Beth Godbee, Ph.D. (she/her)

"Violence" in Social Movements • 111 They Will Call You Violent If your tactics disrupt the order of things under capitalism, you may well be accused of violence, because "violence" is an elastic term often deployed to vilify people who threaten the status quo. Conditions that the state characterizes as "peaceful" are, in reality, quite violent. Even as people experience the violence of poverty, the torture of im-prisonment, the brutality of policing, the denial of health care, and many other violent functions of this system, we are told we are experiencing peace, so long as everyone is cooperating. When state actors refer to "peace," they are really talking about order. And when they refer to "peaceful protest," they are talking about cooperative protest that obediently stays within the lines drawn by the state. The more uncooperative you are, the more you will be accused of aggression and violence. It is therefore imperative that the state not be the arbiter of what violence means among people seeking justice.

for no reason, an excerpt from "let this radicalize you"…

““Burnout is also never just about burnout. Collectively & individually, our nervous systems are overtaxed by continuous crises & denial of how much violence we’re facing. Intervening into burnout, therefore, can involve actions like blocking institutional harm or moving from denial to recognition.”

YouTube video by Beth Godbee, Ph.D. | Heart-Head-Hands Intervening into Burnout: An Article on Career Discernment by Beth Godbee, Ph.D.

“Intervening into Burnout: An Article on Career Discernment by Beth Godbee, Ph.D.” →
youtu.be/w26WpyJH4kA?...

This is the last (for now) in the career discernment playlist, sharing in audio form articles previously published in Inside Higher Ed. This one appeared on July 7, 2023. I argue: +

Writing Group: Meets Weekly Online | Heart - Head - Hands If you’re seeking accountability and support for your writing, consider joining this online weekly writing group.

We’re just a week away from the summer writing group!

If you’ve been curious about or wanting to join a #writinggroup, maybe now is the time?

There are still spaces to join us on Fridays 10am-1pm ET:
heart-head-hands.com/product/onli...

I've been writing and sharing poetry more since Helene, because sometimes all I feel are the same lines welling up again and again. Here’s one of those poems. And so much gratitude for each of you writing and finding ways forward in (m)any shapes and ways. <3 Here, There? Where Do I Put My Energy? Both/and guides me So I put energy Both here and there Blocking all that destroys life Crying out to end genocide Building all that creates justice Crying out to end genocide Being present to all before me Crying out to end genocide Crying out to end genocide Crying out to end Crying out Crying Both/and creates space So I breathe through it all Creating out to end genocide And repeatedly writing Try, try again.

I've been writing and sharing poetry more since Helene, because sometimes all I feel are the same lines welling up again and again. Here’s one of those poems. And so much gratitude for each of you writing and finding ways forward in (m)any shapes and ways. <3

YouTube video by Beth Godbee, Ph.D. | Heart-Head-Hands Honoring Ourselves & Each Other Through Burnout: An Article on Career Discernment by Beth Godbee

In this season of life, collective interventions feel more important than ever. I hope this article resonates where it's needed.

Link to listen via YouTube:
youtu.be/hoEJJbTJxJ8?...

To this day, I wish we'd use the language of "burn up" instead of "burn out," since burnout is really about the oppressive systems burning us up. But, alas, here is a new read-aloud of my article from 2022 about how burnout/-up is a collective experience and needs collective intervention as well. +

This mural in Raleigh shows writing out in the world with the text "There is beauty in the mundane" & "slow down and look inwards," alongside street signs, stickers, & the alphabet written in the upper right-hand corner.

Wishes for #creating and #writing in many ways, in the midst of everyday life.

Writing Retreats: Moving Projects Forward | Heart - Head - Hands These writing retreats are for prioritizing writing time, receiving support for current writing projects, and moving projects forward.

With this longing to write, I want to share again that there are upcoming writing retreats this Friday and back-to-back Wednesday and Thursday next week: heart-head-hands.com/product/writ...

Summer writing groups are also starting soon: heart-head-hands.com/product/onli...

This photo, a mural in downtown Raleigh (from my recent visit to Candace Epps-Robertson) shows writing out in the world --> a combination of eyes, plants, and a butterfly, along with the text: "There is beauty in the mundane" and "slow down and look inwards." The colorful mural by @nadasink sits alongside street signs, stickers, and the alphabet written in the upper right-hand corner.

May always feels like a time for recommitting -- recommitting to creative work, to writing projects (especially those set aside), and to ourselves and the people we write with and for. There's an invitation to start again as spring is in full bloom and the promise of summer awaits. +

Americans have tuned out Gaza at the worst possible moment Israel has a horrifying new plan for “the concluding moves” of the Gaza war. Yet it’s flying under the American radar.

Israel is starving and bombing Palestinians to wipe Gaza off the map.

Now more than ever, Americans must speak out against Israel’s genocide.

Call your lawmakers. Demand an arms embargo. Don’t stay silent.

I hope these read-alouds support ongoing career discernment, and I'm here for one-with-one coaching. Reach out anytime. <3

#mayday #careerdiscernment #highered #leavingacademe

This piece shares three common responses to my news of leaving academia:
1. “Good for you. I wish I could leave.”
2. “You’re so brave.”
3. “That’s a really big decision. Will you be ok?”

I also share my emotional reactions and processing around these responses, which truly surprised me.

YouTube video by Beth Godbee, Ph.D. | Heart-Head-Hands What I Learned as I Was Leaving: An Article on Career Discernment by Beth Godbee, Ph.D.

For May Day and International Workers Day, I want to share the career discernment article "What I Learned as I Was Leaving."

Here's a new read-aloud of this article previously published in Inside Higher Ed: youtu.be/rWoDKJa3-qs?...

This is the article I've long needed as an educator saying "no!" to presumed neutrality and the push to hear "all sides." It's published in Diverse Issues in Higher Education and by writing group member Alice Ragland (congrats, Alice!).

Not All Opinions Deserve a Microphone in the Classroom We should be teaching students how to evaluate evidence, not how to politely entertain lies.

I'm so grateful for Alice Ragland writing and sharing "Not All Opinions Deserve a Microphone in the Classroom": www.diverseeducation.com/opinion/arti...

Thanks again for the many ways of striving to show up, lift each other, and affirm all that we love. Continued wishes -- truly, casting spells with our words, ways, and wills -- for protection and provision.

Writing Group: Meets Weekly Online | Heart - Head - Hands If you’re seeking accountability and support for your writing, consider joining this online weekly writing group.

Part of how I manage my emotions around endings is reminding myself of what continues and will begin again. So, I'll share that registration is now open for summer writing groups (Fridays 10am-1pm ET): heart-head-hands.com/product/onli... +

Many weeks, I kept the hardest tasks (oftentimes less my core writing and more the things I was avoiding or resistant to) until our group time because I knew I could work on them when surrounded by others who care. +

Being together has created space for naming and relating and processing and inspiring and grounding and firing-up and making life possible. +

I'm emotional as writing groups are ending this week, surely because these past few months have been such a brutalizing time and because the people and community co-created have meant the world to me. +

Palestinians fear Gaza’s largest cemetery has been destroyed. Not even our dead can have peace. Al-Sharqiya Cemetery, near Gaza City, is the largest cemetery in Gaza. It has been inaccessible since the genocide began and many fear it has been bulldozed and destroyed, along with the remains of…

Not even the dead are safe in Gaza.

Palestinians fear Israel has bulldozed Gaza’s largest cemetery—erasing generations, even in death. Graves destroyed. Bones scattered.

This is not war. It’s genocide.
mondoweiss.net/2025/04/pale...

While taking in this administration’s actions, as anyone who has ever been bullied knows all too well, just because they are using intimidation tactics, threatening, being abusive, harmful, or exerting oppression, this does not at all mean that they have prevailed.

It just means they are bullies.

I am repeating to myself often "give it to the water" and imagining that I can pour out and offer up what I can't carry alone. Here's a view of Beaver Lake on a recent evening walk. I am so grateful to live here, near water and surrounded by mountains. Sending love on this spring weekend. <3

Consider listening to this past article. Check out the YouTube playlist on career discernment. And reach out for coaching anytime.

I also discuss logistical, financial, emotional, and relational matters because planning a career move involves considering nitty-gritty details in addition to the big questions of career discernment. +

In this piece, I share stories of re-orientating myself through counseling, allowing myself time to grieve, and experiencing a concussion as the physical manifestation of the mental exhaustion that motivated my decision to leave. +

YouTube video by Beth Godbee, Ph.D. | Heart-Head-Hands Planning to Leave? An Article on Career Discernment by Beth Godbee, Ph.D.

This new read-aloud shares the article “Planning to Leave?" which was published in Inside Higher Ed (IHE) back in 2018: youtu.be/h2AzR8xsq6g?...

The U.S. pays 17,900,000,000 in federal tax dollars for the Israeli military’s weapons, but could instead fund:

Screenshot of TRNN article/podcast: ‘People are hiding in their apartments’: Inside Trump’s assault on universities by Maximillian Alvarez April 11, 2025 “I have never seen a climate of fear like this in my life anywhere. We’re getting hundreds of emails every single day from faculty, staff, and students [saying], ‘I need a safe place to stay.’”

Across higher ed, “I have never seen a climate of fear like this in my life" Todd Wolfson & @chenjerai.bsky.social @aaup.bsky.social tell me. "But I’m seeing something else too... that fear is turning into anger & that anger is turning into action"

Listen to our vital conversation @therealnews.com