mercredi 26 septembre 2007
A Complete 180?
I may be ready to do a complete 180 on my dissertation topic. This frightens me.I mean, think of all the time I spent abroad! All the contacts I made! It's times like these when I think about one of my favorite lessons from undergraduate: the idea of "sunk-costs." This elegant theory dictated my decisions on more mundane topics, such as whether to finish a boring book that I was close to completing (I'd put it down), but I had never applied it to larger questions in life. And now here I am, after 3 months in Europe and countless hours in the archives. The truth is, I had a meeting with a professor today regarding a paper we wanted to write, which was on a topic that I was going to make my dissertation. I was loathe to begin working on it; the idea left me cold. Conversely, last night I had typed furiously an idea I had about a topic. I was so excited! I went around book store to book store, scouring the shelves for books on my new topic, filled with a kind of fervor and excitement that I hadn't experienced in ages. The truth is that if I were to change my topic, it may be a substantial investment to return to where I am now. We're talking about possibly acquiring new language skills (or jettissoning any idea of having language skills at all). I am very scared. Liz, did you go through multiple research topics? Does anyone have any advice?
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2 commentaires:
I haven't changed my topic yet, but I think about it all the time. I think it comes down to whether you want your dream dissertation topic or one that gets you out the door asap...i'm starting to feel panic because all of my friends are choosing topics and methods that will get them done MUCH sooner than mine, and I keep feeling like I'm making really bad choices. I have to keep reminding myself that these are all different, and my current question needs these particular methods to be addressed. I think waffling on your topic is normal, and I get why it's scary, but what are your priorities? Get out as fast as you can (like for me and other grads whose funding and housing are no longer guaranteed)? or pick something that you WANT to do deep down in your heart of hearts that you know will keep you interested? I recommend you go with the latter, I've always been cautioned away from a so-so topic by my advisors because inevitably you will hate it by the end, so you might as well start off liking it :)
I say do the one you want to do. That's kind of the point of dissertating, isn't it? I feel like it should be something you want to roll around in all day every day.
Good luck and email me if you want to talk about it!
liz
I think you are right, but now I like my old topic! In another week, I'll hate it. Ugh. I will continue to do research on the second. By the way, I read about your funding situation and that sounds terrible! I hope everything has been going all right.
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