Challenging the Dissertation MonographThe master narrative in the form of the dissertation does not meet the political, economical, intellectual, and social needs of the PhD student.
|
After all, “if one purpose of completing a dissertation is for training experience, it can be argued that we are not training students for the real world of academe” because “at the very point students are in the best position to receive the training necessary to better prepare them in their new careers, they are being asked to use a writing structure they will probably never use again” (Gerber, 2000, p. 480). |
DiscourseThere is a need to have the autonomy to think and produce in ways which are of one's nature. Never should a person be denied the opportunity to create, speak, question, argue, and respond.
Being free to circulate knowledge and power are crucial to a democratic society Research can and should be used as hegemony-disrupting discourse. |
CreativityArt, as Goodman (1968) states, has the power to "remake our world" (page 33).
bell hooks (1994) takes the idea of art and revolution even further. In her book Outlaw Culture: Resisting Representations, she writes that art is "defined as on the edge, pushing the limits, disturbing the conventional and accepted politics of representation" (pages 4-5). Why couldn't we use our creativity to harness this type of revolutionary change by providing our own unique contributions of mind and spirit? |
TechnologyA traditional monograph runs counter to the fluidity of the digital age.
Why continue to disseminate information in outmoded ways when technology has enabled us to reach larger audiences and to collaborate more effectively than ever before? The nature of scholarship has changed and so has the nature of the research and the nature of employment. |