Lee Skallerup Bessette

Lee Skallerup Bessette grew up Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Her undergraduate degree is in Professional Writing from the Unversité de Sherbrooke and her MA is in Comparative Canadian Literature from the same. Her Ph.D. is from the University of Alberta in Comparative Literature. Her academic interests are varied: postcolonial speculative fiction, contemporary Haitian literature, translation studies, and life writing. She primarily teaches writing, and thus is also interested in pedagogy, non-traditional learners, and the integration of technology and social media in the classroom. Having taught in two Canadian provinces and three States, both on and off the tenure-track, she writes about issues currently facing higher education, women, and the ever-expanding contingent labor force as well. In her free time, she is also trying to branch out as an Edupreneur.

Lee is a member of the editorial collective at University of Venus. You can also visit her blog at collegereadywriting.blogspot.com and follow her on Twitter (@readywriting). She can be reached by email at lee.bessette@gmail.com.

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Most Recent Articles

December 18, 2012
Dreaming of Disney
Thirty years ago, my family went to Disney World for the first time. I was five and my brother turned three while we were away on our trip. We stayed in Daytona Beach, visited Cape Canaveral, watched the Space Shuttle Columbia launch from our balcony, hung out at the beach, and made the aforementioned trip to Disney and the newly-opened Epcot Center.
November 8, 2012
Report Card
The same day that I read Afshan’s post on taking her 7-year-old daughter out of public school in order to homeschool her, my five-year-old daughter came home with her first report card. Although there were no letter grades, she had clearly done outstanding work, particularly in the “Social Skills/Behavioral” area.
October 14, 2012
Turning a Corner
I was outside yesterday, enjoying some early fall weather after dinner with my son. I was pushing him on the swing, doing exaggerated “karate” moves and noises whenever I pushed him. He loved it and was giggling uncontrollably. The more he laughed, the more ridiculous I tried to make my moves. And in that moment, I realized something: I’m having fun, too.
September 25, 2012
Bad Female Academic: Putting Myself First?
I went to see a good female friend of mine this week. I was feeling pretty low about not hearing about a new job and the grind of the upcoming semester. We have both been traveling quite a bit (me more than her, but she just got back from a vacation) and have been busy. When all of the chaos surrounding my job application happened, there wasn’t really time to consult with my friends here where I live (nor did I want to announce it, in case I didn’t get an interview). We hadn’t really spoken about it yet.
August 22, 2012
To My Husband
At the end of July, my husband and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary. This year, it really feels like a celebration for having survived. This year has been a really hard one for me, mentally and professionally, and thus hard for him. There have been intense highs followed by deep lows. My husband has been there every step of the way with me, with our children, while making sure he stays on track to earn tenure.
July 1, 2012
Who Am I, Digitally and IRL?
The rush of the end-of-semester, then the let-down, then the onset of the summer months can often inspire reflection in academics on our classroom practices, our research, and our other responsibilities. Have I achieved a manageable work-life balance this year? (Haha, surely you jest.) How can I make this class work better next semester? What can I hope to accomplish this summer in terms of my research? How am I going to pay the bills (those off the tenure track and/or have 9-month contracts paid over 9-months understand)?
May 24, 2012
Becoming a Cliché
I’ve been struggling with writing this post. I’m “burying” it here rather than sharing it on my regular blog post. I’m publishing it in the early summer hoping for fewer readers and that if anyone I know on campus reads it, they’ll have forgotten it by August when school starts again. I am going to be going to conferences and other activities soon where I will be meeting a lot of people face-to-face for the first time, and I hope that this isn’t the only thing they remember, being perhaps the last thing they read by me, about me.
March 21, 2012
Autonomy, Mastery, Purpose
More on motivating students (and ourselves). (NOTE: A portion of this blog post was accidentally cut yesterday. Today the full post appears.)
March 6, 2012
Do-Nothing Weekend
It’s still too early in the semester for my students to have handed anything in for me to grade, but at the point where lectures are still pretty rote. I finished revising a paper this week, resubmitted, and realized I don’t have any other looming deadlines that desperately need to be met. While there are always thing that can be done, there was nothing pressing that needed doing.
January 22, 2012
Going “Home”
I spent part of my Christmas holidays in the house that I grew up in, located in the suburbs of Montreal. I haven’t lived in Montreal full-time since I left to go to university, more than (shudder) 15 years ago. And even then, I didn’t really live in Montreal growing up. And yet, in my mind, I’ve built up my home city to the point where there could be nowhere better to live.

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