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Category Archives: Dissertating
The Dissertation Defense
Hello, All. It’s been a while since my last update or post; no excuses or apologies, its just the nature of the Spring term. As a professor I deeply admire told me once during a conversation about being overwhelmed, “At … Continue reading
Posted in Dissertating, General Graduate Student Advice, Research and Scholarship, Uncategorized
Tagged advice for doctoral students, advice for Graduate Students, dissertation defense, doctoral student, grad school, Graduate School, graduate student, preparing to defend a dissertation, writing a dissertation
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I made it five days….. ish. (What it’s like after you’ve turned in the dissertation….)
By Thursday night, I had Googled and determined that my sinus infection was, in fact, five different potentially deadly maladies. I started reading lifestyle blogs for ideas on how to construct a completely different, post-dissertation life. I worried aloud about the job market, about health insurance, about travel accommodations for a conference, and about the future more broadly. After two hours, my husband BEGGED me to take on another major project–any major project–because I absolutely suck at having nothing to do. Continue reading
What It Takes: Revising the Dissertation
Some of you who haven’t yet gotten to the writing and revising portion of the thesis or dissertation might appreciate the heads-up: revisions will take way longer than you think. In fact, we would all benefit from referring to it … Continue reading
Negotiating a Writing Rut: Some Runner’s Wisdom, Repurposed
I am a runner. I ran track in high school, and caught the bug. I’m not the fastest, or the best, runner on the roads and trails, but I have faithfully logged my 10-30 miles per week for most of my adult life, and run and even won a number of 5Ks and 10ks; my half-marathon PR so far is 2:07.
Why bother telling you that? Well, because I first realized the power of the rut to silently derail me from attaining my goals not as a writer, but as a runner. Continue reading
Dissertating: Five Fast Ways To Get Five Hundred Words Drafted
The question of course is, how do you get started back into a major writing project after you have taken some time off (whether planned or unplanned)? For me–and hopefully, for some of you, since I’m giving advice about how to do it–the best answer is a pool metaphor: if you know the water’s cold, and you know you’re going to get water up your nose, just jump feet-first into the deep end and get it over with fast. Because, once you’re actually in the pool and the initial shock of the cold and the initial burst of water up your nose is over with, the swimming is deliciously wonderful, right? So, for me, is working on my dissertation–once I’m back into it. It’s the initial re-entry that’s hardest. Continue reading
Dissertating and the Academic Term (Or, Caution: Slow-Moving Dissertation Ahead)
ABD. For those of us who are hell-bent on the path to the PhD, perhaps the only more thrilling moment is the one when your dissertation committee chair reaches across the table, shakes your hand, and says, “Congratulations, Doctor Professor” … Continue reading
From 65 to (Seemingly) 0 to 65 MPH: (Re) Defining Productivity, The Dissertation Year(s)
I am currently experiencing a phenomenon that I was warned about by friends who are farther along in their degrees that I am or who have finished their degrees, but never really believed could happen to me: I am doing … Continue reading
Melissa Ridley Elmes 