Author Archives: Catherine Armstrong

About Catherine Armstrong

Dr Catherine Armstrong is a Senior Lecturer in History at Manchester Metropolitan University, specialising in North American History. She is a former teaching fellow in History at the University of Warwick and Oxford Brookes University. Catherine was also Director of Historical Studies in the Open Studies department at the University of Warwick. Her first book ‘Writing North America in the Seventeenth Century’ was published by Ashgate in June 2007. As a long-time jobseeker for an academic role herself, Catherine is in a unique position to understand and offer her knowledge and experience to those developing an academic career.

End of my fourth year…what have I learned?!

Contributer: Catherine Armstrong    Posted: May 16, 2011
Categories: Academic Life, Jobseeking, Research, Teaching

It’s coming up to the end of my fourth year working in the history department at MMU and I can’t believe where the time has gone! They say that ‘time flies when you’re having fun’ and that is certainly true, … Read More »

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Exams: the joy of invigilation and marking!

Contributer: Catherine Armstrong    Posted: May 9, 2011
Categories: Academic Life

At this time of year students are cramming for their exams but lecturers also suffer exam stress too! Of course it’s not as bad as actually sitting the exams, but the pressures of marking this time of year can get … Read More »

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The value of networking

Contributer: Catherine Armstrong    Posted: May 4, 2011
Categories: Academic Life, Jobseeking

A really useful post in this week’s Chronicle explains why networking is so important in academia. If you still think that networking is only relevant to those working in the commercial sector, think again!  Read the full article here.

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Private tutoring opportunities

Contributer: Catherine Armstrong    Posted: April 27, 2011
Categories: Jobseeking, Teaching

Like university students, school children are also beginning to panic at this time of year as exams approach. If you are a PhD student or recently finished post-doc struggling to pay the bills undertaking private tutoring of school children is … Read More »

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Research and work/life balance

Contributer: Catherine Armstrong    Posted: April 11, 2011
Categories: Academic Life, Research

For most universities in the UK the long spring term is now over and we are into the holiday period. However, for many scholars, ‘holiday’ is a misnomer. These three weeks might herald a different way of working than in … Read More »

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Higher Education on a global scale

Contributer: Catherine Armstrong    Posted: April 4, 2011
Categories: Academic Life

Sometimes it is easy to focus on the minutiae of day to day life as an academic without thinking of the broader picture. I like to visit the University World News website just to get a sense of what’s happening … Read More »

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Funding challenges in the arts

Contributer: Catherine Armstrong    Posted: March 28, 2011
Categories: Academic Life, Research

I think everyone in the Higher Education sector is aware that funding cuts will affect our research and teaching experience over the next few years. So how can we go about trying to protect our ability to research in the … Read More »

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