Great video, I agree on every piece of advice and I wish I had given that back in the days. However, I disagree on something you said at the beginning of the video and I think we need to be sensitive to the situation of the vast majority of graduate students: if you haven't got a job/post-doc the defense is a tragic moment: you're with no affiliation, no library, no conference funding... you basically become the "independent scholar" and you are on the pathway to A) adjuncting B) out of academia. It's a very tough position to be in
First off, I’m so sorry to hear about the situation you’re in. This must have the defense a truly stressful day full of mixed emotions. Were you able to ask your home institution for continued access to library resources? If not, please do reach out, as I know it is possible many times. Thank you for raising this important point, sharing your experience, and I’m rooting for you.
@@tsmullaney Thank you Tom, you're really a good person, not only a brilliant scholar and I appreciate your offer. I've found a way to keep access to the library, so I am at least for another year "covered." The defense was really tragic: mentors and friends saying 'congrats,' and in my head the question was: congrats for having spent 6 yrs digging a rabbit hole and emerging in my late 30s with no job? I just want to share this because it is a common situation. One of the most tragic comments, was when one my committee members said: when you'll turn the dissertation into a book. I am sure he really meant it, but this was absurd as without the backing of time/financial income, the dissertation will never be revised. This does not subtract from the great content and advice of your video, they a re indeed very precious for those who can stay in the game
By the way I am starting up a new subset of the channel that something like an academic mentorship network. Not sure if you might be interested in learning more but let me know
What Tom said about the authors of award winning books is true in my case. My first book - Intimate Communities: Wartime Healthcare and the Birth of Modern China, 1937-1945 (UCP 2018) - won two awards and I consider myself an approachable person who is happy to engage with colleagues at all levels of the career. So please reach out to me! Also head over to the UCP website to download my open access book for free.
Thanks for the video and the suggestions, Tom. I wonder what you would think about an alternative to sending out chapters to mentors in our field - to send those chapters to journals for publication. Because 1) These days people are burnt out and if they don't have an official obligation to read and comment on the drafts, they may a) reject, or b) take a long time to get back to us; 2) A formal peer-review process avoids the 1a) problem; 3) We would probably get those articles published while going on the job market. I would also like to ask what do you think about sending unpublished materials out to someone to read, esp for the ECRs on the job market. Thanks!
As someone who regularly gets asked to read article manuscripts for journals I do not recommend sending a dissertation chapter to a journal without significant revision first. Most diss chapters are far from ready for journal publication and they read that way. If I take my precious time to review a piece submitted to a journal and it turns out to be far from ready I get irritated at the journal editor and the author, tbh. Conversely, if someone wrote to me with a fresh dissertation and asked me to read it or a portion thereof with honesty about what it was (an unrevised diss) I'd be more willing to give the author some kind attention.
@@nicolebarnes3029 Thanks Nicole for the reply. I definitely agree with you that a thesis chapter should be revised first before sending to a journal. It's also very kind of you to read and comment on a thesis chapter that is sent your way. I will consider doing it.
Great video, I agree on every piece of advice and I wish I had given that back in the days. However, I disagree on something you said at the beginning of the video and I think we need to be sensitive to the situation of the vast majority of graduate students: if you haven't got a job/post-doc the defense is a tragic moment: you're with no affiliation, no library, no conference funding... you basically become the "independent scholar" and you are on the pathway to A) adjuncting B) out of academia. It's a very tough position to be in
First off, I’m so sorry to hear about the situation you’re in. This must have the defense a truly stressful day full of mixed emotions. Were you able to ask your home institution for continued access to library resources? If not, please do reach out, as I know it is possible many times. Thank you for raising this important point, sharing your experience, and I’m rooting for you.
@@tsmullaney Thank you Tom, you're really a good person, not only a brilliant scholar and I appreciate your offer. I've found a way to keep access to the library, so I am at least for another year "covered." The defense was really tragic: mentors and friends saying 'congrats,' and in my head the question was: congrats for having spent 6 yrs digging a rabbit hole and emerging in my late 30s with no job? I just want to share this because it is a common situation. One of the most tragic comments, was when one my committee members said: when you'll turn the dissertation into a book. I am sure he really meant it, but this was absurd as without the backing of time/financial income, the dissertation will never be revised. This does not subtract from the great content and advice of your video, they a re indeed very precious for those who can stay in the game
My defense was yesterday and I just saw your video! Thank you so much for the advices!
By the way I am starting up a new subset of the channel that something like an academic mentorship network. Not sure if you might be interested in learning more but let me know
What Tom said about the authors of award winning books is true in my case. My first book - Intimate Communities: Wartime Healthcare and the Birth of Modern China, 1937-1945 (UCP 2018) - won two awards and I consider myself an approachable person who is happy to engage with colleagues at all levels of the career. So please reach out to me! Also head over to the UCP website to download my open access book for free.
Thanks for the video and the suggestions, Tom. I wonder what you would think about an alternative to sending out chapters to mentors in our field - to send those chapters to journals for publication. Because 1) These days people are burnt out and if they don't have an official obligation to read and comment on the drafts, they may a) reject, or b) take a long time to get back to us; 2) A formal peer-review process avoids the 1a) problem; 3) We would probably get those articles published while going on the job market. I would also like to ask what do you think about sending unpublished materials out to someone to read, esp for the ECRs on the job market. Thanks!
As someone who regularly gets asked to read article manuscripts for journals I do not recommend sending a dissertation chapter to a journal without significant revision first. Most diss chapters are far from ready for journal publication and they read that way. If I take my precious time to review a piece submitted to a journal and it turns out to be far from ready I get irritated at the journal editor and the author, tbh. Conversely, if someone wrote to me with a fresh dissertation and asked me to read it or a portion thereof with honesty about what it was (an unrevised diss) I'd be more willing to give the author some kind attention.
@@nicolebarnes3029 Thanks Nicole for the reply. I definitely agree with you that a thesis chapter should be revised first before sending to a journal. It's also very kind of you to read and comment on a thesis chapter that is sent your way. I will consider doing it.