It’s all well and good for me to say it isn’t the right question. People still ask it. People you care about. People you have trouble ignoring or being snarky to. So what do you say? Assume the best intentions Whenever you are faced with a stomach cramp inducing question like this, it is always [...]
Taking responsibility for your PhD
Posted on September 9, 2010 by
There is a lot of discussion out there about attrition rates (high) and time to completion (long). Beyond asking questions of your prospective programs, what can you do to make sure that you finish and finish in a reasonable time? Take responsibility. Here’s an extended example from one cur
Which student are you writing this syllabus for?
Posted on September 3, 2010 by
In the online biz world standard advice about writing a blog post is that you should write to one reader. I’m not sure I always succeed, but it is sensible advice. Thinking back to the days when I planned courses, I’m not sure I ever really gave much thought to who exactly the audience was. [...]
Finishing the Dissertation
Posted on July 23, 2009 by
If you are still working on your PhD dissertation, or if you supervise doctoral students, this post is for you. As you may be aware completion times in the humanities and social sciences are long. Much longer than for other disciplines. And humanities disciplines tend to be longer than social sciences. This seems to be [...]
