Another old blog post here -- this was originally meant for undergraduate students, but I've added some new items for grad students too.
******
At this point, when I’m asked by students who are wondering how they can become a straight “A” student, I can offer my own advice and the advice that I have collected from other graduate students and professors in my own climb to becoming an “A” student. I also have the research knowledge of some fairly good studies in the areas of integrated and holistic learning, and I hope that the following is worth something to any student or teacher reading this blog. Take the following advice for what it’s worth!
Much of university is learning the basic skills that you would need to succeed in any career and how to deal with stress around your individual problem areas of learning, because no one is a perfect learner (everyone has some weaknesses).
The following key skills are important for any professional’s success, and I have attached notes for each of them either in the following links and/or on the Ryerson Blackboard:
1) Passion: Dream BIG and be Passionate – What do you want to do?Find a subject area that you are passionate about, and would love to work on for many years to come. Some people find remembering what they enjoyed doing when they were younger often inspires a career at a later age. If you liked doing that activity as a kid, it's likely that you'll be interested in it for a long time (e.g. writing, building things, taking things apart, etc.).
If you already know what you like to do, then you’re ahead of the game and you just have to find a place that will help you do that. Why wouldn't you try researching the BEST place or school to do what you like doing and find out how to go there? If you are not interested in what you’re learning, then it will be hard to convince others that your work is interesting too.
2) Goal Setting: You won’t get anywhere without setting goals and checking them regularly. Did you succeed? Why or why not? Don’t get discouraged, just learn your areas of strength and weakness, and work to improve in the areas where you are weaker. Always follow up on assignments when you fall short of what you expected. Proactive students who visit their instructors well ahead of official assignment deadlines generally tend to be the straight A students because they receive valuable feedback before the assignment is even due. In other words, they are separating themselves from the pack and demonstrating that they are leaders to the key authority figure.
Whether your goal is applying to a university or completing a full degree, you can follow successful steps that others have used to get there before you. For example, don’t just apply to one job or one Grad School or one type of degree program; apply to non-profit, private, and public positions too. Take the best offer that is right for you; that way if the position of your dreams comes knocking on your door, you'll be ready to take it. Also, some people can learn on the job the skills that they need at work, so Grad School doesn't have to be the number one choice, and some jobs will pay you to go to Grad School – just do your home work and find out what is possible for the line of work you wish to explore.
Overall, the question is what do you want to do and where would you like to do it? Only you will know.
3) Find a Mentor:
* If you're going to Grad School, do this before you apply -- find a mentor and potential supervisor, even if it's on-line through e-mail and it's just a tentative arrangement.
Think about the following questions:
- Who in your field would you like to be?
- Can you work with that person?
- Can you at least talk to the person and learn what the skills, courses, and requirements are for that career?
Other considerations for Grad School:
- Do you have the necessary qualifications to apply to the program where that person is? If you do not, go talk to the program’s administration about applying for a qualifying year, or what you could do to make up for missed items – do not be disheartened if your application does not succeed at one school or another; often the same application package could be submitted with minor variations at the same school and get in the following year – it all depends on the pool of candidates that you are up against and how you compare to those other candidates based on your qualifications.
- Contact potential Grad Schools early so that they know you’re interested, and so you know what you need to get into that program. If you find a mentor or supervisor, they should be able to offer you advice on all of the following items:
- STATEMENT OF INTEREST: Make sure someone, perhaps one of your referees or your new supervisor, checks your statement of interest before your application is sent in. The document demonstrates the quality of your writing and details why you want to be in that particular program. It also demonstrates that you’ve read the program/school’s website at the very least, that you know specific faculty in the program/department, and that you already know about the field of study in question.
- PUBLISH FOR SCHOLARSHIPS: If you have anything that is publishable, then try to get it out to a Grad Journal at least. If you’re applying to MA programs having a publication will put you ahead of most of the pool of applicants.
- GETTING INTO A PHD PROGRAM: Many schools now expect students to have one published paper and/or one conference paper during the MA to get you in for a funded PhD program, and after that, at the PhD level one conference and paper each year, if possible is a guideline to differentiate yourself from your peers for the job market. The better quality of journal you can publish in during your PhD, the better your CV – quantity and quality will help, but focus on quality.
- COMPETING OFFERS: If more than one position comes to you after you apply, then you can always try to work one position against the other. For example, if you receive funding at one school and not another, then you can let the other school know about the competing offer and try to match it before you decline their offer.
NOTE: Your goal should be to have some funding while doing Grad School, but if money is not an issue for you because of family support, then you should count yourself as lucky.
4) Designing Thesis Committees:
If you are writing an undergraduate Honours Thesis or going to Grad School, you need to find people to fill the following roles on your thesis or dissertation committee, on top of your usual supervisor and other committee members who are knowledgeable in your area of study:
1. Editor: The best editor of your writing and essays (grammatically and stylistically) that you have had in any of your courses.
2. The Cheerleader: Someone who will think everything that you write is gold.
3. The Critic: Someone who will be hard on you, but hopefully offer constructive criticism rather than only negative feedback.
4. Networking / Job Market Pros: Preferably everyone on your committee should be tapped into larger academic job markets. Are your committee members well known in their fields? Have they published a lot? Do they know and have access to jobs or research positions in your area (even while you are completing your degree, for example Research Assistantship positions)?
5) Know your Learning Style:
- Do you learn better through visual, aural (by listening), or kinetic (by doing an activity) means?
- Does your professor’s teaching style match your learning style? If not, what can you change to increase your chances of success knowing your preferences?
- Are you taking notes in a method that matches your learning style? If not, what can you change to increase your retention of key materials?
6) Maintain Balance through Time Management and Organization:
Generally, I advise that -- if at all possible -- students treat school like work. In other words, have a 40 hour per week schedule, and stick to it. If you work 40 hours a week on school work, then you should still have time to do other pertinent things in your life for balance, including your social life, staying healthy and fit, eating well, and all of the other things that are necessary to succeed in life. Make sure NOT to get stressed out by maintaining an effective and balanced routine. If you are as professional at school as you have to be in a future career, then success should follow you -- and learning successful habits and behaviours will both literally and figuratively pay off. I say literally because there are many scholarships that can fund students, and I say figuratively because a university degree is far more of a benefit in life than just the money that it will help you to earn. UNLIKE MONEY, NO ONE CAN TAKE YOUR DEGREE AWAY ONCE IT HAS BEEN EARNED.
I hope that these general descriptions help you as guides to your academic success.
Beyond these general skills, one particular skill that you should know if you are a student in an Arts program is how to use a writing standard such as the Modern Languages Association (MLA) standard or the American Psychological Association (APA). I should note that every discipline has their own writing standards that their professionals (and students, of course) must know, and learning the MLA standard is a good start for students of all disciplines.
Please see the following sites for brief introductions to the MLA standard:
http://www.ryerson.ca/library/subjects/style/index.html
7) Study smarter, not harder: Learn methods to help streamline your work, and be strategic about your workload.
- Pace yourself: (e.g.) First study the structure of a textbook chapter quickly before reading the details... What are the key sections of the chapter? Read the bolded text, conclusion sections, and charts/graphs first -- can you understand the chapter from this fast skim or do you need to read everything to understand it? Study smarter not harder by assessing first the difficult parts of the chapter.
- Instrumentality: (e.g.) Can you work on developing your final assignment through other assignments in your current course?
- Travel: (e.g.) Can you gain credit for a course by doing extracurricular activities like attending a conference or a charrette?
- Thesis/Major Research Project: (e.g.) Can essays in your courses be used as chapters in larger projects? Yes. Many professors recommend using half of your required courses for your larger projects, and the other half to try new things and expand your knowledge area into places you haven’t been before.
8) CV / Resume: Keep a current CV and resume. Shop it around yearly to learn whether or not you can move to a higher paying job, or a job more commensurate with your abilities.
9) Peers: You will not view your peers as competition if you work with them, and learn from one another. Grad school is competitive as it is, so make sure to take time to create friends there who can help you along the way. As I said, most of this advice is garnered from other people who have helped me along the way.
10) Resources: Build up some resources to help you out if you forget your way -- here's some examples:
- A link to critical reading and writing skills:
http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/kahane/368/advice_reading.html
- Advice for MA Defenses:
http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/philosophy/nav04.cfm?nav04=15366&nav03=15302&nav02=12361&nav01=12323
11) Challenge Yourself: Some come challenges include finding out your own limits, in terms of helping others, achieving good grades, making money, and your own physical health. Can you find a healthy balance to do your best in each of these areas of your life? For example, have you ever challenged yourself to see how much money you can make each hour of the day that you're awake (or better yet, can you get paid while you sleep?), each week, each month, each year, and then compare it to the previous year? Tracking your finances each year is away to see if you're reaching your personal goals.
What about challenging yourself, and others, to see how many people you can help in a day, week, month, or year? How do you define "helping others" here? Can you be paid to do it, or is it charity, or is it volunteer work? Often people find that they feel more successful when they are helping others and when they define their work as meaningful to others, rather than simply by monetary measures.
If you can find a healthy balance between these elements of your life, by taking on challenges, but also giving yourself permission to take a vacation when its earned, then you may find these traits lead you in the direction of being an "A range" student.
12) Say Thanks! Always remember those who help you along the way, and do not forget to help others along the way too. No one does this alone! Also, remember to celebrate with those people when you earn your celebrations along the way…
Sunday 5 June 2005
Monday 30 May 2005
Comprehensive Exams - Feedback from the Committee
Again, this post was previously from my old web site in May 2005; this thread was one of the most viewed, so I thought I'd bring it back to life here.
****
Well, I passed the exam, and my oral component was waived :-)
So, hopefully, that means the examples I'm providing are good ones!!
For those interested in some of my committee's feedback, please see the following (again, "****" means that material has been excised for privacy and research considerations):
Comprehensive Examinations: Peter Ryan
MAJOR GENERAL
This is an excellent overview of the field, particularly given the constraints of a half-course format. It touches on the main areas of research, as well as indicating the tensions and conflicts that have arisen historically between the different approaches to communications research. The contrast between American and Canadian research, as formulated by Babe (and despite its noted shortcomings), provides a useful starting point for students to recognise the ways in which formulations of communication are linked in many cases to specific conditions that mediate their development, and the inclusion of the Mattelarts provides a much-needed European perspective as well. This is excellent for overcoming the parochialism often associated with conceptions of the field’s development. ****
If there is one area that might be criticised, it would be Peter’s formulation of communication as message production. In following Babe in this respect there is no doubt that Peter is in good company, but we might argue that this conception is unduly restrictive, and tends to leave unquestioned the basic linear model formulated by Lasswell in politics and Shannon and Weaver in information theory. It is not at all clear why communication should be restricted to this particular formula (important as it is historically), and indeed many of the models Peter would include in the syllabus do not necessarily construe communication in terms of messages. This would be the case particularly with poststructuralist and recent post-hermeneutic media theories, as well as the political economy upon which much of the course leans. The course could be an opportunity to critique this notion.
Despite this issue, the course is well-formulated and well-grounded in a sophisticated and substantive understanding of the main lines of inquiry in the field and their historical and epistemological relationships, and thus demonstrates Peter’s excellent grasp of communications research.
A key aim of a comprehensive examination is to demonstrate that one is prepared to teach university survey and other courses in the field. Peter’s answer demonstrates a clear ability to do just this. His response shows that he has mastered the literature in communications studies and is capable of developing what would be an excellent course of study.
MAJOR SPECIFIC
Peter does a good job of indicating what the key authors in this area define as a network society and its distinction from previous or other types of societies. It is clear that Peter has an excellent knowledge and understanding of a wide range of complex literature on this topic. The question itself is rather complicated, and Peter has managed to organise the material into a framework that treats its different facets in a reasonable manner. The answer appears to head off in several directions, but this can be attributed to the difficulty of addressing the number of issues raised by the question. In the end, Peter finds a way of commenting on the various points. In particular, there is a good balance between positive and negative critiques and formulations of current social configurations as they are mediated by new technologies, and there are excellent thumbnail sketches of different perspectives. It is noteworthy that Peter stakes out a position in the end, and does so with analytical tools that emerge from an author with whom he disagrees. This shows an interesting sophistication that can rework notions derived from opposing perspectives without dismissing them out of hand, as is often the case where political differences are at issue.
We would have wanted Peter to return to issues raised in the introduction with regard to the positions of both Kittler and Foucault, and their differences. With respect to notions of network and structuration (especially, say, in systems views like Luhmann), there are interesting questions raised regarding conceptions of subjectivity and agency. Peter gestures toward these at the beginning of his answer, but he fails to return to a discussion of the implications of his sketch for the role of humans in a technologically mediated world characterised as the network society. This perhaps takes the question beyond the parameters of political economy that it emphasises, but Peter’s answer shows that he has a superb understanding of the different and conflicting positions of these approaches.
Peter’s answer is comprehensive and highly articulate. It demonstrates a mastery of the relevant literature and presents a clear and defensible argument. Peter has a deep knowledge of network theory.
****
****
Well, I passed the exam, and my oral component was waived :-)
So, hopefully, that means the examples I'm providing are good ones!!
For those interested in some of my committee's feedback, please see the following (again, "****" means that material has been excised for privacy and research considerations):
Comprehensive Examinations: Peter Ryan
MAJOR GENERAL
This is an excellent overview of the field, particularly given the constraints of a half-course format. It touches on the main areas of research, as well as indicating the tensions and conflicts that have arisen historically between the different approaches to communications research. The contrast between American and Canadian research, as formulated by Babe (and despite its noted shortcomings), provides a useful starting point for students to recognise the ways in which formulations of communication are linked in many cases to specific conditions that mediate their development, and the inclusion of the Mattelarts provides a much-needed European perspective as well. This is excellent for overcoming the parochialism often associated with conceptions of the field’s development. ****
If there is one area that might be criticised, it would be Peter’s formulation of communication as message production. In following Babe in this respect there is no doubt that Peter is in good company, but we might argue that this conception is unduly restrictive, and tends to leave unquestioned the basic linear model formulated by Lasswell in politics and Shannon and Weaver in information theory. It is not at all clear why communication should be restricted to this particular formula (important as it is historically), and indeed many of the models Peter would include in the syllabus do not necessarily construe communication in terms of messages. This would be the case particularly with poststructuralist and recent post-hermeneutic media theories, as well as the political economy upon which much of the course leans. The course could be an opportunity to critique this notion.
Despite this issue, the course is well-formulated and well-grounded in a sophisticated and substantive understanding of the main lines of inquiry in the field and their historical and epistemological relationships, and thus demonstrates Peter’s excellent grasp of communications research.
A key aim of a comprehensive examination is to demonstrate that one is prepared to teach university survey and other courses in the field. Peter’s answer demonstrates a clear ability to do just this. His response shows that he has mastered the literature in communications studies and is capable of developing what would be an excellent course of study.
MAJOR SPECIFIC
Peter does a good job of indicating what the key authors in this area define as a network society and its distinction from previous or other types of societies. It is clear that Peter has an excellent knowledge and understanding of a wide range of complex literature on this topic. The question itself is rather complicated, and Peter has managed to organise the material into a framework that treats its different facets in a reasonable manner. The answer appears to head off in several directions, but this can be attributed to the difficulty of addressing the number of issues raised by the question. In the end, Peter finds a way of commenting on the various points. In particular, there is a good balance between positive and negative critiques and formulations of current social configurations as they are mediated by new technologies, and there are excellent thumbnail sketches of different perspectives. It is noteworthy that Peter stakes out a position in the end, and does so with analytical tools that emerge from an author with whom he disagrees. This shows an interesting sophistication that can rework notions derived from opposing perspectives without dismissing them out of hand, as is often the case where political differences are at issue.
We would have wanted Peter to return to issues raised in the introduction with regard to the positions of both Kittler and Foucault, and their differences. With respect to notions of network and structuration (especially, say, in systems views like Luhmann), there are interesting questions raised regarding conceptions of subjectivity and agency. Peter gestures toward these at the beginning of his answer, but he fails to return to a discussion of the implications of his sketch for the role of humans in a technologically mediated world characterised as the network society. This perhaps takes the question beyond the parameters of political economy that it emphasises, but Peter’s answer shows that he has a superb understanding of the different and conflicting positions of these approaches.
Peter’s answer is comprehensive and highly articulate. It demonstrates a mastery of the relevant literature and presents a clear and defensible argument. Peter has a deep knowledge of network theory.
****
Friday 6 May 2005
Humanist Discussion: Visualization and Narrative
An interesting thread came up on The Humanist listserv around the topic of Visualization and Narrative. People were discussing the following books:
> Edward Tufte: Visual Explanations, Envisioning Information, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, Data Analysis for Politics and Policy. http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/index
> Computers, Visualization, and History: How New Technology Will Transform Our Understanding of the Past
Authored by: David J. Staley
Here's my two cents on the topic:
1.
In a timely addition to this debate concerning the power of words and images, a recent neuroscience study out of California has found that words and pictures are both similarly attached to just one tiny, individual neuron, in what appears to be a clustering of meaning surrounding any single concept. Please see: Jay Ingram (of the Discovery Channel) in The Toronto Star’s “The Brain’s Jennifer Aniston Cell” (Saturday, July 2nd, 2005). Ingram writes, “the human brain entrusts the job of remembering the faces and names of people to single brain cells.” Specifically, the California study looks at how pictures and words (verbal and non-verbal) -- regardless of the size/intensity/perspective of their delivery -- fired one individual neuron in the brains of epileptic participants involved in the research. The study used well known words and images associated with celebrities such as Jennifer Aniston or Will Smith. To note, this single neuron theory is called the “Grandmother cell” theory.
So, perhaps the case is that words and pictures are equal, according to the physical structure of the brain’s memory at least; however, the use of the remembered signs depends on the context of how each sign is perceived. As well, recall depends on the training and preference of those who perceive the same signs. In many cases, researchers found if one’s visual processors did not exist, or were damaged, or had not been "trained" well, then other parts of the system make up for the shortcoming (some respondents to this thread have already suggested this possibility).
2.
To add to this dialogue on visualization and narrative, when Gerda, Eric, and Chris stated that words say more than pictures, what might ideographic or pictorial languages such as Chinese or Japanese demonstrate, especially when an extra layer of metaphor is often added in poetic works written in these languages because the ideographs themselves have meanings other than that of a single word’s meaning? Also, Chinese characters and Japanese Kanji’s meanings depend on their contexts and positions in sentences for all levels of meaning (1. pictorial, 2. metaphoric, and 3. literal) -- how might such signs be processed by the mind?
In the Microsoft Information Age, the return to pictorial/ideographic interfaces might suggest that a picture can say just as much OR more than a word can… Think of a no smoking sign or a happy face emoticon; why wouldn’t that sign say just as much as, or MORE THAN, the single word “happy”? A sign is a sign is a sign, and differing values can be assigned to a sign by any individual that uses a particular sign (whether it is a verbal utterance, a non-verbal picture, or a non-verbal discursive word).
I’m still brain-storming and considering these issues, and I’m very interested in what others have been writing in this thread!
Lastly, please feel free to add these texts to the growing list for interesting points on visualization and images:
1. West, Thomas G. Thinking like Einstein: returning to our visual roots with the emerging revolution in computer information visualization. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2004.
West’s book explores the late-blooming visual thinker’s life and achievements, researching the claim that the wiring of Einstein’s brain is what helped him become the greatest physicist of the last century.
2. Waisanen, John T. Thinking Geometrically: Re-visioning Space for a Multimodal World. Jennifer Daryl Slack, Ed. New York, NY: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., 2002.
Waisanen’s book is a lament for the loss of visual training based in traditional tools such as the pencil and drawing on paper at universities, because of the change to using computer technologies. His work mostly concerns Engineering students, but he does consider the Arts and Humanities aspects as well. He argues that both skills provide differing perspectives and tactics for developing well-rounded visual thinkers.
Cheers,
(pr)
> Edward Tufte: Visual Explanations, Envisioning Information, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, Data Analysis for Politics and Policy. http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/index
> Computers, Visualization, and History: How New Technology Will Transform Our Understanding of the Past
Authored by: David J. Staley
Here's my two cents on the topic:
1.
In a timely addition to this debate concerning the power of words and images, a recent neuroscience study out of California has found that words and pictures are both similarly attached to just one tiny, individual neuron, in what appears to be a clustering of meaning surrounding any single concept. Please see: Jay Ingram (of the Discovery Channel) in The Toronto Star’s “The Brain’s Jennifer Aniston Cell” (Saturday, July 2nd, 2005). Ingram writes, “the human brain entrusts the job of remembering the faces and names of people to single brain cells.” Specifically, the California study looks at how pictures and words (verbal and non-verbal) -- regardless of the size/intensity/perspective of their delivery -- fired one individual neuron in the brains of epileptic participants involved in the research. The study used well known words and images associated with celebrities such as Jennifer Aniston or Will Smith. To note, this single neuron theory is called the “Grandmother cell” theory.
So, perhaps the case is that words and pictures are equal, according to the physical structure of the brain’s memory at least; however, the use of the remembered signs depends on the context of how each sign is perceived. As well, recall depends on the training and preference of those who perceive the same signs. In many cases, researchers found if one’s visual processors did not exist, or were damaged, or had not been "trained" well, then other parts of the system make up for the shortcoming (some respondents to this thread have already suggested this possibility).
2.
To add to this dialogue on visualization and narrative, when Gerda, Eric, and Chris stated that words say more than pictures, what might ideographic or pictorial languages such as Chinese or Japanese demonstrate, especially when an extra layer of metaphor is often added in poetic works written in these languages because the ideographs themselves have meanings other than that of a single word’s meaning? Also, Chinese characters and Japanese Kanji’s meanings depend on their contexts and positions in sentences for all levels of meaning (1. pictorial, 2. metaphoric, and 3. literal) -- how might such signs be processed by the mind?
In the Microsoft Information Age, the return to pictorial/ideographic interfaces might suggest that a picture can say just as much OR more than a word can… Think of a no smoking sign or a happy face emoticon; why wouldn’t that sign say just as much as, or MORE THAN, the single word “happy”? A sign is a sign is a sign, and differing values can be assigned to a sign by any individual that uses a particular sign (whether it is a verbal utterance, a non-verbal picture, or a non-verbal discursive word).
I’m still brain-storming and considering these issues, and I’m very interested in what others have been writing in this thread!
Lastly, please feel free to add these texts to the growing list for interesting points on visualization and images:
1. West, Thomas G. Thinking like Einstein: returning to our visual roots with the emerging revolution in computer information visualization. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2004.
West’s book explores the late-blooming visual thinker’s life and achievements, researching the claim that the wiring of Einstein’s brain is what helped him become the greatest physicist of the last century.
2. Waisanen, John T. Thinking Geometrically: Re-visioning Space for a Multimodal World. Jennifer Daryl Slack, Ed. New York, NY: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., 2002.
Waisanen’s book is a lament for the loss of visual training based in traditional tools such as the pencil and drawing on paper at universities, because of the change to using computer technologies. His work mostly concerns Engineering students, but he does consider the Arts and Humanities aspects as well. He argues that both skills provide differing perspectives and tactics for developing well-rounded visual thinkers.
Cheers,
(pr)
Comprehensive Exams: A Sample Answer
This posting has a link for those who would like an example of a Comprehensive Exam answer; the following example is how I chose to answer my Major General Exam question #1: click here
Comprehensive Exams Questions - The Actual Questions
The Actual Exam Questions
The following questions are the actual questions that my committee gave me for my examination:
Joint Graduate Programme in Communication & Culture
PhD Qualifying Examination
Candidate: Peter Ryan
Major Field: Technology and Practice
Minor Field: Media and Culture
Examiners: ****
Date of Exam: May 17, 2005
This is a 72-hour take home exam.
There should be no footnotes unless a direct quote is used. There should be a bibliography of all sources consulted only while writing the exam (not the list of sources used while preparing for the exam).
Answers are not to exceed ten (10) pages, typed, double spaced, for each answer.
Return a copy of your answers to each examiner ****
Answer one (1) question from each part.
A. Major General
1. What materials would you choose to teach in an introductory Communications course geared toward first-year graduate students? Specifically, why would you choose those materials and how would you organize them for study? Discuss in terms of areas of controversy and the strengths and weaknesses of various schools.
2. The domain of Cultural Studies is often generalized to research concerning how meaning is constituted within various texts, practices, and ideologies. What roles do consensus and dissent play in forming understanding of the definition of Culture from a Cultural Studies perspective? How do Cultural Studies theorists define Culture differently from other disciplines such as Communications, Literary Theory, Political Economy, and Sociology, which often are associated with Cultural Studies in interdisciplinary projects?
3. How does Habermas take up the work of the earlier members of the Frankfurt School in his definition of communicative action? Please define key terms where necessary and provide a structured, well-researched chronological response to this question based on various readings of Habermas’s public sphere and modernity.
B. Major Specific (Technology and Practice)
1. In many Political Economy critiques of technological shifts a recent distinction from previous communication technology epochs is that of “the network society.” How does neo-liberal Political Economy structure technological practices in the twenty-first century? Further, how does “the progress narrative” figure in neo-liberal ideology concerning technological changes in the twentieth century?
2. How would you characterize the present technological epoch given that some theorists describe the information age sometimes as 1) a continuation of modern formations, 2) postmodern in the terms of Frederic Jameson, or 3) hypermodern as an extension of modernity just at a faster pace? Please fully explain what these terms signify for differing theorists in the twentieth century.
C. Minor (Media and Culture)
1. Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow is often described as an influential work in both the areas of contemporary art and technology. How does Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow provide a critique of modern reason during World War II in comparison with, and contrast to, such early works of Science Fiction as Dracula or Frankenstein from the Romantic period? The texts that you choose to explicate your interpretations of Gravity’s Rainbow are based entirely on your own selection criteria; however, you must use at least five other texts of literary theory from the latter half of the twentieth century in your answer.
2 In the area of North American Literary Studies, what positions have North American authors occupied in challenging cultural, economic, and political hegemonic powers? Do you view North American Literary Studies as a colonial creation within the academy that represents US domination on the continent within a NAFTA context? If not, what other factors do you see contributing to such a field as “North American Literary Studies”?
3 Broadly, how is technology used as a theme in Canadian and American fiction of the latter half of the twentieth century? How would you describe the linkage between fiction and technological change?
The following questions are the actual questions that my committee gave me for my examination:
Joint Graduate Programme in Communication & Culture
PhD Qualifying Examination
Candidate: Peter Ryan
Major Field: Technology and Practice
Minor Field: Media and Culture
Examiners: ****
Date of Exam: May 17, 2005
This is a 72-hour take home exam.
There should be no footnotes unless a direct quote is used. There should be a bibliography of all sources consulted only while writing the exam (not the list of sources used while preparing for the exam).
Answers are not to exceed ten (10) pages, typed, double spaced, for each answer.
Return a copy of your answers to each examiner ****
Answer one (1) question from each part.
A. Major General
1. What materials would you choose to teach in an introductory Communications course geared toward first-year graduate students? Specifically, why would you choose those materials and how would you organize them for study? Discuss in terms of areas of controversy and the strengths and weaknesses of various schools.
2. The domain of Cultural Studies is often generalized to research concerning how meaning is constituted within various texts, practices, and ideologies. What roles do consensus and dissent play in forming understanding of the definition of Culture from a Cultural Studies perspective? How do Cultural Studies theorists define Culture differently from other disciplines such as Communications, Literary Theory, Political Economy, and Sociology, which often are associated with Cultural Studies in interdisciplinary projects?
3. How does Habermas take up the work of the earlier members of the Frankfurt School in his definition of communicative action? Please define key terms where necessary and provide a structured, well-researched chronological response to this question based on various readings of Habermas’s public sphere and modernity.
B. Major Specific (Technology and Practice)
1. In many Political Economy critiques of technological shifts a recent distinction from previous communication technology epochs is that of “the network society.” How does neo-liberal Political Economy structure technological practices in the twenty-first century? Further, how does “the progress narrative” figure in neo-liberal ideology concerning technological changes in the twentieth century?
2. How would you characterize the present technological epoch given that some theorists describe the information age sometimes as 1) a continuation of modern formations, 2) postmodern in the terms of Frederic Jameson, or 3) hypermodern as an extension of modernity just at a faster pace? Please fully explain what these terms signify for differing theorists in the twentieth century.
C. Minor (Media and Culture)
1. Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow is often described as an influential work in both the areas of contemporary art and technology. How does Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow provide a critique of modern reason during World War II in comparison with, and contrast to, such early works of Science Fiction as Dracula or Frankenstein from the Romantic period? The texts that you choose to explicate your interpretations of Gravity’s Rainbow are based entirely on your own selection criteria; however, you must use at least five other texts of literary theory from the latter half of the twentieth century in your answer.
2 In the area of North American Literary Studies, what positions have North American authors occupied in challenging cultural, economic, and political hegemonic powers? Do you view North American Literary Studies as a colonial creation within the academy that represents US domination on the continent within a NAFTA context? If not, what other factors do you see contributing to such a field as “North American Literary Studies”?
3 Broadly, how is technology used as a theme in Canadian and American fiction of the latter half of the twentieth century? How would you describe the linkage between fiction and technological change?
Comprehensive Exams Questions
Designing Comprehensive Exam Questions
The following posting is for those of you who are interested in how Comprehensive Exam questions get designed by a committee. In my programme, the candidate proposes the questions, and then their committee chooses and crafts the final questions, which are given to the candidate at the exam.
A draft of my proposed questions are as follows belows. To note, sections with "****" are excised for privacy concerns or because the material is a part of my future research:
Suggested Doctoral Comprehensive Exam Questions
March 6th, 2005 – Draft II
Peter Ryan
Personal Writing Option: Take Home Exam, in Two Parts.
Tentative Dates of the Exam:
1. Major: Monday, May 16th, 2005 (or Monday, May 31st, 2005)
2. Minor: Thursday, May 19th, 2005 (or Monday, June 7th, 2005)
****
Exam Questions Suggested Guidelines:
“In both formats, students will be given a choice of questions to answer: 2 of 5 for the major (which would normally be divided into 3 general questions and 2 questions specific to the major field) and 1 of 3 for the minor.”
Note:
1) I have provided more questions here just to get feedback at this point.
2) The Major General Questions are based on the PhD Core Course ****, the Core Course in Communication Studies ****, and the Core Course in Cultural Studies ****.
3) The Major Specific Questions are based on the PhD Foundation Course in Technology and Practice ****.
4) The Minor Questions are based on my Media and Culture foundation courses and electives.
I. MAJOR (Five Questions in Total – 48 hours to complete)
A. General -- 3 Questions --
Please answer one of the three following questions within 10 – 15 pages maximum. Use MLA style for citations, formatting, and works cited.
Suggested Reading List: Approximately 25 Texts for the Major.
1. If a Canadian canon of Communication Theory was to be formed for the last half of the 20th century and it had to contain the work of at least 10 core scholars, what theorists and texts would you argue should be included on the list? Why would you choose those theorists and their representative texts? Please support your choices and define key terms where necessary.
2. What materials would you choose to teach in an introductory Communications course geared towards first-year graduate students? Specifically, why would you choose those materials and how would you organize them for study?
3. The domain of Cultural Studies is often generalized to research concerning how meaning is constituted within various texts, practices, and ideologies. What roles do consensus and dissensus play in forming understandings of the definition of Culture from a Cultural Studies perspective? How do Cultural Studies theorists define Culture differently from other disciplines such as Communications, Literary Theory, Political Economy, and Sociology, which are often associated with Cultural Studies in interdisciplinary projects?
4. How does Habermas take up the work of the earlier members of the Frankfurt School in his definition of communicative action? Please define key terms where necessary and provide a structured, well-researched chronological response to this question based on various readings of Habermas’s public sphere and modernity.
B. Specific (to Field): Technology and Practice – 2 Questions --
Please answer one of the following questions within 10 – 15 pages maximum.
Use MLA style for citations, formatting, and works cited.
Suggested Reading List: Approximately 25 Texts for the Major.
1. In many Political Economy critiques of technological shifts a recent distinction from previous communication technology epochs is that of “the network society.” How does neo-liberal Political Economy structure technological practices in the 21st century? Further, how does “the progress narrative” figure in neo-liberal ideology concerning technological changes in the twentieth century?
2. How would you characterize the present technological epoch given that some theorists describe the information age sometimes as 1) a continuation of modern formations, 2) postmodern in the terms of Frederic Jameson, or 3) hypermodern as an extension of modernity just at a faster pace? Please fully explain what these terms signify for differing theorists in the 20th century.
II. MINOR (Three Questions in Total – 24 hours to complete)
Media and Culture: 20th Century North American Literature
Please answer one of the following questions within 10 – 15 pages maximum. Use MLA style for citations, formatting, and works cited.
Suggested Reading List: Approximately 20 Texts for the Minor.
1. Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow is often described as an influential work in both the areas of contemporary art and technology. How does Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow provide a critique of modern reason during World War II in comparison with, and contrast to, such early works of Science Fiction as Dracula or Frankenstein from the Romantic period? The texts that you choose to explicate your interpretations of Gravity’s Rainbow are entirely based on your own selection criteria; however, you must use at least five other texts of literary theory from the latter half of the twentieth century in your answer.
2. How does Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle challenge traditional definitions of the Science Fiction genre (or speculative fiction genre)? Critiques of strict genre boundaries often demonstrate challenges to modern academic disciplinary categories. Do you believe that Science Fiction is a market construction or a useful term of critical analysis? Please use examples of contemporary literary theory to explicate your position.
3. In the area of North American Literary Studies, what positions have North American authors occupied in challenging cultural, economic, and political hegemonic powers? Do you view North American Literary Studies a colonial creation within the academy that represent US domination on the continent within a NAFTA context? If not, what other factors do you see contributing to such a field as “North American Literary Studies”?
4. Broadly, how is technology used as a theme in Canadian and American Fiction of the latter half of the twentieth century?
The following posting is for those of you who are interested in how Comprehensive Exam questions get designed by a committee. In my programme, the candidate proposes the questions, and then their committee chooses and crafts the final questions, which are given to the candidate at the exam.
A draft of my proposed questions are as follows belows. To note, sections with "****" are excised for privacy concerns or because the material is a part of my future research:
Suggested Doctoral Comprehensive Exam Questions
March 6th, 2005 – Draft II
Peter Ryan
Personal Writing Option: Take Home Exam, in Two Parts.
Tentative Dates of the Exam:
1. Major: Monday, May 16th, 2005 (or Monday, May 31st, 2005)
2. Minor: Thursday, May 19th, 2005 (or Monday, June 7th, 2005)
****
Exam Questions Suggested Guidelines:
“In both formats, students will be given a choice of questions to answer: 2 of 5 for the major (which would normally be divided into 3 general questions and 2 questions specific to the major field) and 1 of 3 for the minor.”
Note:
1) I have provided more questions here just to get feedback at this point.
2) The Major General Questions are based on the PhD Core Course ****, the Core Course in Communication Studies ****, and the Core Course in Cultural Studies ****.
3) The Major Specific Questions are based on the PhD Foundation Course in Technology and Practice ****.
4) The Minor Questions are based on my Media and Culture foundation courses and electives.
I. MAJOR (Five Questions in Total – 48 hours to complete)
A. General -- 3 Questions --
Please answer one of the three following questions within 10 – 15 pages maximum. Use MLA style for citations, formatting, and works cited.
Suggested Reading List: Approximately 25 Texts for the Major.
1. If a Canadian canon of Communication Theory was to be formed for the last half of the 20th century and it had to contain the work of at least 10 core scholars, what theorists and texts would you argue should be included on the list? Why would you choose those theorists and their representative texts? Please support your choices and define key terms where necessary.
2. What materials would you choose to teach in an introductory Communications course geared towards first-year graduate students? Specifically, why would you choose those materials and how would you organize them for study?
3. The domain of Cultural Studies is often generalized to research concerning how meaning is constituted within various texts, practices, and ideologies. What roles do consensus and dissensus play in forming understandings of the definition of Culture from a Cultural Studies perspective? How do Cultural Studies theorists define Culture differently from other disciplines such as Communications, Literary Theory, Political Economy, and Sociology, which are often associated with Cultural Studies in interdisciplinary projects?
4. How does Habermas take up the work of the earlier members of the Frankfurt School in his definition of communicative action? Please define key terms where necessary and provide a structured, well-researched chronological response to this question based on various readings of Habermas’s public sphere and modernity.
B. Specific (to Field): Technology and Practice – 2 Questions --
Please answer one of the following questions within 10 – 15 pages maximum.
Use MLA style for citations, formatting, and works cited.
Suggested Reading List: Approximately 25 Texts for the Major.
1. In many Political Economy critiques of technological shifts a recent distinction from previous communication technology epochs is that of “the network society.” How does neo-liberal Political Economy structure technological practices in the 21st century? Further, how does “the progress narrative” figure in neo-liberal ideology concerning technological changes in the twentieth century?
2. How would you characterize the present technological epoch given that some theorists describe the information age sometimes as 1) a continuation of modern formations, 2) postmodern in the terms of Frederic Jameson, or 3) hypermodern as an extension of modernity just at a faster pace? Please fully explain what these terms signify for differing theorists in the 20th century.
II. MINOR (Three Questions in Total – 24 hours to complete)
Media and Culture: 20th Century North American Literature
Please answer one of the following questions within 10 – 15 pages maximum. Use MLA style for citations, formatting, and works cited.
Suggested Reading List: Approximately 20 Texts for the Minor.
1. Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow is often described as an influential work in both the areas of contemporary art and technology. How does Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow provide a critique of modern reason during World War II in comparison with, and contrast to, such early works of Science Fiction as Dracula or Frankenstein from the Romantic period? The texts that you choose to explicate your interpretations of Gravity’s Rainbow are entirely based on your own selection criteria; however, you must use at least five other texts of literary theory from the latter half of the twentieth century in your answer.
2. How does Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle challenge traditional definitions of the Science Fiction genre (or speculative fiction genre)? Critiques of strict genre boundaries often demonstrate challenges to modern academic disciplinary categories. Do you believe that Science Fiction is a market construction or a useful term of critical analysis? Please use examples of contemporary literary theory to explicate your position.
3. In the area of North American Literary Studies, what positions have North American authors occupied in challenging cultural, economic, and political hegemonic powers? Do you view North American Literary Studies a colonial creation within the academy that represent US domination on the continent within a NAFTA context? If not, what other factors do you see contributing to such a field as “North American Literary Studies”?
4. Broadly, how is technology used as a theme in Canadian and American Fiction of the latter half of the twentieth century?
Comprehensive Exams
For my first post on this web site, I will begin with an e-mail I sent at 5 AM in the morning after my recently completed Comprehensive Exams to my exam committee. This was previously posted on my old web site in June 2005.
******
I thought this might be a good beginning point for people interested in the actual writing of the comprehensive exams, and surprise – that’s what my blog will be primarily concerned with: my dissertation research.
To note, a lot of the following e-mail is exaggerated for comedic effect (which I hope is obvious), but much of it rings close to the truth.
I guess for a little setup, I should inform you that I wrote a three day (72 hour), take-home Comprehensive Exam composed of three questions: 1) a Major General, 2) a Major Specific, and 3) a Minor Specific question. Each question had to be answered in a 10 page space. I’ll attach the exact exam questions, answers, and responses from my committee later – these documents will be edited for areas that are particular to my future research, and will be especially refined for purposes of intellectual copyright.
Without further ado:
************
Dear all,
Just some quick notes:
1) Concerning my finished exam materials:
I’m pretty happy with how the actual finished product turned out, given the time constraints. I look forward to your comments on my efforts!
2) Concerning the process of writing the exam (written at 5 AM Thursday Morning, trying to get some of this excess energy out):
Well, to tell you truthfully, I have to send these exams off to you now, or I fear I’ll have a heart attack (and I don’t have a defibrillator readily at hand in such an event). Mainly, I have to send them off because I haven’t been able to sleep for the past two nights, and that’s not without wanting to, having the time, or for lack of trying!
Needless to say, these aren’t excuses for the quality of work that’s submitted here… this is just an account of my surroundings and experiences over the past few days from someone who usually has what would be considered a fairly “normal” and routinely structured life.
Although this test was not as bad as some have said (I should probably wait to hear of my success before making such claims), I would like to share some of the experiences that I’ve had in the last week or so leading up to, and including, the writing of these exams, just because I hope you’ll find them as humorous and truly bizarre as I do.
For someone whose life has been organized to have as little stress as possible since I left my crazy 24/7 commuting publishing job in Japan, and my previous equally stress-filled restaurant manager job in Edmonton, where I usually slept in a booth at least twice a week; this experience has not been the three day fun-filled paradise getaway for which I hoped (no, that comes now that I’m done J).
I prepared over the past four months as best I could for the one thing that I truly detest in life: an exam. Alas, my fellow PhD students were correct to warn me that the “COMPS” are truly a psychological test when there is a 72 hour deadline waiting for you like a brick wall, and the student is writing on the way towards that wall at 100 miles/hour.
First of all, I did get sick, like everyone predicted – a week before to be exact (as did everyone else in my house – so I don’t think it was nerves or a stressed immune system), but then I eventually got over it four days before the exam. Next were the nightmares of my fingers melting off, and me waking up sweating because I was scared that I wouldn’t be able to type for the exam. Also, there were frequent dreams of my teeth falling out – I’m not sure what those were about, but they truly rattled me, and I’m someone that enjoys having nightmares because I think they’re usually extraordinary experiences that don’t happen every day. This is still before the exam too…
Once the exam arrived at 9 AM on Tuesday morning (May 17th) my indigestion started, and for the next two days it has persisted – thank God for Tums… I had never even had indigestion before in my life, so I wasn’t sure if Tums actually worked, never having used them. Lo and behold they do! They probably ended up saving me a lot of discomfort and annoyance while writing! I guess the indigestion didn’t help with my sleep problems, but the pounding heart certainly didn’t either – these two stress symptoms made my late night dementia quite fun. Lastly, the burst water pipe in our washroom didn’t help matters either, with our oh-so-kind landlord visiting on Wednesday to help me out (making a noisy symphony for two hours).
Again, this is coming from someone who thinks they know how to handle stress – having a yoga instructor for a fiancé usually helps toward this end!! Honestly, I haven’t been this stressed since those days of corporate management -- and thank all that is blessed, these exams are now over!!
My systems are shutting down now… I’ve CC’d my fiancé on this e-mail, so she knows that she can come home now J -- yeah!! And the only thing that I’ll be stressed out about after this is if I ever have kids – dissertation defense, bah – I’ve already defended a thesis and it was a cake walk… J
Thanks again – all of you – for your advice, help, and support on these exams!!!
Cheers and have a great long weekend,
Peter
PS – As you can see from this note, answering the exams questions was not my problem… editing them down to 10 pages was, but I took Dr. Panofsky’s instructions -- that just as long as the answers weren’t over 20 pages I should be fine -- as a good warning/guideline for my two longer answers in the Major Specific and the Minor. Deep down inside I know they could both be edited a little more, but I actually like them how they are (after 3 edits each)! I hope you do too…
PS2 – any mistakes or illogical arguments found in my exam responses are entirely my dog Bear’s fault. Bear kept telling me to write strange arguments about cats and squirrels during the wee hours of morning, and he’s not too good at editing or typing either… However, he did keep me company many of the nights that I studied for these exams, and I must give him credit for that!
PS3 – I can’t wait to take all of these books back to the library and finally have a clean room again…
******
I thought this might be a good beginning point for people interested in the actual writing of the comprehensive exams, and surprise – that’s what my blog will be primarily concerned with: my dissertation research.
To note, a lot of the following e-mail is exaggerated for comedic effect (which I hope is obvious), but much of it rings close to the truth.
I guess for a little setup, I should inform you that I wrote a three day (72 hour), take-home Comprehensive Exam composed of three questions: 1) a Major General, 2) a Major Specific, and 3) a Minor Specific question. Each question had to be answered in a 10 page space. I’ll attach the exact exam questions, answers, and responses from my committee later – these documents will be edited for areas that are particular to my future research, and will be especially refined for purposes of intellectual copyright.
Without further ado:
************
Dear all,
Just some quick notes:
1) Concerning my finished exam materials:
I’m pretty happy with how the actual finished product turned out, given the time constraints. I look forward to your comments on my efforts!
2) Concerning the process of writing the exam (written at 5 AM Thursday Morning, trying to get some of this excess energy out):
Well, to tell you truthfully, I have to send these exams off to you now, or I fear I’ll have a heart attack (and I don’t have a defibrillator readily at hand in such an event). Mainly, I have to send them off because I haven’t been able to sleep for the past two nights, and that’s not without wanting to, having the time, or for lack of trying!
Needless to say, these aren’t excuses for the quality of work that’s submitted here… this is just an account of my surroundings and experiences over the past few days from someone who usually has what would be considered a fairly “normal” and routinely structured life.
Although this test was not as bad as some have said (I should probably wait to hear of my success before making such claims), I would like to share some of the experiences that I’ve had in the last week or so leading up to, and including, the writing of these exams, just because I hope you’ll find them as humorous and truly bizarre as I do.
For someone whose life has been organized to have as little stress as possible since I left my crazy 24/7 commuting publishing job in Japan, and my previous equally stress-filled restaurant manager job in Edmonton, where I usually slept in a booth at least twice a week; this experience has not been the three day fun-filled paradise getaway for which I hoped (no, that comes now that I’m done J).
I prepared over the past four months as best I could for the one thing that I truly detest in life: an exam. Alas, my fellow PhD students were correct to warn me that the “COMPS” are truly a psychological test when there is a 72 hour deadline waiting for you like a brick wall, and the student is writing on the way towards that wall at 100 miles/hour.
First of all, I did get sick, like everyone predicted – a week before to be exact (as did everyone else in my house – so I don’t think it was nerves or a stressed immune system), but then I eventually got over it four days before the exam. Next were the nightmares of my fingers melting off, and me waking up sweating because I was scared that I wouldn’t be able to type for the exam. Also, there were frequent dreams of my teeth falling out – I’m not sure what those were about, but they truly rattled me, and I’m someone that enjoys having nightmares because I think they’re usually extraordinary experiences that don’t happen every day. This is still before the exam too…
Once the exam arrived at 9 AM on Tuesday morning (May 17th) my indigestion started, and for the next two days it has persisted – thank God for Tums… I had never even had indigestion before in my life, so I wasn’t sure if Tums actually worked, never having used them. Lo and behold they do! They probably ended up saving me a lot of discomfort and annoyance while writing! I guess the indigestion didn’t help with my sleep problems, but the pounding heart certainly didn’t either – these two stress symptoms made my late night dementia quite fun. Lastly, the burst water pipe in our washroom didn’t help matters either, with our oh-so-kind landlord visiting on Wednesday to help me out (making a noisy symphony for two hours).
Again, this is coming from someone who thinks they know how to handle stress – having a yoga instructor for a fiancé usually helps toward this end!! Honestly, I haven’t been this stressed since those days of corporate management -- and thank all that is blessed, these exams are now over!!
My systems are shutting down now… I’ve CC’d my fiancé on this e-mail, so she knows that she can come home now J -- yeah!! And the only thing that I’ll be stressed out about after this is if I ever have kids – dissertation defense, bah – I’ve already defended a thesis and it was a cake walk… J
Thanks again – all of you – for your advice, help, and support on these exams!!!
Cheers and have a great long weekend,
Peter
PS – As you can see from this note, answering the exams questions was not my problem… editing them down to 10 pages was, but I took Dr. Panofsky’s instructions -- that just as long as the answers weren’t over 20 pages I should be fine -- as a good warning/guideline for my two longer answers in the Major Specific and the Minor. Deep down inside I know they could both be edited a little more, but I actually like them how they are (after 3 edits each)! I hope you do too…
PS2 – any mistakes or illogical arguments found in my exam responses are entirely my dog Bear’s fault. Bear kept telling me to write strange arguments about cats and squirrels during the wee hours of morning, and he’s not too good at editing or typing either… However, he did keep me company many of the nights that I studied for these exams, and I must give him credit for that!
PS3 – I can’t wait to take all of these books back to the library and finally have a clean room again…
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