Join early career faculty panelists, from several institutions across the country to discuss their experiences on the academic job market, how they prepared for their current position, how their institution approaches community and mentoring for early career faculty and any general advice they would give to current graduate students and postdocs. Plenty of time will be given to questions. This is the second event in our eight-part series “The Joyful Journey: Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Scholar Professional Development Series.”

Speakers

Daniel Usera: University of Texas at Arlington – College of Business, Marketing
Dr. Daniel Usera is a professional speaker and Clinical Associate Professor in the College of Business – Marketing at UT Arlington. He earned his doctorate from the University of Iowa in Communication Studies. His research focuses on persuasion, public speaking, and presence. He has worked in retail, hospitality, state politics, and in the nonprofit sector. He loves his field and finding ways to share it with as many people as possible, whether that’s through corporate training, Toastmasters, or lecturing. He is constantly learning and aims to build a world-class business communication courses at UT Arlington.

Lakshmi Raju: Georgia Tech – School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Lakshmi Raju is the ECE Director of Student Engagement and Well-Being, and a faculty member in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. She received her B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees from the School of ECE at Georgia Tech. In her current role, she teaches introductory courses in the School of ECE and leads initiatives and programs that promote a welcoming, inclusive student community while supporting their academic and professional growth.

Rounaq Basu: Georgia Tech – School of City & Regional Planning
Rounaq Basu is an Assistant Professor in the School of City and Regional Planning at Georgia Tech, with an affiliation to the Center for Urban Resilience and Analytics. He holds a Ph.D. in Urban Science and Planning from MIT, as well as dual master’s degrees in Transportation and City Planning, and a Bachelor’s in Civil Engineering from IIT Bombay with a focus on transportation engineering. Basu’s research centers on sustainable urban mobility, with a particular focus on reducing auto-dependence in metropolitan areas. His work integrates urban analytics, econometrics, and agent-based microsimulations to inform policies that promote transportation equity, sustainable growth, and better urban systems. He is passionate about using these diverse tools to create more resilient and equitable cities that support the well-being of all residents. Before joining Georgia Tech, Basu worked at the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization, where he led multimodal planning efforts to improve transportation modes and services across the region. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of WalkMassachusetts, the first pedestrian advocacy organization in the U.S. He has also worked internationally with organizations like the World Bank, contributing to urban planning projects in cities across Latin America, India, Lebanon, and Singapore. Basu brings a global perspective to his work, combining technical expertise with a deep commitment to addressing the real-world challenges of urban growth, equity, and sustainability.

Erica Caasi: University of Boston – Clinical Assistant Professor, Wheelock College of Education and Human Development
Dr. Erica Caasi is a clinical assistant professor in the Language & Literacy Education Department at Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development. She prepares future educators and partners alongside practicing teachers and schools to support culturally responsive and community-engaged literacy practices. Her scholarly work explores representation in literature for youth and investigates how narrative can function as a medium for both connection and disruption. Through partnerships with teachers and school leaders, she fosters critical engagement in literacy teaching and learning.

Event Schedule

This online event meets on Thursday, January 29th at 4-5pm Eastern / 3-4pm Central / 2-3pm Arizona / 1-2pm Pacific.

**Gulf: Friday, January 30th at 1-2am**

Audience

This event is designed for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers looking for an introduction to fundamental academic professional development topics.

Registration

REGISTER NOW

This online event is open to the public. Once you register, you will automatically receive Zoom information for the session.

Accessibility

If you have access needs, please let us know what they are. Contact Zoe Zuleger (zmzuleger@wisc.edu), who is supporting this event, to let us know how we can help you have a successful experience. In addition to meeting individualized needs, we will also take measures throughout the event to support accessibility for all our students:

• Enabling live captioning in synchronous sessions
• Incorporating multiple modes of interaction into synchronous sessions

About CIRTL Programming

CIRTL Network programming is designed to develop future faculty committed to implementing and advancing evidence-based teaching practices to create undergraduate educational experiences that are accessible to all learners. Participants can explore our programming in any order, and to whatever extent supports your own teaching development needs and interests. To help participants understand what they can expect across all our programming, all CIRTL programming aligns with four broad learning goals; within those goals, programming might provide participants with an introductory, intermediate, or advanced learning experience.

This course supports the following CIRTL learning goals at an introductory level:

• Goal 4: Prepare for an impactful career. See more Goal 4 programming.