Tag Archives: preparing for comps

Thinking About Comps

Comps are the final preparatory hurdle to clear in a doctoral program before you advance to candidacy and write and defend your dissertation. They are the official means by which your dissertation commmittee tests your readiness to undertake the work of the dissertation. Primarily, they’re meant to gauge your knowledge base in your chosen subject field(s). The basic question they are supposed to answer is: Do you know enough about this material to be able to teach and write effectively about it? Continue reading

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The Long-Awaited Comps List Post!

Okay, at long last I am sitting to compose the comps list post I have been promising since…..April? May? Time flies when you’re reading a few hundred texts! The first thing I should explain, for those who don’t know much … Continue reading

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Five Things I’m Doing to Make Comps Prep More Manageable

It’s the great paradox: you finally get to spend “all your time” doing nothing but “reading all of those great books you haven’t had time to read.” You know how you are “supposed” to feel about this period in your … Continue reading

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