Graduate Students Form Dissertation Discussion Group
by Sonia Seeman
Dissertation
writing has been described as analogous to the loneliness of the long distance
runner. The thesis writing stage is marked by a separation from the regular
interactions and goal setting of a graduate program. The experience of isolation
during the writing period can make the dissertation writing process even more
stressful. To ameliorate those difficulties, we have formed a dissertation
discussion group. This group was begun by Professor Tim Rice in spring 2000, and
initially included recipients of the Dissertation Year Fellowship. At the end of
that quarter, we realized that we wanted to continue to work together through
the summer, and membership has expanded beyond fellowship recipients to include
those working on their doctoral dissertations, depending on availability of
space within the group. Since that time, this group has grown from providing
dissertation writing support, to providing a forum for feedback and exchange of
information on job application process, developing syllabi, polishing articles
for presentation, and preparing lecture and conference
presentations.
Membership has grown beyond the initial scholarship
recipients, and has included: Takahiro Aoyagi, Alice Hunt, Kaye Lubach, Amy
Corin, Sonia Seeman, Angeles Sancho-Velaquez, Brana Mijatovic, Robert Reigle,
Jonathan Ritter, Pantelis Vassiliakis, and Dennis Claxton (History). We have
celebrated the graduation of four Ph.Ds (Drs. Takahiro Aoyagi, Robert Reigle,
Angeles Sancho-Velaquez, Pantelis Vassiliakis), and seen the completion of three
successful job hunts (Takahiro Aoyagi at the University of Beirut, Lebanon;
Angeles Sancho-Velaquez at Cal State Fullerton; Sonia Seeman, post-doctoral
fellowship at UC Santa Barbara). Kaye
Lubach,
Robert Reigle,
Jonathan Ritter and Pantelis
Vassiliakis have successfully submitted articles for publication.
With
only a few rare breaks, we have been meeting once a week since summer 2000 at
members’ houses or coffee shops. Our meeting protocol was derived from the
combined experience of our group members and guided by suggestions from David
Steinberg’s How to Complete and Survive a Doctoral Dissertation (1981).
Meetings begin with a short five-minute check-in where each person briefly
reports on their progress during the past week, and during which members can
also ask for advice. The check-in is followed by one or more presentations of
work, and feedback from group members. Presentations have ranged from
submissions of parts of dissertation, discussion of particular theoretical
issues, and staging a mock defense. We have also edited articles or reviews for
publication, given feedback on course proposals and syllabi, vetted job
application materials (letters of application, CVs, statements of teaching
philosophy), acted as audience members for trial job talks or lectures, and
conducted mock job interviews. The meetings end with a short check-out, in which
each member briefly states his/her goal for the next week.
The
requirements are a commitment to attend, to read others’ work and give oral
and/or written feedback in a timely fashion, and to present to the group. Not
only has our individual work improved, but we have also learned a great deal
about editing, sharing information, and participating in a collegial community
of scholars. This knowledge we will take with us beyond the dissertation and
into our futures as professionals.