Trying to Organize Your Work? A Content Curator Can Help

By Sierra Pawlak

During the November 27, 2024 TAA Conversation Circle, Janet Salmons, co-moderator and qualitative methodologist, shared an analogy of what she meant by the term “content curation” in the context of her work:

“If you go to an Art Museum, the curator doesn’t just hang all the stuff. They make sense of it. Like, ‘Oh, okay, here’s these George O’keefe paintings, and here are the Kachinas that were depicted in the painting,’ the artifacts and the history and the social context. So, I’m not just walking through a whole bunch of different pieces, but I’ve got something that’s making sense of it and looking for themes and pulling in other context that would help to build more meaning around it. That was the inspiration I had for using that term.”

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Do Your Publishing Research; Then Follow It

By John Bond

I have spoken to a fair share of happy authors over the years. Conversely, I have spoken with some disenchanted ones. They may have submitted their book idea (or whole manuscript) to several publishers and gotten no offer of publication. Also, some authors may submit a manuscript they labored over to a peer review journal and gotten nothing but the dreaded reject. No doubt this is a disheartening experience. It can hurt.

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2025 TAA Conference Bookstore Featured Book, ‘Business and Professional Communication Playbook’

Business and Professional Communication Playbook, by Michelle T. Violanti and Stephanie Kelly, teaches students the essentials of business communication and necessary skillset that employers look for today. The authors use engaging examples, provide tips on how to carry yourself professionally, and incorporate real-life experiences from recent graduates to teach students how to communicate like a professional through focused, bite-sized chapters. Published by SAGE.

Purchase in the 2025 TAA Conference Bookstore

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Busy TAA People: Steven Barkan Publishes Updated Edition of Sociology Textbook

TAA member Steven Barkan, a retired professor of sociology at the University of Maine, recently published an updated edition of his textbook, Sociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World, Brief Edition Version 4.0 (FlatWorld, 2025). This update includes a new “Critical Thinking About the Media” feature that discusses contemporary news or social media to stimulate analysis and class discussion and incorporates over 30 embedded hyperlinks to streaming videos to enrich online and hybrid courses. Congratulations, Steven!

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Dear Dr. Noelle: Sensitive Request

By Dr. Noelle Sterne

Q: How do I tell my chair I don’t want his suggested topic for my dissertation?

— Scared of Retaliation

A: As an advanced graduate student, you face many hard situations: finally writing the dissertation, explaining to your family why you can’t spend any time with them, and breaking up fistfights between your chair and committee members. More students than you’d imagine encounter another high-anxiety-making scenario: when your chair suggests your dissertation topic.

Whose Topic?

Early in the dance, your professor’s “suggestion” could be a replication of the study he just had rejected, the study she’s just started, his secondary research interest, or her department head’s major obsession.

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2025 TAA Conference Bookstore Featured Book, ‘The ‘Getting to Yes’ Guide for ESL Students and Professionals’

The “Getting to Yes” Guide for ESL Students and Professionals, by Barrie J. Roberts, guides non-native English speakers though Getting to Yes, the international bestseller on “win-win” negotiation. Each chapter provides a lesson plan and activities along with page-by-page explanations of words, idioms and concepts. Use this book to help non-native English speakers negotiate on an equal footing with fluent English speakers. Published by the University of Michigan Press.

Purchase in the 2025 TAA Conference Bookstore

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