MEMS 898
Interdisciplinary Dissertation Colloquium in Medieval and Early Modern Studies
Winter 2005
1-3 credits
Monday 1-3
Karla Taylor
3220 Angell Hall
764-6363
kttaylor@umich.edu
hours M 11-12, W 9-10 and by appointment
Sir John Mandeville writing his dissertation
British Museum
Germany or Flanders, 15th century
I’m pleased to unveil a new course, MEMS 898, the Interdisciplinary Dissertation Colloquium in Medieval and Early Modern Studies. It is now an official course, listed in the on-line course guide, and you may register for it by permission of instructor (that would be me). It’s intended for dissertation writers, including those who are writing their prospectuses. MEMS 898 will provide an opportunity for advanced students in MEMS to present their work to one another in a model interdisciplinary seminar that brings together doctoral candidates from all the MEMS disciplines. The work may be dissertation chapters (or parts thereof), conference presentations, or scholarly articles to be submitted for publication. In addition to reading and responding to one another’s work, the seminar will also consider methodological and disciplinary issues of common interest to the members of the seminar. MEMS 898 counts toward the requirements of the Certificate in Medieval and Early Modern Studies, but you do not need to be admitted to the Certificate Program in order to take the course.
The course will meet regularly on a schedule to be determined by the needs of the group; you may register for it for 1-3 credit hours (please note that every doctoral candidate may take or officially audit one course, up to three credit hours, in addition to the regular candidacy course, at no extra tuition charge).
In order to get permission to take the course, please message me and tell me your name, department, and degree program; please also say a few words about your dissertation topic/area and the stage of its progress (writing a prospectus? Planning to finish this term? Somewhere in between?). The course will be evaluated on a Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory scale.
In order to avoid logistical problems with scheduling, please let me know as soon as is convenient if you would like to participate in the seminar. I will ask for your tentative schedules before the end of Fall Term, with the intention of establishing a meeting time and place by the beginning of Winter Term.
We’re very excited about this new dissertation writing seminar, which we hope will serve MEMS dissertation writers not only as an interdisciplinary intellectual community, but also as a practical workshop where you can raise and address the problems that can arise in researching and writing a large project. It will provide each of you with an audience that is both rigorous and supportive, as well as larger and more various than any dissertation committee.
Now that we actually have an official course, I’m appending the full description of the course as approved by Rackham:
The Interdisciplinary Dissertation Colloquium is an integral part of the Graduate Certificate Program in Medieval and Early Modern Studies. It seeks to meet three needs:
- to provide useful criticism of dissertation work from a wider range of expertise and methodological points of view than normally encompassed in a dissertation committee;
- to provide advanced students with experience in public presentation of scholarly papers;
- to create an intellectual forum that will bring together graduate students in disparate fields, so as to encourage interdisciplinary dialogue and consequent broadening of horizons.
It is intended for doctoral candidates at the prospectus- or dissertation-writing stage of their programs. Students do not need to be admitted to the Certificate Program in order to take the course.
Hope to hear from you!
