Academic Dissertations in the News

Advice for Completing a Thesis or Dissertation

1 January 2022

Research on graduate students' experiences with writing a thesis or dissertation suggests many students aren’t always sure what to expect when they begin the process. Dr. Ken Oldfield, professor emeritus at the University of Illinois, Springfield, offers these strategies along with some tips on how to manage the process.

* Start early.
* Choose your adviser wisely.
* Choose your supervisory committee wisely.
* Choose your topic…wisely.
* Take notes.
* Keep copies of everything.
* Ask for help.
* Just do it.

Read article at University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Top DeSantis official embraced critical race theory in dissertation

22 December 2021

Gov. Ron DeSantis has called critical race theory a “Marxist” ideology that has no place in public schools. But a top official in his administration had previously taken a very different stance.

Eric Hall, who DeSantis recently appointed to head Florida’s Department of Juvenile Justice, used critical race theory as the bedrock of his 2014 dissertation examining alternative schools.

Read story at Politico.com

Naomi Wolf wanted extra year-long embargo on controversial thesis

3 July 2021

By Jack Grove for Times Higher Education.

 

Oxford rejected her request to delay release of error-strewn dissertation.

Naomi Wolf attempted to block the publication of her error-strewn doctoral thesis for a further year after submitting it to the University of Oxford’s digital archive more than five years late.
According to internal emails seen by Times Higher Education, the American feminist requested an additional extension to embargo her D.Phil. dissertation after depositing it, alongside a lengthy corrections sheet, with Oxford’s research archive at the end of December 2020.

Read more at Inside Higher Education

 

What Jill Biden’s Dissertation Reveals About Her Approach to Higher Education

19 February 2021

It turns out that Jill Biden, the presumptive First Lady, has thought deeply about community colleges. In fact, she wrote her dissertation at the University of Delaware about how to improve retention at two-year colleges.

So what did she conclude? And what does it say about her thinking on higher education, as she prepares to move into the White House? Read more at edsurge.com by Jeffrey R. Young, Nov 20, 2020