Writing and Presenting your Thesis or Dissertation by S. Joseph Levine

This guide for creating my Ph.D. dissertation is affirming what I'm learning in my scholarly writing class: You should think broadly about what your dissertation might be and not dismiss initial ideas, write down ideas that come to you so you don't lose them later, form a supportive committee, and most importantly, create strategies to get the paper written.

I'll be halfway through my Ph.D. studies at the end of this semester (imagine that!), so the dissertation is becoming to begin to feel like a real possibility to me now. After a couple years of comtemplation, I think I have a clear goal for my dissertation, and even good ideas as to who I want on my committee. One thing that does concern me is that two of the professors I want on my committee don't seem to get along, and the last thing I'll need when I'm trying to defend this is to have to deal with people who don't like each other. So I might have to decide for one against the other, which is really sad, because both could help shape my writing in such interesting ways.

I'm also already doing what the article suggested: doing a small preliminary research study on my topic, which is through the expository writing class I'm teaching this spring at USF. Because I'm considering how creative writing and composition can work together in the classroom, I figure this class is a great opportunity to test that theory. I don't always feel like I know what I'm doing, as sometimes I teach the class through instinct rather than firm pedagogical study, but so far I feel that it's going well. I plan on doing an independent study in this topic over the summer, which could further shape how I conduct the class in the future.