Inside this issue: Save it for the book
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Inside this issue: Save it for the book |
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QUOTES OF THE WEEK: "Best advice on writing I've ever received: Finish."
"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done
what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept
in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day;
begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be
cumbered with your old nonsense."
RESOURCE OF THE WEEK: Writing Your Dissertation, an online handout from the Writing Center at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, has excellent advice for the beginning and middle phases of dissertation writing.
RECOMMENDED BOOKS OF THE WEEK:
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Urban Legends: Kurt Vonnegut's Purported Commencement SpeechIn the summer of 1997 an email spread over the Internet like a virus. I still remember receiving it: Kurt Vonnegut's commencement speech at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to the graduating students. Only Kurt didn't write the piece. Nor did he give the graduation address at MIT. In fact, the U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan was the commencement speaker at MIT that year. His talk had nothing to do with the text attributed to Vonnegut. Actually, the so-called "Sunscreen Speech", which was spreading through academic circles like a California wildfire in August, was traced back to Mary Schmich, a newspaper columnist at the Chicago Tribune. Did any of you receive that email? Were you fooled? If you thought the speech sounded just like something Vonnegut would say, you're not alone. His wife forwarded it to many friends and family members thinking that it was the work of her husband. Here is a reaction to the incident by the true author Mary Schmich: www.hotink.com Here is the "Sunscreen Commencement Speech". It is well worth reading.
I've been receiving emails all spring from folks who successfully defended. These notes are one of my favorite job perks. CONGRATULATIONS NEW DOCS! In particular, my thoughts and feelings of pride are with my clients and students who…
You know who you are. And you're awesome! On Thursday, right outside of the Davis Library, I ran into a student who had taken my "Written Communication" class and my "Publish Don't Perish Class." It was 20 minutes until his dissertation defense and we agreed that our unexpected meeting was a great omen. Sure enough, the next morning I got his email—the defense had proceeded without a hitch and was over within an hour. Congratulations Dr. Sahminan! *********** ABD Advice ********************For those of you who are not yet finished with your dissertation, I
have a word of advice: Saving it for the book or journal article is advice I often give to almost-finished grad students. This week, one of the ABDs I coach complained that her advisor was prodding her to write up her results section immediately. She was resisting his suggestion—she thought she should conduct further data analyses. His standards were too low, she believed. "Don't do more analysis," I advised. "Save it for the article." The goal of the dissertation is not the same as the goal of the major article or book you plan to develop once you have your Ph.D. The primary purpose of the dissertation is to prove to your committee that you have gained the skills to justify putting three new letters after your name. The dissertation is not an article. It is not a book. It is not meant to be a publishable contribution to the field—yet. Please don't be pickier than your committee. If they are telling you to aim lower, trust their judgment (at this phase). For now, focus on finishing. You can reanalyze the data, add topics to the literature, beef up your footnotes or expand the discussion LATER. On the other hand, if your chair or committee members are telling you to do more—if they want you to keep analyzing data, expand the scope of your project, or go back to the laboratory bench—it's time for a serious conference to discuss your disparate goals and expectations. When I work with students whose advisors have unreasonably high expectations, I try to help them negotiate ways to limit the demands. In most cases, however, when a student's mentor is experienced, well intentioned, and generally helpful, the professor advises the student to get it done and move forward. You've heard it before and you'll hear it again: Cheers,
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For
doctoral students in the sciences I suggest starting with "A
Ph.D. is Not Enough" by Peter Feibelman. 
The
weekend is over and I'm still grinning. On Saturday
and Sunday, graduation ceremonies were held at UNC-Chapel Hill and
my vicarious delight
was focused on the many former students and coaching clients who were
sporting mortarboards and walking down the aisle. CONGRATULATIONS!