Research and Graduate Studies @ KU

'Ph.D. Comic' coming to KU with fun message for graduate students

A lecture entitled "The Power of Procrastination" may sound like something you’d like to put off.  But for "Ph.D. Comic" Jorge Cham, it’s a fun way to help graduate students be more productive and feel less stressed.

Cham, an author and teacher with a doctorate from Stanford, will speak at the University of Kansas Tues., Apr. 8 at 5:30 p.m. in the Spahr Engineering Classroom, Eaton Hall.  His presentation is free and open to the public.

According to Cham, a recent survey found that 95% of all graduate students feel overwhelmed, while more than two-thirds have felt seriously depressed at some point in their careers. In this talk, he recounts his experiences bringing humor into the lives of stressed out academics.  He also examines the source of their anxieties and explores the guilt and the myth surrounding procrastination.

Cham produces a comic strip – "Piled Higher and Deeper" – for a number of campus newspapers around the country.  In a humorous way, it chronicles "life (or the lack thereof) in academia," according to Cham.  Three collections of the strips have appeared in book form since 2002.  Copies of the books will be available for signing following his lecture.

Cham’s appearance at KU is sponsored by the Office of Research and Graduate Studies, the Graduate Engineering Association, the Graduate and Professional Association, and the KU Student Senate. For more information, visit Cham's website.