We live inside an exhausting mythology: that the most successful among us are always in the process of doing, creating, producing. Certainly, this mindset thrives in dissertation culture in most academic programs. “You’re so lucky to be here in this Ph.D. program,”...
It’s the end of September, which means that unmistakable back to school vibe is definitely in the air. Perhaps you’re sending off your teens to high school. Or you’re secretly wondering if it’s your turn to take a step into the wild and wonderful world of academia. If...
When I was finishing my dissertation, I didn’t use meditation to get through it — but I truly wish I had. Back then, I thought meditation was something reserved for yogis on mountaintops, not for an over-caffeinated, middle-aged grad student buried under stacks of...
A small confession: when I was writing my own dissertation, I lost one entire month of August to a heady combination of over-ripe peaches, second-rate mystery novels and a home-organization project that resulted in exactly zero new pages written. If you’ve just looked...
Five Smart Ideas for Ph.D. Students Ready to Choose a Dissertation Topic By September, most doctoral students entering the dissertation phase have had the summer to think about possible topics for their research projects (as well as relax and unplug, I hope). Here are...
