raspberries and jellyfish

I know I'm late to the discussion, but I thought I'd chime in since I had recently done exactly this. I'm also at a top PhD program and made the decision to switch into a related humanities discipline. Brief background: I loved the geographical area I was working on, but was so disappointed by my advisor as an absent mentor and the indifference of other professors in my field. Also I had been straddling two disciplines anyways when I was choosing PhD programs and as it turns out, I just fit better with the other discipline's students and profs. A spectacularly bad course with a prof I was hoping to do a minor field with made me so unhappy that by the winter of my 2nd year that I knew I had to switch or quit. What I did: I took winter break to think about what I actually wanted. Then I emailed my new potential advisor and the potential secondary advisor, explaining the situation in the most politically sensitive terms since all these profs knew each other quite well. I did not state the interpersonal reasons, but solely explained it as a realization about where my dissertation would fit best and what kind of department I wanted to teach in after I finished my degree. I also emailed my now-former advisor to ask for a meeting about my progress in the program with a brief but honest statement that I was thinking of taking a break or switching fields--I made sure to leave out any mention that he was the big reason. When I first met with the potential profs, there was some doubt at first, because I had waited so long to switch (death in the family was a part of this), but I explained everything and I came into those meetings with a potential schedule for my general exams and dissertation prep. Also, it turns out both profs needed more info about the coursework I had already done in their field since they only had had a few classes with me at that point, so they asked for a list of courses I had taken, listing professor's names and schools, which I gladly sent. After that, both were far more amenable and said tentatively yes, saying that they would make a final decision at the end of the semester. So I registered only for classes in the new field and hustled to show I was meant to be there. Before the end of the semester, both potential profs agreed that this was a good choice to switch fields. It helped that I had a publication lined up in the new field too. What's next: I have to make up a couple requisite courses over the next year, which can easily be done at the same time as a TAship since many students at my school take a course or two while teaching. And I pushed back my general exams by a semester. Overall, I think it's a doable and logical plan that will likely have me finishing my degree within the average year range. **And I am so much happier now than I ever was before in my program.** So if you know in your gut that your current field is not for you, change it and don't be afraid to ask. Just do your homework about the new field/program's requirements and come with a game plan as to how you will fulfill them without causing your new advisor too much of a headache. Now I should note that my advising committee did not actually change since I had always intended to have an interdisciplinary dissertation. My former advisor is still there, but in a much more minor role. No bridges were burned.