Summer reading: the anti-slacking-off program

[Phedre]

Hey all,

So I am in an incredibly lax literature department that doesn't have required reading lists, required theory lists, required languages-- NOTHING. Therefore, the onus is upon ME to motivate and read over the summer.

I was wondering what people who were in a similar situation were planning on doing-- if they were going to get on a "reading schedule" with friends, if they have exams scheduled at the end of the summer, etc.

I need to brush up on reading knowledge of 1 language and speaking of another (I'll be researching in the country of the third language so I hope I'll be able to refresh as I go).

Any ideas for summer self-discipline?

[Stories]

Relax and read some novels and magazines for pleasure. That's what I'm doing. You'll work hard enough when you're in school, don't stress yourself out when this is your last true summer off.

[rising_star]

I had no summer self-discipline. I think I read 4 books that people had bought for me off my Amazon wishlist that I'd wanted to read for months. I wish I'd read 6 now. These were books by my favorite authors and had nothing to do with grad school.

[withjoy]

I've requested a summer reading list from my advisor and another professor in the department. I asked them what books they wished incoming doctoral students had read. I've been out of academia for eight years, and my knowledge of theory is VERY rusty. I don't want to be playing catch up for the first year. I figure some work this summer will relieve a lot of stress in the fall.

[jasper.milvain]

I always go in to the summer with good intentions and then end up drinking wine and playing guitar on the beach. Not that I'm complaining.

This year I think I have a better chance at actually reading, since I got much better at independent study this year. I got a big box of books from Amazon that are directly related to my proposed research, as well as some that were recommended to me long ago that I haven't gotten to yet. I'm going to work through them to try and keep myself from freaking out about my sudden lack of access to online journal databases. Of course, my research is on novels, so it's more fun to do some extra reading for me than, say, a computer science student.

[professor2000]

Relax and read some novels and magazines for pleasure. That's what I'm doing. You'll work hard enough when you're in school, don't stress yourself out when this is your last true summer off.

I concur.

[fuzzylogician]

I asked the DGS at 4 different universities if they recommended any summer preparation, all of them said to relax and take it easy, I'll have enough work to do once the semester starts. I'm going to take them at their word.

[liszt85]

I asked and I got a list and a proposal for my MA thesis (a very challenging one, in his words :|) from my adviser. With my upcoming wedding, I'm quite sure I won't read a lot but I'll get some introductory reading done.

[Canofbeans]

I've decided to write a paper and try to get it published next year since I most probably won't have time to write anything like this during gradschool or maybe I'll use it as a conference paper. I also managed to get a small RA position with a prof doing research on the same subject. That shouldn't keep me too busy, i'll spend the rest of my time sipping tea, reading novels and enjoy long walks in the park.

[flit]

I would like to get bunches of reading done over the summer... but if this first week off is any indication, it ain't happening.

I do have a major research paper to write yet, though.

[sonnyday]

I've requested a summer reading list from my advisor and another professor in the department. I asked them what books they wished incoming doctoral students had read. I've been out of academia for eight years, and my knowledge of theory is VERY rusty. I don't want to be playing catch up for the first year. I figure some work this summer will relieve a lot of stress in the fall.

I think its fine to catch up with background reading as long as you do it in a relaxed, informal way. Have fun while doing it if you can, with little pressure. For instance, I've started just reading the parts of the subject that interested me in undergrad (even reading some wikipedia to start off) and then finding books and journal articles to read from renowned scholars in that area. But because I'm doing it at my own pace, with no pressure, its actually kind of fun and I'm taking in information without taking notes. I'm also casually reading the newspaper and focusing on articles that relate to those subjects.

I've thrown in a novel I am reading too, for when I get bored of the other stuff. I'm a natural reader, though. But there's no real plan, so if I get tired, I'll stop. Somehow the lack of a plan makes it easier to do.

Jasper, I'm also pissed about not having access to journal articles, but I still go back to my undergrad college library and download and save them there. Luckily, my husband still attends and has an account with them.