Putting it all together: How to write a prospectus

No one ever did this for me. I wish someone had. I wish I’d known before I started. But I didn’t. I started my prospectus with no idea what I was doing. I had two others I had seen, things to model after, but I didn’t know even the basic format, aside from what my [...]

Wrapping it up… one more hoop to go

It’s official: I am now ABD. My oral exams went swimmingly, and I can now be considered a colleague by those with PhDs. All I have left to do is finish off my prospectus and write a dissertation. Of course, saying that “all I have left” is my dissertation is much like saying that after [...]

Literature Review: the purpose of this blog

I started this blog in October 2007. When I did it, it was because my advisor and friend Bradley Dilger suggested that it would be a good way to organize my thoughts and keep in mind what I glean from anything I read. He suggested that I write little reviews of everything I read, both [...]

Prospectus, a (sort of) outline

For the last few days, I’ve been approaching the prospectus in the “Throw it all, see what sticks” format. No attention really paid to structure beyond a few basic signposts, I’ve just been trying to get the ideas down on (electronic) paper. Thankfully, I’ve been collecting sources and doing little outlines for quite some time [...]

And so it begins

I’ve been dancing around the idea for a while, putting together quotes and finding sources, telling myself I was making progress even though I was afraid to actually move towards sitting down and doing it. But no longer; I’ve started working. On what, you ask? My prospectus. School is a system of hoop jumping. Before [...]