us to reconsider how we think and talk about food. Drawing on research from his award-winning book, Food Power Politics: The Food Story of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement (UNC Press, 2023), Dr. Bobby J. Smith II narrates how food emerged as a contested site of Black freedom during the American Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi. He focuses on the emancipatory vision of Mrs. L. C. Dorsey, a woefully forgotten civil rights activist, and her role as the leader of the North Bolivar County Farm Cooperative, an innovate local Black food network of activists, community members, healthcare professionals, and farmers. While the development of the cooperative is overlooked in stories about the struggle for civil rights, Smith shows how Dorsey and the cooperative network used the civil rights movement as incubator for the creation of innovative food systems. Looking forward, such food systems provide blueprints for Black food futures—where Black communities have the full autonomy and capacity to imagine, create and sustain a self-sufficient local food system designed by them.
About Our Speaker
Cornell Bouchet Society alum, Dr. Bobby J. Smith II is an interdisciplinary scholar of the African American agricultural and food experience. Trained as a sociologist, with a background in agricultural economics, Dr. Smith is an Assistant Professor in the Department of African American Studies and Fellow in Policy Design Lab in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, with affiliations in the Department of Food Science & Human Nutrition, and the Center for Social & Behavioral Science.
His research program and teaching agenda cultivates an intellectual sphere and public space to interpret how Black people build agricultural and food systems amid inequalities that orbit the Black world. Dr. Smith is the author of Food Power Politics: The Food Story of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement (University of North Carolina (UNC) Press, 2023). Thinking with multiple disciplines including African American Studies, critical food studies, and agricultural science, Food Power Politics brings into focus how food was used as a weapon against African Americans during the civil rights movement in Mississippi, and how they fought back, creating their own food programs and systems. Interfacing archival data, in-depth interviews, and oral histories, Food Power Politics illuminates how the food dynamics of the Mississippi civil rights movement provide a pathway for understanding how Black youth today—in Mississippi and beyond—are building food justice movements, grappling with inequalities that attempt to shape their lives.
Dr. Smith earned a B.S. degree (summa cum laude) in Agriculture, with a focus on Agricultural Economics, from Prairie View A&M University in 2011. He earned a M.S. degree in Agricultural and Applied Economics in 2013 and a Ph.D. in Development Sociology in 2018 from Cornell University.
About the Edward A. Bouchet Graduate Honor Society
Yale University and Howard University established the Edward A. Bouchet Graduate Honor Society in 2005. Named for the first African American doctoral recipient in the United States (Ph.D. from Yale University in 1876), the Bouchet Society recognizes outstanding scholarly achievement and promotes diversity and excellence in doctoral education and the professoriate. Outside of the society’s founding universities, Yale and Howard, Cornell was among the earliest universities to establish a chapter of the Bouchet Society with its first members inducted in 2006.
The Bouchet Society seeks to develop a network of preeminent scholars who exemplify academic and personal excellence, foster environments of support and serve as examples of CLASS: Character, Leadership, Advocacy, Scholarship, and Service. In the spirit of Bouchet’s commitment to these pursuits both within and beyond the academic realm, inductees into the honor society exhibit these qualities and demonstrate a commitment to advancing diversity, inclusion, access, and equity in the academy, especially by those from backgrounds historically underrepresented in higher education.
Event Sponsors
Graduate School Office of Inclusion & Student Engagement, CROPPS (Center for Research on Programmable Plant Systems), and the Cornell Chapter of the Bouchet Graduate Honor Society

Supportive Connection During Stressful Times
2024-11-15 09:00 - 10:00
Supportive Connection During Stressful Times
Friday, November 15 at 9 a.m.
Attend Supportive Connection During Stressful Times on Zoom.
Meeting ID: 974 5380 1425
Passcode: [REDACTED]
This protected time is an opportunity for our graduate and professional student and postdoc community to come together in community during what may be a stressful time. During this session, we will focus on your experiences, brainstorm options that can support your well-being, and identify important strategies and helpful resources. While this is not a counseling session, Travis Winter from Cornell Health will facilitate this gathering. Join us in community.
Facilitator: Travis Winter, LCSW-R

Create an Employer-Ready LinkedIn Profile
2024-11-19 10:00 - 11:30 | 341 Caldwell Hall, 121 Reservoir Avenue, Ithaca, NY, 14853, United States
