1 down 3 more to go...
Today I handed in my last paper of the Fall 2009 semester and thus officially finished my first semester of PhD coursework. I'm feeling pretty good right now. All the stress lifted as I placed the paper in my prof's mailbox. I am thankful that I started all of my papers early in the semester. It gave me time to refine my thoughts and precluded any last second hurrying.
I have to say that after one semester of study, I think one of my former prof's at Calvin Seminary was spot on when he counseled me: "Nevada, the key to getting done with a PhD is just doing it: butt to chair. Sit down and do the work." Most of a PhD is a willingness to work, and has much less to do with "native talent" (whatever that means!).
Anyway, that's one semester of coursework down and three more to go!
I have to say that after one semester of study, I think one of my former prof's at Calvin Seminary was spot on when he counseled me: "Nevada, the key to getting done with a PhD is just doing it: butt to chair. Sit down and do the work." Most of a PhD is a willingness to work, and has much less to do with "native talent" (whatever that means!).
Anyway, that's one semester of coursework down and three more to go!
posted by Nevada @ 11:11 AM
4 Comments:
At 11:04 PM,
Andrew C said…
Ain't that the truth ... hence the reason I've been absent from the blogosphere these past 10 weeks!
I guess it's the degree length and quarter system, but I'm saying 4 down, 6 to go ... though that doesn't include comps ... or dissertation. Ugh. Oh to have an income again!!! [grin]
At 10:39 AM,
Nevada said…
Andrew,
Does that give you another year and a half of course work? (I'm no math genius :)
Brite requires 48 hours of coursework (12 a semester comes to 4 semesters--though some people think I'm crazy doing 12 hours a semester).
I can't recall: are you doing Northwestern Semitics or ANE?
Out of curiousity: what are comps like at UCLA? Here we draw up a list of questions with our advisor and spend a year preparing papers to turn in within a one week window on the particular questions that the professors decide to assign in that week. The nice thing about this arrangement is that you can direct all of your questions towards your dissertation area and so have a big chunk written by the time you're done with comps.
At 12:32 PM,
mike fox said…
good work buddy see ya next semester
At 3:21 PM,
Andrew C said…
Yep, another year and a half, or perhaps since it's the quarter system - a Year and 2/3rds.
My major is technically called Ancient Near Eastern Civilizations, but that's code for Hebrew Bible. The degree here, however, is geared around Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, so we spend a lot of time doing philology and archaeology. I've taken some Akkadian, but I'm focusing my languages on NWS since my interest is OT rather than Semitics in general.
As for qualifying exams ... not sure exactly how they work. I've got bibliographies for the MA exams (which I have to take since they don't credit my MDiv) and near as I can tell, it's a matter of knowing the literature, knowing what was covered in the professor's seminars, and doing the synthesis. I've heard that the profs do tailor the Ph.D exams, to be taken after the MA's are done, to the dissertation topic. So well see how that works out!
Anyway... it's a long program, but it's well funded and I'm getting some good experience in bible, archaeology, and ANE history in general. It should leave some doors open for me should I go the academic route and I've found the breadth to be helpful to my pastoral work as well.
Sorry for the novel! I'm just trying to crank out a final paper so my fingers are pretty warmed up!!! Time to dive back in!
Oh, and please say hello to your wife and in-laws for me!
Post a Comment
<< Home