Sigaba

From his perspective, he may feel as upset as you in his own way and for different reasons. It may well be that from his perspective, he's done everything he can (and more) to support you so you can improve your performance but from his perspective (if not also his peers') improvement hasn't happened. If this is his trajectory of thought, he may performed a binary evaluation of your capabilities: you can't improve or you don't want to improve. Based upon your posts in this thread, it seems that you're motivated--you want to improve. In a binary evaluation, one in his position might conclude that because you want to improve, and he's helped you, you may not have it in you to improve. If this is his line of thought, he's forgetting the precept that if a student is motivated to learn but doesn't, the failure is the teacher's not the students. (If anyone reading this post is working as a teaching assistant or GSI, try thinking this through when you're evaluating blue books or essays. You'll go from at a student to about your skills as an educator.) In this speculative formation, his comments about you not being able to stick around might be him trying to change your motivation. That's easier to do as a teacher than to ask "How am I failing in my mission as a teacher with this student?" Here's my recommendation. Identify the specific skills one needs to have to pass quals and to submit a successful dissertation proposal. Perform a frank self-assessment at your level of proficiency in each of those skills. The assessment should include strengths, weaknesses, skills that are good to go, and skills that need work. Make a matrix or some other type of graphical representation of your self assessment. Then initiate a conversation with your mentor in which you compare notes. Identify areas for skill improvement. Work with him to develop a list of examples of how you should be doing it. Then, on your own, break down those examples to understand how they work and find ways to incorporate elements into your way of doing things. For example, if your writing is inefficient, identify a writer or two from whom you can learn concision. If you're not good with details (names, dates, key figures), start using flashcards. If your reading comprehension isn't where you need it to be, remember that you'll never be ready for quals, and then figure out tactics--not "strategies"--that enable you to read for argument more effectively. If you're not good at verbal communication, find ways to calm your nerves, compose your thoughts, and kick ass and take names in one on one and group conversations. Maybe you will benefit from a different mix of humor, deference, authority, confidence, anger, and rage. Well, maybe not anger and rage. They have their limits. Or so I've heard. (Look! A glass ceiling!) You might want to inspect briefly your "constellation of motivational factors." Are you trying to please your advisor as a friend or are you trying to earn his respect as his intellectual equal and a professional in training? And so on. While tinkering with your motivation at this point is probably not the best use of your time at this stage of your graduate career, it may be good to realize that you're bringing something to the conversation that is getting in your way. Please keep in mind that this recommendation assumes full and complete implementation on your part, and that it is offered "as is" without guarantee or warranty. (Can you tell I work in the private sector for a consultancy? CYA risk management language like this awaits you if you leave the Ivory Tower.) #HTH

Yeah...I thought about rephrasing the comment but, you know.

It's my understanding that the use of one's own work is a grey area in the definition of plagiarism and that the definition is shifting/expanding. MOO, it's better to err on the side of caution. In the field of history, John Lewis Gaddis is especially good at citing his own work. Also, one can find examples of how scholars refer to unpublished work that forms the basis of articles in academic journals and published collections of essays. In regards to the former, search for the first articles published by leading scholars in one's field, for annual addresses by the presidents of various associations and organizations. Broad brush, one of the initial footnotes will say "this work is an expanded/condensed version of X...". In regards to the latter, read the acknowledgments and permissions for examples of how the issue is addressed.

^ This was the point of my rhetorical question.

I think that you should do more reading on the topic -- it has received serious scholarly attention for decades.

@orange turtle, I am sorry that you were propositioned. I am also sorry that your supervisor failed to provide an appropriate amount of empathy. In addition to the guidance to contact the ombudsman, please consider contacting your school's HR department, and your school's health services. These institutions may help to guide you towards qualified individuals who can provide you with the support you want. @TakeruK, does Title IX apply to Canadian academic institutions?

If you're interested in going to UCLA, see if you can get a job here.

FWIW, I agree with those who recommend that you read. I would like to make the implicit explicit: when you read, read like a graduate student in history--with purpose, intensity, and pace. I recommend that you join the AHA, use your membership to get a discounted JPASS, and invest time in relevant journals. I respectfully disagree with @AP's guidance. Because of the diversity of your interests, I recommend that you focus your initial effort on figuring out as soon as possible what it's going to take for you to focus on East Asia and/or Europe and/or performance art/dance and/or anthropology. If this initial effort starts pointing you towards broader topics, then start branching out. (If you were torn between two different parts of East Asia or of Europe, I'd be inclined to agree with @AP.) With respect, @rising_star, while congratulations are in order, the celebration Kismine's achievements should not come at the expense of managing expectations. Kismine will be competing for admissions offers with undergraduates who are as accomplished (if not more) and have a clearer understanding of their research interests. She will also be competing against applicants with master's degrees who have had even more time to define themselves as historians.

Work to improve how you define your interests as a historian. Why history? ===> Why African history? ===> Why Central/West African history? ===> When (period of primary interest)? ===> How (social, cultural, religious, political)? ===> "So what?" (what kinds of questions/issues do you see yourself addressing as a graduate student). All of the answers to these questions can/should be provisional. Start the process of looking at Africanists in every history department in the United States. Pay attention to where Africanists got their graduate degrees--you will likely see patterns. Once you get some scratch, get a JPASS and start looking at journals related to your field(s). Look for articles that discuss the historiography of African history generally and your area/periods of interest specifically. These articles will help you to define the forest you want to explore and help you to identify scholars whose work you should read. Give thought to developing dossiers on scholars in your field. Include the titans of the old guard (even the apologists), those who overthrew the old ways of thinking, the established generation, and the up and comers. Develop a correspondence with historians you worked with as an undergraduate and historians you might want to study under as a graduate student. Do what you can to avoid asking questions that you should answer for yourself. If you get stumped, make sure you communicate what steps you've taken before phrasing the question for help. Only use your screen name here on websites related to your education. Do not use it for social media. (In the past, I made this recommendation in case academic administrators and members of the faculty decided to highlight, right click, search google for evidence of asshattery. Now, it's also about keeping as small of a digital footprint as long as the White House is in MAGA mode.) If your work for TFA brings you to that organization's office in DTLA, keep in mind that the central branch of the LAPL is a few blocks away.

You should identify the location and availability of primary source materials that you envision using as soon as possible. Leaping before looking is a good way to find oneself working in the private sector in an industry completely unrelated to history, scratching one's head, asking "How the fuck did I end up here?" (Or so I've heard.) You should exercise a high degree prudence in making definitive statements about your dissertation topic. Demonstrate that you know how to tell time before talking about the watch you're going to build.

Dovetailing on FZ's recommendation, try to find syllabi that your adviser has distributed for previous questions as well as works he has written. When you're looking at candidates for your comps list, keep in mind that there are some works that will help you to see the forest and others that will help you find the tree with the branch with the leaf you want to split when it's time to pick a dissertation topic. I recommend that you first find works that will help you to map the forest by defining terms ?and identifying the big picture questions in your field. From there, you can start to "reverse engineer" the notes and bibliographies. Having a good textbook on hand to use as a reference may be helpful as well. What follow follow are examples of what I mean by big picture questions. What is social history? (Why social history?) What time frame constitutes early Christian history and why is that period important? What is "material culture"? How does the study of it help (and hinder) scholars of early Christian social history better/differently than other methodologies and sources? Who were the trailblazers in the field? Why did they transition from previous methods to newer ones? How does the study of X inform the scholarly understanding of early Christian social history and have broader implications for the field of religious studies (and other disciplines) as well? What are the advantages, perils, and pitfalls of an interdisciplinary approach to the study of past? Just spit-balling here...have you had the opportunity to check out the Oxford Handbook of Material Culture or the Oxford Handbook of Medieval Christianity? HTH.

I recommend that you be prepared to answer the question "Why didn't you tell me before I went out of my way to get you this job?" (If you're not asked this question, think hard about volunteering the information.) I also recommend that you have in hand a document listing all the work you're currently doing, the important dates for deliverables, and your ideas on who in the organization can take on your tasks. In the event that your boss/friend handles the news well, consider the merits of doing everything you can (including working extra hours, maybe even on your own time) to make sure your team will thrive after you leave. Also be ready to handle gracefully the conversation going sideways quickly. As your friend, he may feel that your non disclosure constitutes a betrayal of his friendship. As your boss, he may feel betrayed and overwhelmed by the prospect of having to do your job and his until he finds a replacement, as well as the prospect of catching heck from his bosses for hiring you in the first place. If the conversation takes this unfortunate turn, do your best to respond professionally. Focus on doing your job the best you can while you're still there. Down the line, you can repair fences as friends. Keep in mind that as your boss, he may have to follow a policy on handling employees in your position who give notice (such as showing you the door then and there). That is, he might fire you on the spot and have you escorted out the building.

The objective of a dissertation is to create new knowledge that advances an existing historiographical debate, not to be "marketable." Framing a dissertation on a relatively obscure topic in a manner that historians may find it interesting is being professional. If the distinction is unclear, I recommend that you dust off a copy of Higham's History: Professional Scholarship in America and remind yourself of the price professional academic history has paid for making itself more "marketable" to the Social Science Research Council. (And not all advisors have the best interest of their graduate students in mind. Or so I've heard.) I think this response is a dodge. Now, you're saying you're a "stranger on the internet." Previously, you described yourself as a historian. Historians often use words like "amusing" and "entertaining" to dismiss an argument without engaging it. "Hilarious" is the throw of an intellectual gauntlet. Yet, rather than using your imagination as a historian to understand Safi's point and to pick up what he's putting down, you have twice privileged your perspective as a medievalist (despite Said's guidance), while simultaneously alleging that you're not. Have you considered the possibility that Safi was referring to the politicization of Islamic studies by polemicists such as Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer who believe that Westerners can predict the behavior of 2.18 billion people simply by reading a translation of the Koran? Might it be possible that he understands that this Westernized view is used to legitimize a teleological interpretation of Islamic civilization so that every interaction between Muslims and non Muslims is part of a master plan to establish a global caliphate? Perhaps Safi and his peers understand that this approach to Islamic studies has growing currency in the American government, especially in U.S. special operations forces, especially in the American army? Or maybe they have grasped that this broad brush simplistic approach to Islamic studies helped the current president get elected? Perhaps he's suggesting that scholars who demonstrate a higher level of intellectual rigor are more likely to earn the respect of established academics and to be offered jobs? Instead of considering these possibilities, you have doubled down. You find "hilarious" and "amusing" a clear and dire warning about a field of scholarly inquiry being subverted so that it can embolden the intellectual rot, the blind hate, the willful ignorance, the religious intolerance, the rabid us versus them nationalism, and theracism rampaging across the landscape of American and European politics.

You're blowing off guidance from Omid Safi for an entirely different field (a point made clear in mb's post, twice) after you've done how much coursework as a graduate student in any field?

It may be late to change the game for this term/semester. Before addressing it, I recommend talking to your boss and the DGS. Students may feel picked on if you offer the correction. If that happens, the push back will be an unwelcome distraction/shitshow. Going forward, when you hand out a section syllabus make it clear that writing assignments are to be fulfilled in standard American English. Provide examples of no go words and phrases. Re-enforce the point when you're talking about a pending assignment. Make sure that you have an educationally sustainable teaching point. (Every word you write should serve the purpose of advancing your core argument. If any word doesn't serve that purpose, it must be removed.) This tactic will allow you to ask "How does '+JMJ+' support your argument? You will need to be ready to refute (gently) almost every conceivable answer and provide a better way. HTH.

Precisely how do rankings in a national publication hurt a profession? Are professional academic historians going to seek work at departments with higher rankings? Do hiring committees focus on the reputation of where an applicant got her degree or the department ranking? Are aspiring graduate students with the most potential going to use the rankings as a sole source resource for deciding where to apply? Are publishers and periodicals going to pay any attention to the rankings? (A must read from a top professor at the #4 program in America!) Are alumni going to stop making donations because they agree/disagree with the rankings?

MOO, cutting expenses should not be a priority if you're going to be in a professional setting. If you're focused on foraging for food / finding the best deal on a ride to a location, you're using bandwidth that might be needed elsewhere.The impressions you make are going to be centered around your expertise and comportment, not the deal you made finding a room. I recommend making reasonable trade offs but prioritize putting yourself in a position where you can get the most out of the experience--and that includes enjoying it. $0.02.

You've been hired to do a job. You've been given definitive guidance on how to do the work. You've not been hired to have a patronizing attitude towards your professor or the students or to fix what is "wrong" with college today. I think that you would serve your own interests well to stay in your lane and to avoid thinking that you know how your boss should do the job better than he/she does, especially if such thoughts get you in the "I don't want to go over the professor's head" neighborhood. These kinds of thoughts have ways of manifesting themselves in ways that will not benefit you. Down the line, when you are a professor, you can run the class your way (and supervise TAs who know better than you). As for your writing abilities relative to your students, if you received the above paragraph from one of them, what corrections would you make? (Subject verb agreement? Verb tenses? Run on sentences? Poorly organized argument?)

If you think your partner may be the one, school B. If your partner is the one and your career path has greater earning potential, still school B. My $0.02.

Bump.

This thread is starting to read like that thread.

Your intentions may change. (Even if you plan to use primarily cloud storage, you might be well served by having a back up in your physical possession.) But if they don't, what's your plan for a worst-case scenario? That 0.001% event that won't happen until the worst possible moment? A ball point pen goes dry, you just grab another pen. A stylus goes bad, the device won't turn on just as you're about to take the most important notes of your academic life.

Thanks for the reminder.

I am bumping this dormant thread so that active members can share their experiences. Over the last couple of seasons, it has become a practice to post in a thread without reading earlier posts. I respectfully request that respondents avoid that trend and give this thread a patient read before sharing your experiences and POV.

@DCguy your defense of @Reaglejuice89 and his controversial position in this sidebar isn't just about shared perspectives on happiness and the future. (You know that I know exactly what I'm saying.) If your decision not to disclose relevant information reflects a wider pattern of behavior, you may find yourself in avoidable situations down the line.