I’m down to five days until my dissertation defense. Following the defense, I should have the doctorate. Grading should be done in the next day or two. Once I turn in final grades, I’m done teaching for a time. This means I really will be done with academia by Tuesday…
Tag: doctorate
Countdown is 16 days. At this point, one finishes “just because” and for no other reason or purpose. After May, I hope — more than anything — to never set foot on campus again for any reason. I’ll even switch medical specialists if I can, to avoid being near campus.…
I am on track to receive my Ph.D formally this April or May, depending on university paperwork processing. The dissertation is done, approved by my adviser, and only minor edits remain. The university bureaucracy is certainly navigable, though it is essential to have extra copies of every form on file.…
The research for my dissertation indicates many individuals with autism disorders and/or savant abilities view language in terms of patterns and rules. This results in the “stilted” usage, the “little professor” forms of writing and speech. I’m wondering how this also challenges basic assumptions of learning and language. I love…
While working on the research for my dissertation, I have read page after page on writing pedagogy asserting that the goal of a university writing course should be to teach students that knowledge is socially constructed and that “truth” is relative to culture and community. The problem with this assertion…
Survey to Assess Needs for Improved Course Designs As colleges and universities offer more courses online, it is important that we consider how students with autism spectrum disorders approach online communities, especially online classes. My experiences as a diagnosed high-functioning autistic student and instructor have led me to question how…
I came to the University of Minnesota because the Department of Rhetoric was not within English and was not a “college composition” department. I wanted to study the relationship between technology and writing. I wasn’t focused on autism or disabilities in general. I wanted to study online writing spaces, work…
Tonight, slightly after midnight, I e-mailed a second draft of my dissertation prospectus to my academic adviser. It was shy of 20K words, about 40 single-spaced pages. It has been a long journey, certainly. The prelims, the oral exam, and now the dissertation. I won’t make my goal of having…
On April 8, 2009, I completed my preliminary examinations towards my doctorate. The written and oral exams were during a busy, difficult month. There were family emergencies, personal medical nonsense, and the general stress of examinations. Honestly, I thought a lot more about my parents and my own health than…
It’s not easy to have surgery after surgery, medical adventure after medical adventure, while trying to complete my doctorate and move forward with life. Written Exams… Testing Sanity I spent the entire week taking my written exams, receiving questions on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. With 24 hours to respond to…