Saturday, November 19, 2011
The Invisible Ben, Ph.D.
According to my graduate school's website, at some point today I was awarded the title of Doctor of Philosophy. It has been three weeks since my dissertation defense, but only now has it become official. You are now reading the online ramblings of the Invisible Ben, Ph.D.
I realize, looking over the past few entries that I never dedicated an entry to describing my defense. The actual event went pretty smoothly. Originally, the entire affair was to have been conducted in the history department building, but we switched the venue to the philosophy building to ensure elevator access for my grandparents and a few of my historical actors who planned to show up for the event. There were some minor problems with the elevator in the hours shortly before people started to gather in the classroom on the third floor, but beyond this and some parking issues, all logistical matters went smoothly.
The actual defense remains a blur. My parents, grandparents, and about 20 or so friends from my department or elsewhere were in attendance, as were a half dozen or so people referenced in my dissertation. (As far as I can tell, this last group broke the unofficial departmental record for the most people mentioned in a history dissertation to show up to the defense!) The basic format was straightforward enough. I spoke for around 15 minutes about my dissertation's origins and structure and then responded to the written critiques I had received from my committee. Then it was question time, as each member of the committee had approximately 15 minutes to ask whatever questions they felt were most relevant before opening up discussion to the floor.
I confess that, although I read over their reader reports carefully over the previous week, I was very nervous about the questions from my committee. These were smart people, after all, and for all I knew, they had withheld their trickiest questions for our in-person conversation. In this rare instance, however, my paranoia appears to have been unjustified. My committee was quite friendly, and at times downright supportive. Most of their questions focused on the dissertation's strengths and which aspects of my story I would tell in an eventual book! There were a few tricky questions from my advisor, which I felt I could have handled better, but on the whole it seemed like everything went well. Indeed, over the past few weeks, a few friends have told me it was among the best defenses they ever attended.
When the floor was opened to the audience, I confess to being somewhat nervous that people who actually witnessed (or participated in) the events I studied would point out inaccuracies in my work. Fortunately, they mostly chose to avoid actual questions, instead regaling the audience with descriptions of their own historical contributions. After a few more questions from the audience, the committee left the room for a few minutes to confer. I don't know exactly how long they were gone, though the room was buzzing with conversation when they returned to the point that I doubt anyone other than me actually heard my advisor congratulate me on a successful defense. Still once they saw us shake hands, they applauded just the same.
The rest of the day was filled with me running from building to building, ensuring that my dissertation was accepted into the archives and that the graduate school had all the necessary paperwork to process my degree. It had to be done before 5 PM, or else I would receive my degree in January, not November. Once that was squared away, I caught up with some friends for drinks and then went to dinner with my parents. And then, the next morning, I awoke...a doctor. As my advisor had told me, this was it. Old Ivy couldn't award me any higher degrees. Now it was time to go out and do something with what I had learned...
But what did that mean? What exactly would come next? Well, in the short term, job hunting and conference papers. Over the past three weeks, I have applied to assistant professorships all over the country. Given how much of a crap shoot the job market is these days, who knows whether or not my application will pique the interest of the various search committees? Nevertheless, I had to try to get those materials squared away, while simultaneously preparing a pair of talks based on my dissertation.
Now that things have finally started to calm down on that front, I can return to the requirements of my postdoctoral fellowship, such as the materials innovation case study that I've had to postpone due to my previous academic commitments. There may be a few articles to work on, additional postdoctoral fellowship applications, and, depending on whether I get permission from my supervisor, maybe even a consulting gig. In the meanwhile, I'm looking forward to going home and spending time with my family and any high school friends who will be around for Thanksgiving.
(And, of course, getting used to being called "Doctor" Ben, though who knows how long that will take...)
(3) comments
According to my graduate school's website, at some point today I was awarded the title of Doctor of Philosophy. It has been three weeks since my dissertation defense, but only now has it become official. You are now reading the online ramblings of the Invisible Ben, Ph.D.
I realize, looking over the past few entries that I never dedicated an entry to describing my defense. The actual event went pretty smoothly. Originally, the entire affair was to have been conducted in the history department building, but we switched the venue to the philosophy building to ensure elevator access for my grandparents and a few of my historical actors who planned to show up for the event. There were some minor problems with the elevator in the hours shortly before people started to gather in the classroom on the third floor, but beyond this and some parking issues, all logistical matters went smoothly.
The actual defense remains a blur. My parents, grandparents, and about 20 or so friends from my department or elsewhere were in attendance, as were a half dozen or so people referenced in my dissertation. (As far as I can tell, this last group broke the unofficial departmental record for the most people mentioned in a history dissertation to show up to the defense!) The basic format was straightforward enough. I spoke for around 15 minutes about my dissertation's origins and structure and then responded to the written critiques I had received from my committee. Then it was question time, as each member of the committee had approximately 15 minutes to ask whatever questions they felt were most relevant before opening up discussion to the floor.
I confess that, although I read over their reader reports carefully over the previous week, I was very nervous about the questions from my committee. These were smart people, after all, and for all I knew, they had withheld their trickiest questions for our in-person conversation. In this rare instance, however, my paranoia appears to have been unjustified. My committee was quite friendly, and at times downright supportive. Most of their questions focused on the dissertation's strengths and which aspects of my story I would tell in an eventual book! There were a few tricky questions from my advisor, which I felt I could have handled better, but on the whole it seemed like everything went well. Indeed, over the past few weeks, a few friends have told me it was among the best defenses they ever attended.
When the floor was opened to the audience, I confess to being somewhat nervous that people who actually witnessed (or participated in) the events I studied would point out inaccuracies in my work. Fortunately, they mostly chose to avoid actual questions, instead regaling the audience with descriptions of their own historical contributions. After a few more questions from the audience, the committee left the room for a few minutes to confer. I don't know exactly how long they were gone, though the room was buzzing with conversation when they returned to the point that I doubt anyone other than me actually heard my advisor congratulate me on a successful defense. Still once they saw us shake hands, they applauded just the same.
The rest of the day was filled with me running from building to building, ensuring that my dissertation was accepted into the archives and that the graduate school had all the necessary paperwork to process my degree. It had to be done before 5 PM, or else I would receive my degree in January, not November. Once that was squared away, I caught up with some friends for drinks and then went to dinner with my parents. And then, the next morning, I awoke...a doctor. As my advisor had told me, this was it. Old Ivy couldn't award me any higher degrees. Now it was time to go out and do something with what I had learned...
But what did that mean? What exactly would come next? Well, in the short term, job hunting and conference papers. Over the past three weeks, I have applied to assistant professorships all over the country. Given how much of a crap shoot the job market is these days, who knows whether or not my application will pique the interest of the various search committees? Nevertheless, I had to try to get those materials squared away, while simultaneously preparing a pair of talks based on my dissertation.
Now that things have finally started to calm down on that front, I can return to the requirements of my postdoctoral fellowship, such as the materials innovation case study that I've had to postpone due to my previous academic commitments. There may be a few articles to work on, additional postdoctoral fellowship applications, and, depending on whether I get permission from my supervisor, maybe even a consulting gig. In the meanwhile, I'm looking forward to going home and spending time with my family and any high school friends who will be around for Thanksgiving.
(And, of course, getting used to being called "Doctor" Ben, though who knows how long that will take...)
