SESSION: Navigating the Inner Journey (out the door)

Changing one’s life course raises not only serious practical issues, but also deep emotional and social questions.

Charlotte Linde (Columbia Linguistics PhD; SocioRocket-Scientist, (retired) NASA) will lead a conversation on the journey out of academia and into an unknown future we have not prepared for. We will discuss issues of identity and identity change; what counts as success and failure; and finding new communities of practice, while remaining part of some of the old ones (or not).

This session is for current students, recent graduates, and those who are already sailing on uncharted seas. It is also for faculty members who may be trying to help students with these issues and would like to understand the emotional and social issues facing those whom they advise.

Finally, the session will go meta on the concept of “identity,” asking how it helps and/or harms us in navigating these changes.

Presenter: Charlotte Linde (ret. NASA)