Putting guest lectures, etc., on a CV?

In our newest "how can we help you?" thread, a reader asks:

Recently, I have been invited to give a fair number of teaching and research presentations recently outside of my department and I’m not sure how to list them on my CV, or whether to list them at all. They include the following types of activities:
- An article I wrote was assigned to a graduate class at another university and I came to their class session to talk with the students about the paper
- An article I wrote was assigned as part of a lecture series for Honors students at my university, and then I gave a presentation on how this paper fit into my broader research program and some takeaways about doing research, followed by Q&A focused on the paper
- For another department at my university’s research colloquium series, I presented the philosophical perspective on an area connected to my research
- Led a class session for a senior seminar in another discipline at my university (the professor and I didn’t know one another before; she reached out to me because she saw I did research on the philosophical aspects of her topic)

Currently, I have the first three listed under “Presentations.” I have enough presentations that I have sub-sections for refereed conference presentations, invited presentations, commentaries, and internal, so I put the first one under “invited” (since I was invited from outside my own university) and the other two under “internal.” I’m not convinced those are the best categories, especially since “internal” is starting to get messy; it was one thing when the only internal talks were for my department’s colloquium, but now it’s including stuff outside my department as well. So if anyone else has other heading suggestions or ways of carving it up, I’m all ears!

Relevant information: I’m pre-tenure, but far enough along that my CV is getting filled out, and I definitely don’t want to look like I’m padding. I don’t *need* any of these on my CV, but also some of them took some time to prepare, so I want to be sure I’m getting credit, as it were, for the things I’m doing. Also, I’m at a school that says it values research and teaching equally, and talks about a teacher-scholar model.

Two readers submitted replies. One wrote:

If you do not need them, then do not list them. Keep a list so if a context arises where you do need the information you can bring it out. But it is great your work is getting attention! Bravo!

And another wrote:

just my two cents: if it is for students mainly, then list it under teaching or service, such as guest lectures. If it is for other researchers, then as invited presentations, not quite internal since you presented to the other department. Both can be concise on the CV though.

Personally, I think the first of these two replies sort of undercuts its own rationale. If your work is getting enough attention that you're getting invited to give guest lectures and discussions, then as the first commenter notes, that looks good (e.g. to a tenure and promotion committee, etc.). It shows that people are interested in what you're doing, and that you're out there getting invited to present and engage with other people on your work. So, why not list these under a category, "Invited Guest Lectures & Discussions"?

Comments

[Nigel Tufnel]

I'd add that, if there is something that is in demand but rarely taught, then having done a guest lecture on that topic can make you stand out. Hiring decisions are often made on the margins and being the candidate who has done more of teaching X, where X is something that the department wants to introduce or needs to replace someone, can make that extra bit of difference.

[Assistant Professor]

I agree with Marcus that including them makes sense on a CV (which in academia is not intended to be a concise document like a work "resume," but should list all achievements, most of the time). I also agree with the second comment in the OP that if these are guest lectures for students then put a section under the teaching heading on the CV for "guest lectures" and if they are research talks beyond a classroom setting then include them under the presentations heading as "invited talks" or whatever term for this you prefer.

Like with papers, invited presentations don't demonstrate that your work has passed through peer review, but importantly it does show that you and your work are getting recognition, which for many departments is a kind of metric that is important for promotion.

Congrats on the uptake!