Another friend gets a PhD

[BlodwynPig]

Sure, in terms of style (thankfully) but in terms of hyper-specificity, it certainly still seems to be true within the humanities, even while there is concurrently a push towards "impact" (and so the commodification of one's research).

But, I get I am biased, because I ended up with both a supervisor and a VIVA panel of academics who really had very little familiarity with the topic/s of my work.

Ive read your work and understood and enjoyed it

[ASFTSN]

It's the next level up for employers now everyone has a Master's degree. I await the time when landlords will only rent to people PhD's. What's next, a MPhD (mega PhD) to put all the PhD havers in their place? Balls.

[Icehaven]

Doctor of PHilosophy

Shouldn't it be DPh then?

[garbed_attic]

Ive read your work and understood and enjoyed it

Aw won't like, that's cheered me up a bit! :p

I guess I'm feeling a little worried with the constant emphasis upon "impact" we have now and my own tendency towards obscure curate's eggs!

[BlodwynPig]

Aw won't like, that's cheered me up a bit! :p

I guess I'm feeling a little worried with the constant emphasis upon "impact" we have now and my own tendency towards obscure curate's eggs!

Don't worry - it's impact right across the spectrum, meaning "we've got to get more money or start tightening our belts". It is helping a fair few junior academics become neurotic at best, mentally ill at worst. I'm writing a paper/ doing a survey loosely on this with a researcher in France and hoping we don't get laughed at too much. Will post it up here if we finally get round to doing it (he had his PhD defence on Friday - the European defences are much more intimidating in my opinion, same in N. America).

[BlodwynPig]

Shouldn't it be DPh then?

Oxford use DPhil. I believe. Pancreas may be a DPhil, although his was from Cambridge I think.

[Bennett Brauer]

Oxford use DPhil. I believe. Pancreas may be a DPhil, although his was from Cambridge I think.

Pancreas always strikes me as a Companion of Literature.

[BlodwynPig]

Pancreas always strikes me as a Companion of Literature.

A Repository of fȳlþ

[buttgammon]

Don't worry - it's impact right across the spectrum, meaning "we've got to get more money or start tightening our belts". It is helping a fair few junior academics become neurotic at best, mentally ill at worst. I'm writing a paper/ doing a survey loosely on this with a researcher in France and hoping we don't get laughed at too much. Will post it up here if we finally get round to doing it (he had his PhD defence on Friday - the European defences are much more intimidating in my opinion, same in N. America).

Definitely! Am I right in thinking they still take the term defence literally and organise as a kind of trial? The Brass Eye approach to academia.

I had my confirmation interview the other day (passed with minor changes) and it was tough but certainly not scary. The viva will be much tougher, of course, but at least I'm not going to have to go through a mock trial! "Where were you when this footnote was added?"

[Jockice]

Don't worry - it's impact right across the spectrum, meaning "we've got to get more money or start tightening our belts". It is helping a fair few junior academics become neurotic at best, mentally ill at worst.

I wasn't even junior (in my early 40s when I started) and I had a fee waiver but it completely did my nut in. Admittedly there were quite a few stressful things going on in my mind at the same time but it was like this huge weight above my head just about to drop on top of me. There are literally huge chunks of that period I just can't remember at all. Probably blocked them out of my mind.

The only thing that makes me feel better is that several people I know also started PhDs and never finished them. One got about halfway through hers, quit and then burnt all her notes and the books she had bought in her back garden. If I was to do that it would be a very small bonfire indeed.