No dose of this can remedy the unique mental state of attending committee meeting, after committee meeting, after committee meeting, after committee meeting, after committee meeting, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Whoa. That was scary. Did I just lapse into insanity? They run the gamut from nervous first meetings (NFMs) to grizzled almost done (GADs) meetings. The NFMs sometimes involve coffee and a snack. These are provided by a nervous student who is excited about their project but doesn’t know a damn thing yet. We will spend the entire meeting encouraging you to pursue the project, but also cautioning you to go read 2.7 million things before you start (oh, and also learn these stats, request funds for these things, and contact this person). The GADs, especially very late stage GADs have a desperate quality to them. There is no food. There might be drinks afterward (if drinks are involved it will be straight up alcohol, strong shit— no worries, I’m buying). But we are all gathered for the sole purpose of finishing. For the student it’s finishing the enormous soul-crushing task we call dissertating. For us it’s all about finishing with the drafts, the coaching, the advice, the meetings. We are all a bit nostalgic but focused on the task of a unified and spectacular finish. There is of course some highly predictable and well trod ground between NFMs and GADs. There is nothing wrong with these meetings (they are all preferable to a faculty meeting), but I need to lay off the committee memberships.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Committed
No dose of this can remedy the unique mental state of attending committee meeting, after committee meeting, after committee meeting, after committee meeting, after committee meeting, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Whoa. That was scary. Did I just lapse into insanity? They run the gamut from nervous first meetings (NFMs) to grizzled almost done (GADs) meetings. The NFMs sometimes involve coffee and a snack. These are provided by a nervous student who is excited about their project but doesn’t know a damn thing yet. We will spend the entire meeting encouraging you to pursue the project, but also cautioning you to go read 2.7 million things before you start (oh, and also learn these stats, request funds for these things, and contact this person). The GADs, especially very late stage GADs have a desperate quality to them. There is no food. There might be drinks afterward (if drinks are involved it will be straight up alcohol, strong shit— no worries, I’m buying). But we are all gathered for the sole purpose of finishing. For the student it’s finishing the enormous soul-crushing task we call dissertating. For us it’s all about finishing with the drafts, the coaching, the advice, the meetings. We are all a bit nostalgic but focused on the task of a unified and spectacular finish. There is of course some highly predictable and well trod ground between NFMs and GADs. There is nothing wrong with these meetings (they are all preferable to a faculty meeting), but I need to lay off the committee memberships.
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Gosh. I haven't even been fully accepted into a PhD program yet, and I'm already feeling awful for all the crappy meetings I'm going to put my supervisors through. Though one assumes you unknowingly put yours through the same: any tips?
ReplyDeleteWell don't get me wrong, these meetings can be rather enjoyable. Not to get too sappy but there is some sense of satisfaction seeing a student embark on their own research, and yes, I can now see what a pain in the ass I must have been as a graduate student...
ReplyDeleteJust DON'T schedule your meetings for the last two weeks of a semester.
You've brought back a happy dissertating memory - always in short supply. And you brought back all those GAD moments when my committee and I dared note that it was almost over, and tried not to laugh.
ReplyDeleteAnd one rather special one, in which they congratulated me, told me we were peers now and to call them by their first names, and took me to a (yes) liquid-feuled lunch.
May I say that I'm impressed with the approach, the "all a bit nostalgic but focused on the task of a unified and spectacular finish" part? That sounds more high-functioning and properly attuned than the great majority of dissertation committees I've heard about. Kudos, Herkies, and Cheetos to you all.
ReplyDeleteWe don't have committees in the UK. Joint-supervision is on the rise, but still frowned upon in most of the older universities. I simply have one supervisor, one person who knows what I am doing, one person who can make or break me...I certainly don't have any booze-fuelled bonding sessions or any great swell of community feeling as I get closer to finishing. We're expected to give our supervisor a bottle of port after submission of thesis, which is about as collectivist as it gets.
ReplyDeleteAHopeful: You aren't missing out on anything...although apparently I am missing out on bottles of port.
ReplyDelete