Uploaded April 2017 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Following mortgages, student debt is the second highest consumer debt category in the country. There are currently 44 million student borrowers in the United States who owe $1.3 trillion in student loans. Student debt is a collective experience shared by the majority of humanities PhDs, so why aren't we talking about it? Candid Conversations is an opportunity for faculty, graduate students, and university staff to engage in dialogue around the issue of debt, a topic that is inadequately addressed in conversations on career pathways and professionalization. Breaking the wall of silence around our own indebtedness is perhaps the first step to imagining alternative futures where the conversation about debt is no longer isolating but an integral part to building communities.
Following mortgages, student debt is the second highest consumer debt category in the country. There are currently 44 million student borrowers in the United States who owe $1.3 trillion in student loans. Student debt is a collective experience shared by the majority of humanities PhDs, so why aren't we talking about it? Candid Conversations is an opportunity for faculty, graduate students, and university staff to engage in dialogue around the issue of debt, a topic that is inadequately addressed in conversations on career pathways and professionalization. Breaking the wall of silence around our own indebtedness is perhaps the first step to imagining alternative futures where the conversation about debt is no longer isolating but an integral part to building communities.
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