Category: part-time phd
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Tips for Passing your Ph.D. Qualifying Exams
In January 2022, I passed my Ph.D. qualifying exam and officially became a Ph.D. Candidate. For those who aren’t familiar with the Ph.D. process, this means that I am ABD, which stands for “All but dissertation.” This means that all that’s left in my program is for me to write and defend my dissertation. A…
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Presentation: Close Reading the Sonic Topology of Instagram Poetry with Poemage
On May 16-17th, 2022, I attended the SpokenWeb Symposium 2022 at Concordia University in Montreal on the theme of “The Sound of Literature in Time.” My presentation was titled “Close Reading the Sonic Topology of Instagram Poetry with Poemage”. In the presentation, I show how Poemage, an open-source visualization tool for exploring the sonic topology…
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How to get a Research Assistant position
When I started my Ph.D. as a part-time student, I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to accept my Teaching Assistant (TA) positions given my other responsibilities: a full-time 9-5 job, extracurriculars, course work and my own research, and spending time with my friends and families. At the time, there weren’t many opportunities…
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How to write a conference abstract
This year, I am the Graduate Placement Officer (GPO) representative for our graduate student committee, which generally means that I work with our GPO to organize and host professionalization workshops for graduate students. As part of this role, last semester I organized and led a workshop on how to write a conference abstract. Here are…
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Top 9 tips for incoming PhD students
Summer is winding down in Canada which, for anyone in academia, means we are gearing up for another school year—and welcoming another incoming cohort of PhD students. I’ve been reflecting on my first year in the program lately and have been speaking with some of my PhD friends about what we wish we’d known heading…
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Reflections on my first comprehensive exam
Last semester, I finished my fifth and final course required for my PhD at the University of Guelph. The fall before (Fall 2019), I passed my written and oral exams for my Secondary Area Qualifications. Here are some of my reflections on the comprehensive exam now that I’m about halfway through the program. Secondary Area…
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Part-time PhD in a pandemic
It’s been a little over a year now since the COVID-19 pandemic hit and we switched to remote work, school, and ways of life. My PhD experience hasn’t been all that typical. I’ve been working full-time and doing my studies part-time, commuting to campus one day a week to work and do school work in…
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My first Digital Humanities Summer Institute
June 2019 marked my first time attending the Digital Humanities Summer Institute (DHSI) in Victoria, B.C. It was also my first time visiting Victoria, my first time taking a week-long technical course about a coding language, and my first DH related conference! It was an incredible experience – here’s what I learned. What is DHSI?…
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Looking back at 2018
In this post, I take a look back at my 2018 accomplishments and my goals and resolutions for 2019.
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Three things I’ve learned from the first semester in my part-time PhD
I’ve now completed one semester of somewhere between 15-20 semesters to come of my part-time PhD. With one semester under my academic belt, I’d like to reflect on how my first semester went and what I learned — both inside and out of the classroom.
Kiera Obbard 