Doctoral Support Center & Doctoral Programming Blog

Summer Reading: They Say, I Say

If you're like me, in the summer you want to spend time outside, but at the same time there's a desire to do something enriching and work on research and writing.  With these contradictory impulses in mind, I'm going to write some reviews of books that would likely be a help in working either on writing or doctoral research.

The first book I recommend to all graduate students is one on doing research writing called They Say, I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein.  This is a great book, in my opinion, wherever you are in your academic life.  It's simply written, easy to understand (it's written on an undergraduate level), but offers important advice on doing research writing.

The book is yet another book about writing, but it is about the very specific style of writing academia requires.  It offers concrete suggestions and templates for "moves" like presenting the research of others while transitioning into ones own.  It also contains essays and exercises, which can be useful practice, but I found it best to take their suggestions and then apply them to my own work.

I haven't read anything else that's explained half so well how to use the arguments of others (whether they agree with you or not) to help set up your own work.  Those sort of rhetorical tools are very useful in helping construct a literature review. 

Let me know what you think!

Summer DEADLINE: July 1st for Graduate School Submission

The 2010 Summer Deadline for dissertation submission to the Graduate School is Thursday, July 1st.

In order to submit by that deadline, you must have had your dissertation defense and had any revisions approved by your committee.  Once you've done this and reviewed the formatting guidelines, you can begin the Graduate School's submission process.   For more information on Graduate School submission, you can download a DSC presentation from DSC on BlackBoard.

So how can the DSC help?  Annemarie worked as a thesis editor for USC's Graduate School for several years.  Once your manuscript has been formatted, she can review your PDF (please do not send in .doc form) for any errors prior to your uploading to the Graduate School.  Contact her by emailing <rsoedsc@usc.edu>.

The last 2010 deadlines is November 1 (Winter).  Congratulations on reaching this stage in your doctoral journey.

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Photo credited to: Alan Cleaver

Dissertation Editing Forums

The USC Graduate School dissertation editor are offering two forums to answer questions about formatting and submitting your dissertation:

In anticipation of the July 1, 2010 summer submission deadline, the thesis editors will be holding two forums focusing on the thesis/dissertation editing process. While attendance is not mandatory, we want to encourage you to attend especially if you plan on submitting your thesis or dissertation by the July 1 deadline. No handouts will be distributed and a RSVP is not required.

• HSC: Monday, June 21, 2010 from 12-1:20 in CHP 106 (Center for the Health Professionals Building).
• UPC: Tuesday, June 22, 2010 from 12-1:20 in GFS 101 (Grace Ford Salvatori).

They will not be holding any “make-up” sessions.

If you have any questions about this forum, please email the thesis editors at thesised@usc.edu.

Inner and Outer Critics

One of the hardest things I had to do as a doctoral student was to learn how to invite and encourage criticism of my work and then take that criticism and use it constructively.  It was really difficult.  My inner critic was already harsh and hard to silence. I felt I couldn't pass anything to anyone else to read until it was perfect.  In practice, this made it hard to ever pass anything on at all.

After I did finally pass any bit of writing along, I didn't accept critical comments, however constructive they might be. My insecurity was such that I only wanted to hear good things about my work. I would get defensive even at suggested changes, making it harder for my writing group and advisers to give me honest comments and impossible for me to benefit from hearing and reading their ideas.

This was, of course, my loss.  I've come to learn that someone who is willingly reading over my work and giving me their honest impressions and constructive suggestions is giving me a great gift, especially if they have some knowledge of my discipline.  From the other side, I know it's a lot of effort (though sometimes also fun) to read someone's  research and offer constructive ideas for revision. I'm not excited about doing it if I know the person is going to be defensive or even hostile about any criticism.

What I've learned is to take a deep breath and give my writing to others to read.  Even more important, I've also learned how to listen to their criticism and suggestions not as evidence that they think my writing is terrible, but as ideas of how I can make my writing better, clearer and more organized. 

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Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lastyearsgirl_/2581843770/