Are you guys up for the challenge????

[DecimusCaesar]

I wish you luck in your dissertation Aphrodite. I spent over a year writing mine out, and I had very litte interest in the subject, which made it an even more taxing job.

[Moonlapse]

Frankly I envy PhD candidates. Working in seclusion on a topic you presumably chose and actually like seems a godsend.

So what's the hold up?

[docoflove1974]

Frankly I envy PhD candidates. Working in seclusion on a topic you presumably chose and actually like seems a godsend. It seems to beat the hell out of the dog-eat-dog tussle of law school and the daily inquisition of the legal Socratic method, at least from what I can tell from friends and acquaintances.

 

Meh...as AD pointed out, the process gets very frustrating on our end. No matter how good your professors are, and how much they guide you--and, trust me, mine did--no one really tells you how to go about a dissertation topic, how to write a proposal, what some of the easier routes are to get to your topic and data, how to lay out the dissertation. These are all things one has to do themselves...and if you don't know what questions to ask, you end up taking longer than you probably should. Don't get me wrong, I am excited about my topic and my writing, and I have a type-written list of 3 pages of various future research topics; but after 3 years of finding out what data I could find, finding data, analyzing data, and re-writing my chapters over and over again, I'm not just burnt, but charred. What makes matters more tiring is trying to find a full-time, tenure-track teaching position at the same time as all the editing mess...and not finding much out there. It's a lot of stress, but in the end, that fancy title will be worth it!

 

I'm not a phd student, I study in england and here all finalists write a dissertation, I'm not sure if this differs in america? But yes, i did get to choose the subject and i'm really enjoying it (when i'm not pulling my hair out), its very rewarding conducting my own research and I think i will be so so proud when its done! Good luck with law school.... yes don't worry the grass is always greener, when i'm having a bad day i find my self wishing i was doing something more structured!

 

The process here in the States is usually:

1) 2-3 years of coursework--depends on what your Masters is in, where you did it, etc.;

2) PhD Comprehensive exams--just to prove that you know what you know, and that you should go onto a dissertation;

3) Candidacy, which starts once you put in your dissertation proposal.

 

"In theory," you should take 2-4 years for researching, writing, and defending your dissertation. Reality is that, if you do not have a dissertation advisor (or, in some cases 2 advisors) who takes interest in you, and keeps asking about your work, it could drag on for YEARS. I have heard horror stories out of English and History departments where people have taken 10 years total, or more, because their committee never asked about their work, never gave them feedback, and they kept changing their topics. While graduate programs do accept more and more students into the fold, after a certain point most universities lose money on PhD students, and they don't want ABD's (All But Dissertation students) to languish in the system.

[M. Porcius Cato]

At many universities, candidates lose financial support if they don't defend in 10 terms (5 years). That policy has done much to squelch the navel gazing.

[docoflove1974]

At many universities, candidates lose financial support if they don't defend in 10 terms (5 years). That policy has done much to squelch the navel gazing.

 

Yeah, that'll do it. My university let's you teach for 14 semesters, which pays for your out-of-state tuition as well as provide benefits. That's about it, unless you receive a grant. But if you choose to be ABD away from campus, then there's not much pushing you from within!

[WotWotius]

Of keeping me entertained for the next few months, while I write my dissertation?

 

I figure chit chat on this board is still historical and topical so not as bad as msn distractions! This way i get to continue learning.... although I'm not sure how interested most of you will be in the women and, their lives, of late antiquity....

 

Maybe the femal slant on a few issues will add to the debate... who knows!

 

Oh, does you disertation involve the antics of Clodia?

[Virgil61]

Frankly I envy PhD candidates. Working in seclusion on a topic you presumably chose and actually like seems a godsend.

So what's the hold up?

 

Work, bills, retirement fund and family! Also a real dearth of choices for part-time programs here in Seattle. The Washington, DC area was a godsend for people like me. There are literally dozens of LLM (advanced JD degree), Masters and PhD programs there geared towards working professionals [read part-time evening] from schools like Maryland, Johns Hopkins, William and Mary, Georgetown, George Washington, American, Catholic and George Mason. Both George Mason and George Washington had interesting PhD programs in history or public policy geared towards professionals, Johns Hopkins w/an interesting MA in Applied Economics or Finance and Georgetown's LLM in international law. Here in Seattle, since I'm not into science or engineering, I'm reduced to an MBA or LLM in Tax--both from U of Washington--a very good school but not my first choices.

[Julius Ratus]

The Augusta

And I have updated my avatar just to strike terror into you all!

 

Thanks. Scared me so bad I defecated on my chair. Now my toga smells...

 

 

 

 

Just so you all know, the Ladies on this forum know nothing about languishing. Before I came here, I spent most my time on a WWII forum. Out of two thousand or so members there were THREE women on the forum. I would say that this one is far more gender integrated. This is probably because ancient history is far more female friendly than WWII. Try finding a girl that can relate to the full complexities of Operation Bagration, or even know what happened at the Rzhev meat grinder. To stay up long nights with you and argue over which was better, the Grossdeutchland Panzergrenedierdivision or the 3-ya Gvardeyskiy Motostrelkoviy Divisia...Sorry

[Pantagathus]

Up for the challenge and glad to see you back Aphrodite...

 

And remember everybody: The grass is always greener on the other side; but you have to mow that too!

[Aphrodite]

Of keeping me entertained for the next few months, while I write my dissertation?

 

I figure chit chat on this board is still historical and topical so not as bad as msn distractions! This way i get to continue learning.... although I'm not sure how interested most of you will be in the women and, their lives, of late antiquity....

 

Maybe the femal slant on a few issues will add to the debate... who knows!

 

Oh, does you disertation involve the antics of Clodia?

 

She is mentioned in the sources yes! But t is not about her in anyway though.

 

 

Up for the challenge and glad to see you back Aphrodite...

 

And remember everybody: The grass is always greener on the other side; but you have to mow that too!

 

Why thankyou dear!