Sorry, here's yet another dissertation post. I'm obsessed these days, and finally making the progress I really wanted to make years ago.
Roger, one of my academic siblings who has managed to actually (gasp!) graduate, was in town yesterday. What I thought would be an hour of coffee and light conversation turned into three+ hours in which we broke my dissertation chapters down into sections and then into ideas and came up with a new way to structure the whole thing. Plus we outlined a new introduction that pulls in new material.
Did I mention that, in addition to being smart, kind, funny and devestatingly attractive, Roger knows #3? (laughter) The new idea is designed to thwart some of #3's objections; we also came up with a list of books that support the new approach. I now have until Tuesday morning to write the intro, mock up the new structure, and present it to my advisor (may he live forever.)
I don't like this new plan. It's not what I wanted to write. Roger pointed out that "want" is not what the dissertation process is about. I must write about a topic I enjoy, but in a way that the four PhDs want. I don't like it, but I can live with it, and it will probably be easier to write this way. It also means that Chapter Two could become an article, a thing much to be desired.
For all of you who wondered why so many professors are bitter and nasty, I think I may have the answer.
Words Written: (deep breath - here comes the plunge)
Lessons Graded: zero
2 comments:
I direct you to your first post on this blog.
You don't need to apologize about "another" diss post. They are the sine qua nons of Lemming's Progress
I, for one, am very happy to see diss posts. That means you're thinking about it, and working.
Also - I hope you're not radically changing things just because of #3. Make sure that #1 (MHLF) is happy, and let him go to bat for you if necessary. That's what the primary one is for. This is YOUR project. At this point, you're the expert.
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