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Hustles for Humanists

The professional landscape for scholars today is complicated by the pandemic’s impact on labor practices, scarcity of tenure track employment, and new attention to social equity within and beyond the academy. Many humanities professional are already providing freelance services to make ends meet, often without a roadmap to negotiate fair rates and foster effective client relationships.

 

Hustles for Humanists offers such a roadmap, positioning entrepreneurship as a pathway for humanists to clarify their worth, claim agency over their professional growth, pursue meaningful work, and achieve economic stability. For some readers, that may mean transforming ad hoc freelance work into a reliable source of supplementary income. Others may wish to grow a side hustle into a sole source of financial support. Readers will identify and re-frame professional strengths, translate skills into marketable services, negotiate pricing and client relationships, plan and implement marketing strategy, and nurture their professional network.

 

This book is an act of affirmation, solidarity, and mentorship for humanists who wish to build effective and sustainable enterprises of any size.

About the author

Erica Machulak, PhD is the founder and lead facilitator of Hikma, a social impact startup with a mission to mobilize scholarship for the public good through consulting, training, and storytelling.
 
Crystal Marie Moten, PhD is a public historian, curator, and writer who focuses on the intersection of race, class, and gender to uncover the hidden histories of Black people in the Midwest. She is the author of the award-winning book, Continually Working: Black Women, Community Intellectualism and Economic Justice in Postwar Milwaukee.
 
Sophia van Hees, PhD is a creative professional with passions ranging from fine art to cognitive neuroscience. As owner of Brave Snail Designs, she also embraces fearless creativity mixed with slow and meaningful growth.

Erica Machulak

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Additional Information

  • Published 2025 (Rutgers Univ. Press)

  • 174 pages

  • ISBN: 9781978840829

  • Paperback

  • Rights: World

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A road map for entrepreneurs who hate the word entrepreneur! This book affirms the value and need for humanistic work in all industries and provides clear and actionable steps for humanists to pursue meaningful work - and get paid for it!
Annie Maxfield - lead creator, ImaginePhD
Build a Business with Purpose
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