Academic Glossary
academic glossary
The following is a guide to all of the academic terms located within this book.
Postdoc or postdoctoral researcher is a person who conducts research after the completion of their PhD. Most postdocs have temporary teaching appointments, often in preparation for a permanent faculty position.
All But Dissertation: Also known as ABD is a stage in the process of obtaining a doctorate. This is when your coursework has been successfully completed, you’ve passed your comprehensive examination as well as your research proposal and all that’s left to do is write your dissertation. Fun fact: Writing your dissertation can take years . While the average PhD program expects you to finish in four years, the average PhD student takes around six to seven years to complete.
Judith Butler is an American feminist scholar whose work has influenced political policy, theory, ethics, and third wave feminism. Butler is most widely known for their groundbreaking work, Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity as well as Bodies that Matter: On the Discursive Limits of Sex in which they challenge ideas of heteronormativity. Butler also developed the theory of gender performativity , in which they posit that “gender is not performed through a singular act, but through ritualized repetition.” (Perlego). Butler uses they/them pronouns.
Postmodernism is a theoretical lens positing that reality is socially constructed. Postmodernists believe that there is no objective truth, but rather perspectives and experiences. It states that people construct knowledge through discourse with others and lived experiences. Michel Foucault is an example of a postmodernist philosopher.
Late Modernity is different than postmodernity. It’s a concept posited by Anthony Giddens and Ulrich Beck that a very specific stage of societal development fueled by radical social, economic, and cultural change.
Pedagogy is considered to be the study of teaching methods. It’s considered to be the theory of education, including the methods and systems that we use to disseminate and teach knowledge. Some of the essential components of pedagogy include: learning theories, teaching methods, and curriculum design.
Augustus Comte was a French mathematician and philosopher who is considered to be the the Father of Sociology and positivism, which is a research method that specifically uses statistics and hard scientific evidence.
Neoliberal/Neoliberalism is a policy-driven model that seeks to embrace private enterprises and transfer economic control to the private sector. Neoliberal policies are directly concerned with things like capitalism, the free market, limiting government spending, government ownership, and is often associated with the economic policies of Ronald Reagan. Many academics consider neoliberalism to be a threat to democracy itself as it tends to cause direct harm to things like workers’ rights and marginalized communities.
Das Kapital written by Karl Marx, is a foundational three-volume text that analyzes and critiques capitalism. Das Kapital is the technical background to The Communist Manifesto . Volumes two and three of Das Kapital were completed and published by Friedrich Engels after Marx’s death in 1883 with the help of Marx’s notes.