Qual

My qualifying paper (PDF, 900KB, 81 pages) is finished and will be defended on June 2. Lecture slides, and possibly a recording, will also be made available after the defense.

At Indiana University, doctoral students have to pass a qualifying exam before they are allowed to begin the dissertation, and after they have finished all non-research-related (i.e., the first 3-4 years of) coursework. In SLIS (my school), the qualifying exam involves spending 9-12 months reading hundreds of articles/books and writing a critical literature review of the current theoretical and methodological state of the art in a chosen area of study. The student then defends this document for 1.5 hours before the faculty of the school. After the defense, faculty have one week to request revisions to the draft.