Letter to a New Academic: In and Out of the Ravine

Abstract

The following is an essay of reflections from a veteran academic of her lived experiences in the academy resulting in an unearthing of underlying principles for developing and communicating one’s professional identity. I discuss the role of passion and authenticity; the need to seek, give, and lead support; and the essence of collective creativity for continuous professional growth. This article is useful to new academics working to seed purposeful professional lives and for colleagues and faculty professional developers working to support their efforts.

Keywords:

• Faculty professional development
• higher education
• new academics
• scholarship of teaching
• self-study research