Earlier today we called your attention to a Canadian Broadcasting Company story on Doug Mastriano’s Ph.D dissertation at the University of New Brunswick. In that post I noted that current University of New Brunswick students were concerned about the reputation...
dissertations
One of Doug Mastriano’s dissertation committee members speaks out about his “dishonest” and “sloppy” work
Here is the latest on Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano’s “academic” career: One of the members of his dissertation committee called his work, “dishonest, sloppy, tinged with religious zealotry, and indifferent to facts that contradicted his claims.” The committee member...
Should Applicants to a Ph.D Program Have a Fully-Formed Dissertation Idea in Mind When They Apply?
I often counsel undergraduates and M.A. students, both my students and others, about applying to Ph.D programs. I talked a bit about what I sometimes say to them in Episode 37 of The Way of Improvement Leads Home Podcast. Every...
Who Did You Thank in Your Ph.D Dissertation Acknowledgments?
This does not come close to the greatest acknowledgments section of all time (a story we broke here at The Way of Improvement Leads Home), but it is interesting. Jennifer Polk, a history Ph.D who now runs the website Beyond...
Ghost Dissertation Advisers
I am thankful that I had an excellent dissertation adviser who cared about my work. Katrin Schultheiss, the current chair of the Department of History at George Washington University, did not have the same experience. She described her experience (at...
New Jersey Historical Commission Driscoll Prize
The Commission is Accepting Nominations for the Alfred E. Driscoll PRIZE Nominations Due April 15, 2014 The Alfred E. Driscoll Prize is an award of $1,500 to the author of an outstanding doctoral dissertation in New Jersey history. Nominations are...
Historians Write the Longest Doctoral Dissertations
According to this Flowing Data chart, history graduate students write longer dissertations than any other discipline. The average history dissertation is just over 325 pages in length. Only anthropology comes close.