"I've never heard so many "The message of the graduate students *really* presentation really resonated laughing at the same time!“ with our students.“
-Jory Zmuda Ruscio, Chair, -John Nonnamaker, Graduate Virginia Tech Graduate Life Center Student Career Development, M.I.T.
"The talk was just terrific. We all loved it.“ -Mary Johnson, Director, Graduate Career Services, Yale University About Jorge Cham
Jorge Cham is the creator and artist of Piled Higher and Deeper (PhD), the comic strip about life (or the lack thereof) in grad school. Often called the Dilbert of academia, PHD has appeared in the Stanford, MIT, Caltech and Carnegie Mellon newspapers among others, and it is published online where it receives over 7 million page views a month from over 1000 universities and colleges worldwide. Jorge Cham was born and raised in the Republic of Panama. He obtained his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University (specializing in Robotics), where he started drawing PHD. He was subsequently an Instructor and Research Associate at Caltech from 2003-2005, where his work focused on developing “Smart” Neural Implants. He has published and presented nationally and abroad on his Robotics and Neural Prosthetics research. He also travels and presents all over the world to thousands of graduate students, faculty and administrators on the graduate student experience. Three PHD book collections have been published. In all, Jorge Cham’s books have sold over 48,000 copies to date.
Notable reviews for Piled Higher and Deeper
“Hilarious.” - The Chronicle of Higher Education chronicle.com “You’ll laugh and wince at Jorge Cham’s smart comic strip, which feels your pain, your panic, your coffee addiction… and your departmental politics.” - USATODAY.com “Jorge Cham makes the daily grind just a bit more tolerable.” - Stanford Magazine “Use this comic for procrastination or decompression, as you see fit.” - The Journal Nature
Duke University, April 5, 2007 About the talk
A recent survey by U.C. Berkeley found that 95% of all graduate students feel overwhelmed, and over 67% have felt seriously depressed at some point in their careers. In this talk, Jorge Cham recounts his experiences bringing humor into the lives of stressed out academics, examines the source of their anxieties and explores the guilt, the myth, and the power of procrastination. Talk duration: 45 minutes, 15 minutes Q&A Rough outline: • How “Piled Higher and Deeper” got started • Grad students in the media and popular perceptions • The big question: Why grad school? • Average stipends • PhD goes global: you are not alone • The power of procrastination: arguments in favor of putting things off • Guilt and losing your mojo: common causes for depression in grad school • Embracing procrastination and getting back on track
MIT, May 12, 2005 Caltech, May 26, 2005
Princeton, Nov. 17, 2005 Stanford, May 18, 2005 Feedback about the talk
From event organizers:
“The talk was humorous and helpful. Cham’s cartoon strip has been a giant plus in helping graduate students acknowledge and cope with the stress they experience.“ - Isaac Colbert, Dean of Graduate Students, M.I.T.
“Jorge Cham’s talk was just terrific. I loved it and obviously so did our audience here.“ -Mary Johnson, Director, Graduate Career Services, Yale University
"The message of the presentation really resonated with our students. The graduate school journey can be extremely isolating, and Jorge Cham's presentation and comics normalize the experience and provide solace and humor.“ -John Nonnamaker, Graduate Student Career Development, M.I.T.
"We had such a great turnout and I still can't believe how enthusiastic everyone was!“ -Angela Noel-Hvitved, Graduate Student Association, Rice University
"I've never heard so many graduate students *really* laughing at the same time!“ -Jory Zmuda Ruscio, Chair, Graduate Life Center's Speaker Series, Virginia Tech
"Everyone that I talked to really enjoyed the lecture.“ -Gavin Reddick, Chair, Graduate Student Council, Univ. of Virginia
""This was such a successful event for us.“ -Cara Skeat, Associate Program Director, Georgia Tech Student Center
“An excellent talk, people thoroughly enjoyed it. The Q&A session was lots of fun.” Audience members at Purdue University, Feb. 28,2006 (Clipping from the West Lafayette Journal and Courier Newspaper) - Sidharth Jaggi, The Caltech Y
"We were so happy that we were able to pack the room! It was definitely one of the most successful events we've run!” -Shin-Yi Lin, Chair, Graduate Student Government, Princeton University Feedback about the talk From event organizers (cont’d)
“It was an enormous success resulting in some very nice PR for our office.” -Sharon Belden, Assistant Director, Office of Career Services, Harvard University
“The crowd was so big at Cornell that they were actually hanging from the rafters... It was one of the few times I think the students really thought we ‘got it right’!“ -Victoria A. Blodgett, Director, Graduate Student Life & Career Development, Cornell University
“Penn students loved him! We got lots of positive feedback.” -Julie Vick, Associate Director, Career Services, Univ. of Pennsylvania
“If you have not engaged Jorge on your campuses, do so. An exceptionally well- received program by UCLA students.” -Albert E. Dubin, Senior Associate Director, Counseling Services & Campus Relations, UCLA Career Center
Purdue University, Feb. 28,2006 Feedback about the talk
From grad students:
“Your talk was awesome and made me feel so much better. I was at a point in my education where I was completely stressed out and losing sight of why I got into science in the first place. Your talk gave me some insight into why I was feeling that way. Keep doing PhD. . .we all rely on it to keep our sanity!” - Kim, anonymous
"Your talk has been the topic of conversation for the past couple of days. It was a great talk and very well delivered.“ -Gelareh Taban, University of Maryland
"Thanks again for the fun you bring into the labs and lives(!) of grad students.“ -Bilal Kerman, Johns Hopkins University
"Thank you SO MUCH for signing my books and giving a wonderful talk at Yale. You made my month!” -Robert Clark, Yale University
"Thanks for helping us to keep a good perspective on grad life.“ - Calvin Chan, Princeton University
"You were very funny. I found myself REALLY pleased with what you had to say. I think your talk was more motivational and educational than most of the career seminars that are organized to supposedly keep us on track.“ -Geoff, North Carolina State University
"I can’t remember when I have had as many laughs and I am sure many of our colleagues will benefit from your philosophy and shared experience.“ -Damian, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
"It was so nice to go to your lecture and laugh for an hour about how life is for all of us. It is SO good to know that other people are in the same spot as you. It's something we often forget when we're caught up in papers and the drama of grad school.“ -Betty Mohler, University of Utah Recent talks (US and Canada, 2007-2008)
Apr. 4 2007 Vanderbilt Univ. 325 attendees Apr. 5 2007 Duke Univ. 600 attendees Apr. 6 2007 Medical U. of South Carolina 200 attendees Apr. 17 2007 Notre Dame U. 250 attendees Apr. 19 2007 Stanford AI Lab Retreat 75 attendees Apr. 24 2007 New Mexico State U. 50 attendees Apr. 25 2007 Univ. Arizona 275 attendees Apr. 26 2007 UC Berkeley EECS Faculty Retreat 75 attendees Keynote May. 1 2007 Ohio State U. 210 attendees May. 3 2007 George Mason U. 25 attendees May. 29 2007 U. Alberta 200 attendees May. 31 2007 Invitrogen Tech Expo 40 attendees Aug. 9 2007 Univ. California 150 attendees Aug. 10 2007 Google, Authors Series 200 attendees Sept. 25 2007 McGill Univ. 230 attendees Oct. 3 2007 Princeton Univ. 75 attendees Oct. 11 2007 SACNAS Conference Keynote 400 attendees Oct. 12 2007 Tulane Univ. Biomedical Sciences 50 attendees Retreat Keynote Nov. 1 2007 U. Nebraska Medical Center 150 attendees Nov. 2 2007 U. Missouri Columbia 225 attendees Nov.15 2007 U. Cincinnati 160 attendees Nov. 28 2007 NSF Engineering Research Centers 50 attendees Annual Meeting Student Retreat Jan. 15 2008 U. Michigan 455 attendees Jan. 16 2008 Wayne State U. 110 attendees Jan. 29 2008 U. Washington 400 attendees Feb. 19 2008 Colorado Univ. Boulder 250 attendees Feb. 20 2008 Colorado State Univ. 125 attendees Feb. 22 2008 Case Western Reserve U. 140 attendees Feb. 27 2008 U. California San Francisco, Career and 150 attendees Research Day Closing Lecture Feb. 28 2008 U. California Davis 250 attendees Mar. 12 2008 Worcester Polytechnic Institute 150 attendees Mar. 14 2008 Stony Brook University 250 attendees Mar. 27 2008 Univ. de Sherbrooke, Research Day 150 attendees Closing Speech Apr. 3 2008 U. Nebraska Lincoln 100 attendees Apr. 4 2008 Univ. Louisville 80 attendees Apr. 8 2008 Univ. of Kansas 200 attendees Apr. 9 2008 Iowa State University 500 attendees Apr. 10 2008 Bowling Green University 40 attendees Apr. 17 2008 University California Santa Barbara 250 attendees Apr. 23 2008 Cornell Univ. Undergraduate Research 100 attendees Forum Keynote Apr. 24 2008 Cornell Univ. 250 attendees May. 2 2008 M.D. Anderson Cancer Center 275 attendees May. 7 2008 M I T 400 attendees May. 8 2008 Harvard Univ. 270 attendees Jun. 5 2008 International Workshop on Logic and 50 attendees * Please note that Synthesis, Keynote attendance will vary Jun. 16 2008 Center for the Integration of Research, 200 attendees Teaching and Learning Forum Evening significantly depending on Address your school. Recent talks
(International)
Oct. 5 2006 Instituto de Astrofisica Tenerife, Canary 80 attendees Islands Sept. 10 2007 Univ. Sydney 280 attendees Sept. 10 2007 Univ. New South Wales 350 attendees Sept. 11 2007 Australian National Univ. 300 attendees Sept. 12 2007 Monash Univ. 140 attendees Sept. 13 2007 Univ. of Melbourne 350 attendees Sept. 19 2007 Griffith Univ. 70 attendees Sept. 20 2007 Univ. of Queensland 400 attendees Sept. 20 2007 Queenland Univ. of Technology 140 attendees Oct. 22 2007 Cambridge University 350 attendees Oct. 23 2007 York University 115 attendees Oct. 25 2007 Univ. Zurich 200 attendees May. 14 2008 Univ. Edinburgh, Informatics 350 attendees Distinguished Lecture Series May. 15 2008 Univ. Glasgow, Scotland 300 attendees May. 21 2008 Ecole Polytechnique Federale de 400 attendees Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland
Cambridge University, Oct. 2007
* Please note that attendance will vary significantly depending on your school. Advertising Kit
• On the pages below you will find graphics and information you can use to advertise the event.
• All graphics are of high-enough resolution to be printed as fliers, posters and even banners.
• Feel free to change event details or change the layout as you see fit.
• The only font requirement is Comic Sans MS, which most systems running under Windows have.
• Feel free to request any additional graphics, info or changes by email. If there is a particular comic you’d like to use, it can be provided in print-resolution.
• Looking forward to a successful event!
Some fine print: All images are copyright Jorge Cham and are provided for the sole purposes of advertising or disseminating information about Piled Higher and Deeper, Jorge Cham, and the speaking engagement event for which the receiver of these images is the host/organizer. WEDNESDAY APRIL 5 5:00pm
WEDNESDAY 5:00pm APRIL 5
WEDNESDAY 5:00pm APRIL 5