Calling all PS thesis-tacklers, researchers, and students!

[WishfulThinking]

Thanks, Phoenix! Awesome job on your masters--congratulations! With all of you as great role models how could I go wrong? I''m keepin'' on keepin'' on today and making alright progress!

Dust dust and more dust to those of you working right now!

 

[AmberGretchen]

Wishful - of course you can do it!! I think it makes complete sense (although I was a Biology and Public Policy double major, so take that with a grain of salt

). But I have complete faith in you - just keep hammering away, do your best to keep the angst out of it, don''t forget to reward yourself for small steps, and you will make it!!

 

[WishfulThinking]

Date: 1/16/2009 6:49:20 PM
Author: AmberGretchen
Wishful - of course you can do it!! I think it makes complete sense (although I was a Biology and Public Policy double major, so take that with a grain of salt

). But I have complete faith in you - just keep hammering away, do your best to keep the angst out of it, don''t forget to reward yourself for small steps, and you will make it!!

Thanks, Amber! It''s good to hear that it''s at least vaguely comprehensible to someone, and Public Policy is as good as any! I have a very difficult time coming up with people who have expertise in all the fields I''m drawing on-- Public Policy, Public Law, Political/Critical Theory, and Gender Studies. Blech!

I just rewarded myself with a baggie of swedish fish, and I''m off to work again!

Thank you so much for believing in me. *hug*

 

[WishfulThinking]

I am about halfway done, you guys!!!

Thanks for the support and encouragement. I hope you''re all making progress as well!

Happy dust, good luck wishes, and lots of swedish fish [if you like them, that is!] coming your way.

 

[Elegant]

Wishful - you rock! Way to go!!!

I have still been working on research, etc. for my dissertation. I actually spoke to my chair and I am re-focused. It feels good. She is helpful. When I talk to her about my topic and she tells me what my research questions might sound like, it rolls off her tongue so easily like she sees my entire dissertation in her mind before I have even written it. I am going to start working on chapter 1, writing the problem, purpose statement, research question, and intro - in that order. I feel good.

Sounds like everyone else is on track too...YAY!

 

[WishfulThinking]

That''s wonderful, Elegant! It sounds like you are making a lot of progress, and having a supportive chair with great ideas and suggestions to help you along is wonderful. I have a similar relationship with my advisors and it really helps me stay on track and keep my chin up even when things are tough. Good luck starting on your first chapter. Things are really coming together for you!

I have nothing more written but realized now that I have way, way too much in terms of pages, and that the whole draft is rather redundant in places. *sigh* I am going to spend the next few months with a red pen on the paper version figuring out how to copy and paste sections from my ms word copy to make it more coherent. I think I will likely have a lot of it written out with this draft, but it''s not nearly as organized as it needs to be. However, writing most of it is a BIG step, and I figure since it''s a rough draft these organizational issues are probably not a huge problem for the time being.

By the way, katamari, I realized that when I wrote out my [largely incoherent] quasi-explanation of my Foucauldian theory analysis that I''ve completely left out the part where the subjects discipline themselves... because I am not sure that they do. I wonder if they have to self-govern in order for it to really fit properly? Any thoughts? I definitely have a confessional mode identified in the abstinence programs, which makes it a decent fit for biopower. The welfare system also has a confessional aspect, but it''s much more coerced. Can coercion count when it comes to a confessional aspect of biopower? Or does the self-governing have to be more autonomous than that? [More like the centralized prison model in Foucault''s example of self-governance.] I know you are SUPER busy and I don''t want to push too far on the generous offer of helping me work through some of this theory, but if you have any ideas about this it would be awesome. <3

 

[Elegant]

I'm working on it right now. Before I called my chair I was actually scared to call her - don't know why, but I was. I have been afraid to open Word and create Chapter 1 for some reason. I think the reason is that I am unclear exactly - I dread putting the problem and purpose statements into fancy wording. But it is a process, I know. Just looking at the problem and purpose sections - where my statements need to be - just has me confused. I'll get through it.

My chair told me - one step at a time. Finish the problem statement then email it to her, then the purpose, then the research questions, etc. She said don't worry about the big picture, pull it apart and worry about the small sections...it will start to grow. She told me to look at my previous chapter one - on the topic that I originally had - and I got mini-depressed because I actually did quite a lot...oh well. I am not going to dwell on the shoulda, woulda, couldas... doesn't help in progressing, so why dwell on it...

Wishful - I would be happy to have to edit and sort through too many pages right now!!!

No, I know what it is like to have to continuously go back, take things out, reword things, etc...I am the kind of person who just writes and expects it to be right the first time and not have to go back and fix anything... I am stubborn that way. Um, and all of that self-governance and biopower is WAY over my head - I must be a simpleton... I guess I could look it up...

Just looked it up and still over my head - that is very complex but rather interesting actually.

 

[WishfulThinking]

I know what you mean about being unsure. Is it a question of the organization of the sections? I have so much trouble working with a template to try to create my chapters after a particular model. Bleh. Perhaps putting them into fancy wording will help you love it even more?

It is definitely a process, and one that is great to embark on one step at a time. Like you I have trouble with that because I''m a big-picture person. Ack about your original section one! I know it does feel awful to have worked on something and then scrap it. I am pretty sure most of my first chapter will now be edited down to almost nothing... *sigh* I worked so hard on it! As you said, shoulda, woulda, coulda...

I know, my problem isn''t even worth complaining about! I''ll shut my trap on that one. Again, as I said above it''s mostly that once I write something I hate having to get rid of it. I HATE doing rough drafts because of that. I almost never do. But this draft is required and it''s way too short of a timeframe for me to write the whole thing in a more polished manner, so I''m trying to just let it go. As for the bipower thing, noooo need to worry on that one. Foucault can be

sometimes. Okay, most of the time. I swear I read it over and over and over again and I barely understand it after doing it so many times! I''ll be lucky if katamari even knows what I''m talking about! I feel like a simpleton sometimes after focusing on it for so long and still having trouble but I''ll chalk it up to my lowly status as an undergrad...

It''s so interesting, but sort of intense and very complicated. I am basically in love with him, but he throws me for a loop!

 

[Elegant]

Date: 1/18/2009 10:13:25 PM
Author: WishfulThinking
I know what you mean about being unsure. Is it a question of the organization of the sections? I have so much trouble working with a template to try to create my chapters after a particular model. Bleh. Perhaps putting them into fancy wording will help you love it even more?

It is definitely a process, and one that is great to embark on one step at a time. Like you I have trouble with that because I'm a big-picture person. Ack about your original section one! I know it does feel awful to have worked on something and then scrap it. I am pretty sure most of my first chapter will now be edited down to almost nothing... *sigh* I worked so hard on it! As you said, shoulda, woulda, coulda...

I know, my problem isn't even worth complaining about! I'll shut my trap on that one. Again, as I said above it's mostly that once I write something I hate having to get rid of it. I HATE doing rough drafts because of that. I almost never do. But this draft is required and it's way too short of a timeframe for me to write the whole thing in a more polished manner, so I'm trying to just let it go. As for the bipower thing, noooo need to worry on that one. Foucault can be

sometimes. Okay, most of the time. I swear I read it over and over and over again and I barely understand it after doing it so many times! I'll be lucky if katamari even knows what I'm talking about! I feel like a simpleton sometimes after focusing on it for so long and still having trouble but I'll chalk it up to my lowly status as an undergrad...

It's so interesting, but sort of intense and very complicated. I am basically in love with him, but he throws me for a loop!

I actually hate having to go back and re-read.

I hate reading things I've written. I actually found some old papers I wrote a long time ago, and I asked myself wo the heck wrote it - it sounded so professional - and it was me...I just like typing something once, the way I want it, and then moving on!

This process is such a personal challenge. I've written so many papers that I think I was just fed up.

 

[katamari]

Date: 1/18/2009 8:52:05 PM
Author: WishfulThinking


By the way, katamari, I realized that when I wrote out my [largely incoherent] quasi-explanation of my Foucauldian theory analysis that I''ve completely left out the part where the subjects discipline themselves... because I am not sure that they do. I wonder if they have to self-govern in order for it to really fit properly? Any thoughts? I definitely have a confessional mode identified in the abstinence programs, which makes it a decent fit for biopower. The welfare system also has a confessional aspect, but it''s much more coerced. Can coercion count when it comes to a confessional aspect of biopower? Or does the self-governing have to be more autonomous than that? [More like the centralized prison model in Foucault''s example of self-governance.] I know you are SUPER busy and I don''t want to push too far on the generous offer of helping me work through some of this theory, but if you have any ideas about this it would be awesome. <3

Hey Wishful, sorry to leave you hanging. I had to unexpectedly go out of town this weekend.

I certainly agree with your previous point that the government is invested in promoting a normative order, which will cause them to fund and support failing policies. And, for values that are central to the culture, it is equally reasonable to find politicians supporting ideology rather than practice.

I think you are on the right track here with governmentality/self-governance. The longer the government promotes said normative order, the longer the public will have to reconcile ideology that it is "right," and the more likely it is to become a part of the normative order. I actually see governmentality as the agentic side and causal mechanism of biopower. Biopower sets the frame, but it itself is coercion. Once the people accept the values, then the self-governance takes over and the power is legitimated. So, I see how this fits for abstinence programs more.

But, I also think it works for the welfare program, too. I see it like this, the worker in a capitalist state is granted their freedom from slavery and peasantry to enter into a "free" workforce where they are rewarded for their behavior with ends that lends themselves to a more civil form of control. The workers, then, both come to understand entering into paid labor as their desired path and the only way they can escape the slavery and peasantry of the past and guarantee their freedom. I would think of welfare in its complement. So, instead of welfare as an element of government meant to coerce and control non-workers, I would reframe it as a program to entice workers to self-govern their labor-selves in a way that they can maintain all the freedoms that would be denied were they to have to enter into the welfare system. (I think the complement also works for absence programs, as they send just as meaningful messages to actives as they do to abstainers, all of which work to control sexuality).

Yes, overall, I do think that self-governance has to be autonomous. But, I also think the structure of modern societies creates willing subjects rather easily due to the free flow of information. Because this information can be framed in a way that shapes government interests as public interests and vice versa, there is no evidence for the public that these initiatives are coercive.

I see what you are talking about, though--this is difficult to articulate in this format. But, do I make sense enough that you see where I am coming from?

 

[katamari]

Date: 1/18/2009 4:39:03 PM
Author: Elegant
Wishful - you rock! Way to go!!!


I have still been working on research, etc. for my dissertation. I actually spoke to my chair and I am re-focused. It feels good. She is helpful. When I talk to her about my topic and she tells me what my research questions might sound like, it rolls off her tongue so easily like she sees my entire dissertation in her mind before I have even written it. I am going to start working on chapter 1, writing the problem, purpose statement, research question, and intro - in that order. I feel good.


Sounds like everyone else is on track too...YAY!

Congrats, Elegant!

Starting is the hardest point for me, because it shifts it from the conceptual to the real. What exciting news!

 

[katamari]

I got my conference submission out last week, which is awesome. Since I will be on the market next year, it was crucial that I got it in so that I get funding to go to our annual conference. I need the opportunity to network and meet with smaller colleges who are hiring and may not go through the formal market process. Now, I have a grant application that I must finish next month. But, even though this is stressful, it means I am up to my elbows in my dissertation which is nothing but a good thing.

I am working with advisor2 to make the transition to having her as my only advisor after advisor1 leaves. I am working on the paper I am writing with advisor2 like crazy now so that goes seamlessly. Good thing the weather is so terrible, so that I don''t feel like doing anything but staying inside.

 

[flopkins]

Date: 1/8/2009 10:26:36 PM
Author: AmberGretchen

Date: 1/8/2009 9:45:34 PM

Author: Elegant

Date: 1/7/2009 7:05:45 PM


Author: AmberGretchen


OK, just a little drive-by update - I found at least half the cells I need for my experiment, and started it today, woohoo!! (well, sort of - I hate doing experiments but this needs to get done, so I think its still positive on balance

).



Fingers crossed the experiment works - I should know by Monday at the latest.

Awesome!!! Congrats on getting the cells...that must be a huge relief! I like doing experiments, but a lot is on the line too!!! Nice!

Yeah, I used to like doing experiments, back in undergrad and for like, the first 6 months of grad school. Now I''m pretty fed up and I think I might throw myself a party on the day I never have to work in a lab again

I haven''t done a single bench experiment since July of 2008 - I haven''t missed it AT ALL... you deserve a party when you''re done...!!!!

 

[flopkins]

hellooooo everyone - I have been totally MIA but wanted to support all of you who are working to finish your writing/research!!!! I just came out the other end of the tunnel (yes, there IS a light at the end of the tunnel, and it takes FOREVER to get there, but you DO make it eventually!!!) and wanted to pop in -

I think one of my friends said it best regarding the dissertation writing (at least for the sciences, where the bulk of our work is in the lab, and the write-up is at the end) - Write your dissertation like you rip off a band-aid. Do it fast and get it over with!!!!

 

[AmberGretchen]

Date: 1/18/2009 8:52:05 PM
Author: WishfulThinking
That''s wonderful, Elegant! It sounds like you are making a lot of progress, and having a supportive chair with great ideas and suggestions to help you along is wonderful. I have a similar relationship with my advisors and it really helps me stay on track and keep my chin up even when things are tough. Good luck starting on your first chapter. Things are really coming together for you!

I have nothing more written but realized now that I have way, way too much in terms of pages, and that the whole draft is rather redundant in places. *sigh* I am going to spend the next few months with a red pen on the paper version figuring out how to copy and paste sections from my ms word copy to make it more coherent. I think I will likely have a lot of it written out with this draft, but it''s not nearly as organized as it needs to be. However, writing most of it is a BIG step, and I figure since it''s a rough draft these organizational issues are probably not a huge problem for the time being.


By the way, katamari, I realized that when I wrote out my [largely incoherent] quasi-explanation of my Foucauldian theory analysis that I''ve completely left out the part where the subjects discipline themselves... because I am not sure that they do. I wonder if they have to self-govern in order for it to really fit properly? Any thoughts? I definitely have a confessional mode identified in the abstinence programs, which makes it a decent fit for biopower. The welfare system also has a confessional aspect, but it''s much more coerced. Can coercion count when it comes to a confessional aspect of biopower? Or does the self-governing have to be more autonomous than that? [More like the centralized prison model in Foucault''s example of self-governance.] I know you are SUPER busy and I don''t want to push too far on the generous offer of helping me work through some of this theory, but if you have any ideas about this it would be awesome. <3

Wishful - I''m so glad you got most of the draft written out!! That is fantastic news. You are totally right - the editing and organization and eliminating the redundant parts really will seem easier compared to getting it all out on paper. YAY!!

 

[AmberGretchen]

Date: 1/18/2009 9:16:57 PM
Author: Elegant
I''m working on it right now. Before I called my chair I was actually scared to call her - don''t know why, but I was. I have been afraid to open Word and create Chapter 1 for some reason. I think the reason is that I am unclear exactly - I dread putting the problem and purpose statements into fancy wording. But it is a process, I know. Just looking at the problem and purpose sections - where my statements need to be - just has me confused. I''ll get through it.


My chair told me - one step at a time. Finish the problem statement then email it to her, then the purpose, then the research questions, etc. She said don''t worry about the big picture, pull it apart and worry about the small sections...it will start to grow. She told me to look at my previous chapter one - on the topic that I originally had - and I got mini-depressed because I actually did quite a lot...oh well. I am not going to dwell on the shoulda, woulda, couldas... doesn''t help in progressing, so why dwell on it...


Wishful - I would be happy to have to edit and sort through too many pages right now!!!

No, I know what it is like to have to continuously go back, take things out, reword things, etc...I am the kind of person who just writes and expects it to be right the first time and not have to go back and fix anything... I am stubborn that way. Um, and all of that self-governance and biopower is WAY over my head - I must be a simpleton... I guess I could look it up...

Just looked it up and still over my head - that is very complex but rather interesting actually.

Elegant - it sounds like you are definitely back on track!! Awesome news - sending tons of productivity dust your way

 

[AmberGretchen]

Date: 1/19/2009 12:14:06 PM
Author: katamari
I got my conference submission out last week, which is awesome. Since I will be on the market next year, it was crucial that I got it in so that I get funding to go to our annual conference. I need the opportunity to network and meet with smaller colleges who are hiring and may not go through the formal market process. Now, I have a grant application that I must finish next month. But, even though this is stressful, it means I am up to my elbows in my dissertation which is nothing but a good thing.


I am working with advisor2 to make the transition to having her as my only advisor after advisor1 leaves. I am working on the paper I am writing with advisor2 like crazy now so that goes seamlessly. Good thing the weather is so terrible, so that I don''t feel like doing anything but staying inside.

katamari - sounds like you are being SUPER productive right now, GO YOU!!

It sounds like you are getting all your ducks in a perfect row for that job search

 

[AmberGretchen]

Date: 1/19/2009 1:46:33 PM
Author: flopkins

Date: 1/8/2009 10:26:36 PM


I haven''t done a single bench experiment since July of 2008 - I haven''t missed it AT ALL... you deserve a party when you''re done...!!!!

OMG HUGE party when I am done with bench work - I am going to miss it like a cold sore

I think we will probably end up having one huge "finished with thesis, done with lab, going away so help us drink all our good wine and booze so we don''t have to carry it to Texas" party LOL

 

[WishfulThinking]

Date: 1/19/2009 12:02:43 PM
Author: katamari

Date: 1/18/2009 8:52:05 PM

Author: WishfulThinking



By the way, katamari, I realized that when I wrote out my [largely incoherent] quasi-explanation of my Foucauldian theory analysis that I''ve completely left out the part where the subjects discipline themselves... because I am not sure that they do. I wonder if they have to self-govern in order for it to really fit properly? Any thoughts? I definitely have a confessional mode identified in the abstinence programs, which makes it a decent fit for biopower. The welfare system also has a confessional aspect, but it''s much more coerced. Can coercion count when it comes to a confessional aspect of biopower? Or does the self-governing have to be more autonomous than that? [More like the centralized prison model in Foucault''s example of self-governance.] I know you are SUPER busy and I don''t want to push too far on the generous offer of helping me work through some of this theory, but if you have any ideas about this it would be awesome. <3

Hey Wishful, sorry to leave you hanging. I had to unexpectedly go out of town this weekend.


I certainly agree with your previous point that the government is invested in promoting a normative order, which will cause them to fund and support failing policies. And, for values that are central to the culture, it is equally reasonable to find politicians supporting ideology rather than practice.


I think you are on the right track here with governmentality/self-governance. The longer the government promotes said normative order, the longer the public will have to reconcile ideology that it is ''right,'' and the more likely it is to become a part of the normative order. I actually see governmentality as the agentic side and causal mechanism of biopower. Biopower sets the frame, but it itself is coercion. Once the people accept the values, then the self-governance takes over and the power is legitimated. So, I see how this fits for abstinence programs more.


But, I also think it works for the welfare program, too. I see it like this, the worker in a capitalist state is granted their freedom from slavery and peasantry to enter into a ''free'' workforce where they are rewarded for their behavior with ends that lends themselves to a more civil form of control. The workers, then, both come to understand entering into paid labor as their desired path and the only way they can escape the slavery and peasantry of the past and guarantee their freedom. I would think of welfare in its complement. So, instead of welfare as an element of government meant to coerce and control non-workers, I would reframe it as a program to entice workers to self-govern their labor-selves in a way that they can maintain all the freedoms that would be denied were they to have to enter into the welfare system. (I think the complement also works for absence programs, as they send just as meaningful messages to actives as they do to abstainers, all of which work to control sexuality).


Yes, overall, I do think that self-governance has to be autonomous. But, I also think the structure of modern societies creates willing subjects rather easily due to the free flow of information. Because this information can be framed in a way that shapes government interests as public interests and vice versa, there is no evidence for the public that these initiatives are coercive.


I see what you are talking about, though--this is difficult to articulate in this format. But, do I make sense enough that you see where I am coming from?

Thank you! Your comments on this remind me SO MUCH of my advisor 2. Are you sure you''re not her?!

You make perfect sense. I think I am finally working through this, but it''s tough!

Congratulations on the conference submission and good luck with your grant application! It sounds like this conference is going to be a great opportunity for you. I hear you on the terrible weather. It''s a lot less difficult to stay focused when I don''t even remotely want to brave the snow.

 

[WishfulThinking]

Thanks, Amber! I will be doing a little cheer for you over in MA when you finally finish with the lab stuff! Paaaar-tay!

 

[AmberGretchen]

Date: 1/19/2009 8:38:14 PM
Author: WishfulThinking
Thanks, Amber! I will be doing a little cheer for you over in MA when you finally finish with the lab stuff! Paaaar-tay!

Hehe - thanks, it will definitely be the party to end all parties when I finally finish this freaking degree

Hopefully by then it will be warm in MA - I still remember how happy Spring made me when I was living on the East Coast

 

[katamari]

Wishful--so glad I could help! I am sure I am not your advisor--lol. My paycheck is proof that I am definitely a grad student still. But it is certainly encouraging to hear that I sound like faculty.

Hope you are doing just as well with your paper and are tearing through the draft!

 

[Elegant]

Well, I submitted my problem and purpose statements and research questions to my chair on Monday. She said that she would respond with comments by tomorrow. Trucking along!!!

 

[katamari]

Date: 1/21/2009 11:42:13 PM
Author: Elegant
Well, I submitted my problem and purpose statements and research questions to my chair on Monday. She said that she would respond with comments by tomorrow. Trucking along!!!

Great news, Elegant! Congratulations on a huge accomplishment. I am sure that her comments will be glowing!

 

[WishfulThinking]

katamari- Haha!

I thought of you specifically because you''re still a student. Advisor/favourite prof is actually still in the last stages of finishing up her PhD dissertation and I suppose very lucky to have scored a position even part-time at a pretty darn good school. I think the fact that she is an alum helped, but then again I suppose you might have mentioned by now if you were an alum of my college.

Anyways, you''re very helpful and brilliant, thanks again!

Elegant- Congratulations!

That''s fantastic. I hope her comments are positive and you keep making great progress!

I''m 60 pages out of 75 in! Only 15 to go... which is terrifying because I have way more than 50 pages worth of things left to say. I know, a delightful problem to have, but a problem nonetheless.

Also, some advice please? If I am supposed to turn in a "full draft" of my thesis by Friday, and the final draft cap for the department is at 75 pages, should I cut it off at 75? Or should I keep going as succinctly as possible and try to make my last few points, probably going over by about 10 pages [ugh, I know

]? I know it would probably be best to get all my ideas on paper since that is the purpose of the draft, but I don''t want to stick my advisors with a lot of extra reading, as they have less than a week to respond with comments and it''s right at the beginning of the new semester. What would you do? Should I email them, or is that too obnoxious only two days before the due date?

 

[Elegant]

Thanks you guys! Yay!!!

Wishful - OMG - 60 out of 75pages? That is AWESOME... But I can see how it also poses a problem.

Why not ask your advisers? I don''t think you would be obnoxious at all...just keep working on it until you hear from them. If it is a draft, why not go over? I wouldn''t think about how much work it will be for the adviser - that''s what they get paid the big bucks for!

 

[WishfulThinking]

Haha, Elegant. You''re right, they do get paid...

Also, I am 99% sure one of them is going to get tenure pretty much because of me raving to her to anyone who will listen and encouraging other students who love her to contact the Dean and dept. chair. The other one will I think be hired again on at least as a visiting prof because she has been so generous with her time to several students, including me. So I guess they probably won''t mind ten extra pages.

I now have 64 and am finishing up and heading to bed. I think I will take your advice and email them, even if they don''t get my email until Friday. That way they will know what''s coming. I am pretty sure they will be understanding about it, which is nice. The email I send out with the attached draft is going to be ridiculously apologetic about how much of a mess it is, so perhaps that will ease the pain as well. If all else fails, they like me!

Go me! Go all of you! I am sending you some of my mega-motivated dust through cyberspace!

Addendum: I was originally pretty irritated that I had to have an *entire* draft of my thesis completed by the end of January because my department deadline is earlier than everyone else''s. Yet, when I think about the work I did this January I know if I hadn''t done it I would be a huge mess trying to finish everything next semester. I feel like I have actually made progress, and even though I have to rewrite pretty much the entire thing extensively, it''s better I know that now, rather than a month before the final deadline. I am very proud of myself, even amidst being a bit disappointed at how the draft has turned out. However, I will never stop being slightly bitter about my deadline being the same week as inauguration-- hello?! We''re POLITICS majors! Way to make our lives hard!

 

[AmberGretchen]

Date: 1/21/2009 11:42:13 PM
Author: Elegant
Well, I submitted my problem and purpose statements and research questions to my chair on Monday. She said that she would respond with comments by tomorrow. Trucking along!!!

Awesome elegant - that''s a fantastic start!!

 

[AmberGretchen]

Date: 1/22/2009 3:45:55 AM
Author: WishfulThinking
Haha, Elegant. You''re right, they do get paid...

Also, I am 99% sure one of them is going to get tenure pretty much because of me raving to her to anyone who will listen and encouraging other students who love her to contact the Dean and dept. chair. The other one will I think be hired again on at least as a visiting prof because she has been so generous with her time to several students, including me. So I guess they probably won''t mind ten extra pages.

I now have 64 and am finishing up and heading to bed. I think I will take your advice and email them, even if they don''t get my email until Friday. That way they will know what''s coming. I am pretty sure they will be understanding about it, which is nice. The email I send out with the attached draft is going to be ridiculously apologetic about how much of a mess it is, so perhaps that will ease the pain as well. If all else fails, they like me!

Go me! Go all of you! I am sending you some of my mega-motivated dust through cyberspace!

Addendum: I was originally pretty irritated that I had to have an *entire* draft of my thesis completed by the end of January because my department deadline is earlier than everyone else''s. Yet, when I think about the work I did this January I know if I hadn''t done it I would be a huge mess trying to finish everything next semester. I feel like I have actually made progress, and even though I have to rewrite pretty much the entire thing extensively, it''s better I know that now, rather than a month before the final deadline. I am very proud of myself, even amidst being a bit disappointed at how the draft has turned out. However, I will never stop being slightly bitter about my deadline being the same week as inauguration-- hello?! We''re POLITICS majors! Way to make our lives hard!

Wishful - I totally wouldn''t worry about the somewhat overlong draft - I''ve never once had a professor give me a hard time about that. Actually, my thesis advisor now is notorious for making people''s proposals longer than they are supposed to be - my qualifying exam proposal ended up about twice the length it was supposed to be because of stuff HE put in

Also, just a word to the wise about taking about stuff you''ve worked hard on - if I were you I''d find ways to work on making that easier for you, because in graduate school you will end up doing A LOT of that. I''m probably going to end up leaving a huge chunk of data out of my thesis because my advisor doesn''t think it fits well enough with my central hypothesis - I spend weeks and weeks of 15-16 hour days in the lab getting this data, so at first I was really steamed

Then I sat back and reminded myself of two things: 1). he knows his stuff much better than I do, since he''s been in academia for so long, and 2). if I can get my PhD without this data, then its probably not a battle worth fighting - the data won''t go to waste, someone in the lab will use it, and its not about ME getting credit, its about the data contributing to advancing AIDS research however it can best do that.

So even though I know its painful to cut sections you''ve worked on, try to remind yourself that even if a given page or paragraph or whatever that represents a lot of work gets cut, you still learned a lot by writing it, and trust that your advisors know what will make for the most comprehensive, clear thesis.

 

[Elegant]

Date: 1/22/2009 3:45:55 AM
Author: WishfulThinking
Haha, Elegant. You''re right, they do get paid...

Also, I am 99% sure one of them is going to get tenure pretty much because of me raving to her to anyone who will listen and encouraging other students who love her to contact the Dean and dept. chair. The other one will I think be hired again on at least as a visiting prof because she has been so generous with her time to several students, including me. So I guess they probably won''t mind ten extra pages.

I now have 64 and am finishing up and heading to bed. I think I will take your advice and email them, even if they don''t get my email until Friday. That way they will know what''s coming. I am pretty sure they will be understanding about it, which is nice. The email I send out with the attached draft is going to be ridiculously apologetic about how much of a mess it is, so perhaps that will ease the pain as well. If all else fails, they like me!

Go me! Go all of you! I am sending you some of my mega-motivated dust through cyberspace!

Addendum: I was originally pretty irritated that I had to have an *entire* draft of my thesis completed by the end of January because my department deadline is earlier than everyone else''s. Yet, when I think about the work I did this January I know if I hadn''t done it I would be a huge mess trying to finish everything next semester. I feel like I have actually made progress, and even though I have to rewrite pretty much the entire thing extensively, it''s better I know that now, rather than a month before the final deadline. I am very proud of myself, even amidst being a bit disappointed at how the draft has turned out. However, I will never stop being slightly bitter about my deadline being the same week as inauguration-- hello?! We''re POLITICS majors! Way to make our lives hard!

Hey Wishful - I WISH I had deadlines to follow because I know that if I did, deadlines that weren''t set by my lazy butt, I would have this thing finished by now!!! Ha!

I am still waiting for my chair''s input...tick tock tick tock...