PhD

[raskolnikov]

Still working on it and enjoying it. It took me a while but I think I have found my gap in the literature so feel like I can direct my research now rather than just reading up on a number of different topics. I do get your point RichLeMonde and have found what you said about supervision to be especially true. But I'm doing this purely for personal reasons rather than any career-oriented goals so it doesn't particularly perturb me.

 

[RichLeMonde]

Still working on it and enjoying it. It took me a while but I think I have found my gap in the literature so feel like I can direct my research now rather than just reading up on a number of different topics. I do get your point RichLeMonde and have found what you said about supervision to be especially true. But I'm doing this purely for personal reasons rather than any career-oriented goals so it doesn't particularly perturb me.

That's great to hear. I think doing it for personal reasons rather than career ones really helps ameliorate the disappointment with supervision, departments, the tertiary sector, whatever. If you're only doing it for its own reward, then anything you get is a bonus.

 

[2006_Eagles]

Anybody here finished or working on a PhD? I have just started mine. My thesis is in the area of Russian Literature. Looking forward to it but it's a bit daunting at the same time.

Any tips or advice?

I have nothing of merit to add since my highest level of education is undergrad, but here's my favourite song by one of my favourite bands you might like

 

[raskolnikov]

Not that it probably means a whole lot but I got an HD for the Research Methodologies course I did this semester. I have enrolled in the Confirmation of Candidature unit next semester which is basically my probation ticked off. Still really enjoying it, though the direction I have been heading has changed a bit. Now looking at the representation of nation in Russian camp narratives.

 

[tangolikelama]

Nice stuff OP. I just finished my Honours thesis (15k words) and received a first class. I genuinely loved the process (I was lucky with my supervisor) and would love to pursue further research but with the state/future of academia I'm not sure if it would be wise to pursue a PhD.

 

[Shell]

I am looking into the connection between mysticism and nationalism throughout the history of the Russian novel.

Oh yeah funnily enough i was doing this just the other day.



Never felt so dumb in my life itt.

Good luck with it hope its progressing well rask

 

[74561347]

my favourite doctors

dr house
dr dre
the doctor of thuganomics

 

[kickazz]

I am looking into the connection between mysticism and nationalism throughout the history of the Russian novel.

I just finished Master and Margarita, loved it. Are there any papers you can recommend that discuss it's themes, etc?

 

[raskolnikov]

I just finished Master and Margarita, loved it. Are there any papers you can recommend that discuss it's themes, etc?

Great book. A couple of papers I would recommend:

Val Bolen - Theme and Coherence in Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita
Richard Pope - Ambiguity and meaning in The Master and Margarita: The role of Afranius.
L Rzhevsky - Pilate’s Sin: Cryptography in Bulgakov’s Novel, The Master and Margarita

 

[Tockles]

You might well have finished by now or at least be well on the way?

I did a PhD in Politics way back in the 1990s. I enjoyed it because politics has always been a strong interest of mine and it felt like pursuing a hobby at academic level. It required a lot of self-discipline and there were moments when I felt like giving it up and doing something completely different. It was a strong intellectual training however, and has helped me even though I now work in the property sector, which at face value seems quite different.

 

[raskolnikov]

You might well have finished by now or at least be well on the way?

I did a PhD in Politics way back in the 1990s. I enjoyed it because politics has always been a strong interest of mine and it felt like pursuing a hobby at academic level. It required a lot of self-discipline and there were moments when I felt like giving it up and doing something completely different. It was a strong intellectual training however, and has helped me even though I now work in the property sector, which at face value seems quite different.

Nowhere near finished. Probably another 5 years to go. Still loving it though. My thesis has taken a much different route than I envisaged at the start but I guess that's the whole point of a thesis. Tapping into previously unexplored areas.

 

[Tockles]

Nowhere near finished. Probably another 5 years to go. Still loving it though. My thesis has taken a much different route than I envisaged at the start but I guess that's the whole point of a thesis. Tapping into previously unexplored areas.

That’s exactly how it should be with a thesis. You usually find that about half way through you go back to the drawing board and either start from first principles or turn your ideas inside out! Sometimes external events influence things (in my case elections as I was writing a thesis on Latin American politics).

You mentioned, I think, that you are working on Russian nationalism, I think in the cultural sphere?

 

[raskolnikov]

That’s exactly how it should be with a thesis. You usually find that about half way through you go back to the drawing board and either start from first principles or turn your ideas inside out! Sometimes external events influence things (in my case elections as I was writing a thesis on Latin American politics).

You mentioned, I think, that you are working on Russian nationalism, I think in the cultural sphere?

Yeah. Still working on Russian nationalism but from a much different perspective than I had intended.

 

[Tockles]

Yeah. Still working on Russian nationalism but from a much different perspective than I had intended.

Sounds interesting and hope to hear more at some convenient time.

 

[Kangaroos4eva]

Anybody here finished or working on a PhD? I have just started mine. My thesis is in the area of Russian Literature. Looking forward to it but it's a bit daunting at the same time.

Any tips or advice?

I am a few years a bit late, but I hope you are going alright with it all.

You probably don't need much advice during the middle stages (assuming its full-time and you've done your literature) of a PhD, but I am happy to pass along some advice as a current fourth year PhD student.

I just submitted my own Modern History PhD a few weeks ago and I am now in the tricky spot of waiting for grades for several months, looking for postdoc, graduate and job opportunities and trying to keep a roof over my head for the next few months, whilst dealing with job agencies trying to fill low-paying jobs.

 

[Tockles]

I am a few years a bit late, but I hope you are going alright with it all.

You probably don't need much advice during the middle stages (assuming its full-time and you've done your literature) of a PhD, but I am happy to pass along some advice as a current fourth year PhD student.

I just submitted my own Modern History PhD a few weeks ago and I am now in the tricky spot of waiting for grades for several months, looking for postdoc, graduate and job opportunities and trying to keep a roof over my head for the next few months, whilst dealing with job agencies trying to fill low-paying jobs.

Do you mind if I ask you the subject of your Modern History thesis?

 

[Kangaroos4eva]

Do you mind if I ask you the subject of your Modern History thesis?

Don't mind at all. Basically a history of the Australian-US defence procurement relationship. There's been a bit of interest, but COVID has killed off the few opportunities that were previously available to a humanities PhD. Looking at producing a journal article on a similar subject as well as looking at graduate programs early next year to salvage something.

It is titled:
A Dangerous Dependency: American Defence Trade and its Impact on Australian Strategy and Capability, 1941-2020

 

[Tockles]

Don't mind at all. Basically a history of the Australian-US defence procurement relationship. There's been a bit of interest, but COVID has killed off the few opportunities that were previously available to a humanities PhD. Looking at producing a journal article on a similar subject as well as looking at graduate programs early next year to salvage something.

It is titled:
A Dangerous Dependency: American Defence Trade and its Impact on Australian Strategy and Capability, 1941-2020

I find this very interesting because the protection and assistance provided by America to Australia in the 1940s seems to have laid the foundations for an asymmetrical relationship of dependence.

We (in Britain) have experienced something of the same thing with the ‘special relationship’, the weakness of which has been laid bare for all to see in recent weeks with the complete inability of the British government to influence the Biden Administration over Afghanistan. We are now insignificant in American eyes and cut adrift economically and politically from mainland Europe.

I also notice that here in the U.K. (maybe the same in Australia?) we have copied some of the worst aspects of the US Armed Forces in recent decades, favouring centralisation and bureaucracy and cutting or abolishing local regiments with strong community links - and the traditions that go with them. There is therefore - despite (or because of?) attempts to democratise and introduce politically correct nostrums - a stronger division than ever before between ‘the military’ (itself an American term) and the wider society.

This is a big subject for both our countries.

 

[Tockles]

I am a few years a bit late, but I hope you are going alright with it all.

You probably don't need much advice during the middle stages (assuming its full-time and you've done your literature) of a PhD, but I am happy to pass along some advice as a current fourth year PhD student.

I just submitted my own Modern History PhD a few weeks ago and I am now in the tricky spot of waiting for grades for several months, looking for postdoc, graduate and job opportunities and trying to keep a roof over my head for the next few months, whilst dealing with job agencies trying to fill low-paying jobs.

In some ways the middle stages are the most difficult. They are the time when you are most likely to coast along, focus on other interests or question the value of what you are doing. Maintaining your focus and grinding through to the final phase is really important at that time - or at least that was how I experienced it.

 

[raskolnikov]

I am a few years a bit late, but I hope you are going alright with it all.

You probably don't need much advice during the middle stages (assuming its full-time and you've done your literature) of a PhD, but I am happy to pass along some advice as a current fourth year PhD student.

I just submitted my own Modern History PhD a few weeks ago and I am now in the tricky spot of waiting for grades for several months, looking for postdoc, graduate and job opportunities and trying to keep a roof over my head for the next few months, whilst dealing with job agencies trying to fill low-paying jobs.

I'm working fulltime (teaching) while working on mine. I'd love to have more time to spend on it. Maybe in a couple of years I'll drop back to working part time so I can complete it. Good luck with the job hunting. Hope you get something soon.

 

[Tockles]

I'm working fulltime (teaching) while working on mine. I'd love to have more time to spend on it. Maybe in a couple of years I'll drop back to working part time so I can complete it. Good luck with the job hunting. Hope you get something soon.

I did undergraduate teaching throughout my ‘thesis years’ and enjoyed it because I taught a very international group of students.

 

[raskolnikov]

How nice do I have to be to my PhD supervisor when he's doing my ****ing head in?

 

[Tockles]

How nice do I have to be to my PhD supervisor when he's doing my ******* head in?

I’d like to say ‘rise above it’ but I don’t know what he’s actually done - or not done! In my case it was the latter. My supervisor was incredibly vague and would disappear for ages. He was a very nice chap but would never give a clear opinion. I know the point of a PhD is that you think for yourself but you need a sounding board. Fortunately I had other senior academics - and more recent PhDs - with whom I could talk and exchange ideas. That was crucial in getting me through the difficult bits. Maybe that’s the way forward for you: develop a bit of a network. It is easier for you to do this in some ways; I was doing my PhD in the pre-Internet 1990s.

 

[raskolnikov]

I’d like to say ‘rise above it’ but I don’t know what he’s actually done - or not done!

He is very uncommunicative. He rarely replies to any of my emails. If he does he is very vague. A couple of weeks ago I sent him my confirmation of candidature proposal. He read a draft that I had sent him several months ago. He sent it back and said it needed more work. Well duh! I then sent him the latest copy again. This time he said it was ready for submitting. But he has had to be walked through the whole Confirmation of Candidature process. He has supervised students before so why he isn't familiar with this process I don't know. Last week I sent him some forms I had filled out that needed to be filled out by him as well. Yesterday I get an email from him saying that he needs these forms to submit my confirmation of candidature proposal. I sent him a reply saying, "Yes, those would be the ones I sent you last week". He is seriously doing my head in. And this is just the start of my candidature....

 

[Kawau]

Three years into my PhD in agronomy and met my wife.

Transferred the degree to a Masters and left

Best decision I ever made and no regrets.

I did butt heads with my supervisor in the last year partly because of my upcoming decision but also because I wanted to change the focus of the degree. He wanted to add my PhD to his list obviously but I had other ideas. Nice enough guy but didn't like free thinking.