Monica Heilman

Ungrading Explained: What I’m Telling My Students This Fall

Monica — Tue, 25 Aug 2020 18:09:25 +0000

This semester I’m ungrading. Since making this commitment, I’ve explained ungrading multiple times to multiple people. But the explanation that would matter the most is the one I would provide to my students. While I could have (and do) link to others far more knowledgeable on these topics, like Jesse […]

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(My) Roadmap for a COVID-19 Fall Semester

Monica — Mon, 10 Aug 2020 15:06:21 +0000

And just like that, my #NoWorkWeek is up. In some ways, I feel no different. I’m still tired. The prospect of a bizarre hybrid pandemic semester is still daunting. The explaining-racism work still looks just as draining. But there are moments in the past couple of days when I recognize that I […]

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Summers Are for Recovery

Monica — Sat, 01 Aug 2020 23:45:54 +0000

It’s only my second summer in graduate school and I’m doing it all wrong. I know this not because I’m worried about my productivity or from comparing myself to my peers, but because my body has been telling me so. My COVID test results came in a few days ago: […]

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Trust Your Gut, But Which One?: Indecision in Grad School

Monica — Thu, 16 Jul 2020 16:05:31 +0000

Recently, I made a big decision. I spent months agonizing over it, partly because my options were in flux for so long and partly because of my indecision. I won’t share the details, because they’re not particularly relevant, but I do want to spend time on decisions. Specifically, why are […]

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How to Talk about Race with Your Racist Family

Monica — Fri, 12 Jun 2020 13:18:00 +0000

“Talk to your racist family,” is one of the first things we say to non-Black (especially white) people concerned about social justice. With the recent murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, as well as the nationwide protests in response, conversations about race are everywhere. Many of these […]

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Semester’s End: On Figuring Out the Routine for an Academic, Pandemic Summer

Monica — Tue, 12 May 2020 16:52:07 +0000

Here in this one-bedroom Bloomington Indiana apartment, the Spring 2020 semester is over. Grades have been submitted and approved. Final papers uploaded to their respective Canvas submission pages. Any work I do from here on out will be conducted under the label “Summer 2020.” I sit on the same spot […]

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We Know about the Racists – Now What?

Monica — Sat, 25 Apr 2020 17:23:05 +0000

In the White House, a white man in arguably the most powerful position in the world crosses out the word “corona” and writes, in bold black letters, “Chinese.” In a rail station bathroom, a man is spit on and told he should die because he has the “Chinese virus.” The […]

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An Open Letter to Faculty Teaching Graduate Courses During COVID-19

Monica — Sat, 11 Apr 2020 18:02:51 +0000

Dear Faculty Member, We are not okay. We are the graduate students who don’t seem to have it too bad, who have places to stay, food on the table, and are still able to pay rent. Our basic needs are met, and we are quick to acknowledge this privilege. But […]

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A Day of COVID-19 Self-Isolation

Monica — Wed, 18 Mar 2020 16:22:11 +0000

I wake up groggy, lift my head to decipher the red glowing letters across the room. 7:37 am. I roll over a few times, but I am awake, internal alarm clock reliably sounding off in this same 30-minute interval most days. Compared to the strict 6:00 am schedule I’ve been […]

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Taking Rest into the New Semester

Monica — Sun, 09 Feb 2020 20:56:22 +0000

In my last post, I wrote about exhaustion and its many forms. But it would be impossible for me to spend so much time thinking about exhaustion without also reflecting on the reverse: rest and recovery. Exhaustion was ever-present and inescapable; rest eluded me. Rest and, perhaps more importantly, recovery […]

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