How to pick a dissertation topic?

[Averroes MD]

Any advice by PhD students about how to pick a good dissertation topic (in addition to speaking to one's advisor)?

What makes a good dissertation topic ?

Thanks!

Edited December 4, 2014 by Averroes MD

[GeoDUDE!]

A good dissertation topic fills a gap in literature by answering a question or addresses a misconception in a way that has never been done before. 

[Averroes MD]

Thanks!

 

Should (or can) one address a topic with a hypothesis or theory in mind? Can one, for example, propose a new way of looking at a certain historical event? And then provide evidence to support that view?

 

For example, Fred Donner proposed his "Muhammad and the Believers" theory, which basically argued that the Prophet Muhammad and his early followers were known as "Believers" and included Jews and Christians, and that only later (after the Prophet's death) did "Islam" as a distinct and clearly demarcated religion (mutually exclusive from Judaism and Christianity) emerge.

 

Would that have been a good PhD dissertation? Or, is that more for an already established scholar? Should PhD topics consist mostly of "observations" as opposed to "theories?" I don't know if that makes sense...Sorry if it does not.

Edited December 4, 2014 by Averroes MD

[guttata]

Are... Are you a grad student?

[GeoDUDE!]

I don't know what a good PhD topic would be in your field.... a dissertation does not need to have a hypothesis. You can answer "What if?" questions with a dissertation, but you have to give it some legitimacy. 

 

Are you currently a PhD student? The questions you are asking are a bit alarming for someone already in graduate school. Perhaps someone at your school can help. 

[newenglandshawn]

I don't know what a good PhD topic would be in your field.... a dissertation does not need to have a hypothesis. You can answer "What if?" questions with a dissertation, but you have to give it some legitimacy. 

 

Are you currently a PhD student? The questions you are asking are a bit alarming for someone already in graduate school. Perhaps someone at your school can help. 

 

I get the impression that Averroes MD is still an MTS student - in which case, I would think that a dissertation topic is perhaps even a little premature! 

 

By the way, just one take on the original question: I am not yet a PhD student and I won't claim to be an authority, but one professor with whom I was communicating essentially told me that the dissertation isn't usually about anything anyone is ever interested in reading! He said that the only purpose of it was to give persons the right to then write about interesting topics later. This was just one person's take, of course, and he was, admittedly, in the UK, but I thought it was an interesting perspective.

 

So take it for what it's worth!

[Averroes MD]

 

Are you currently a PhD student? The questions you are asking are a bit alarming for someone already in graduate school. Perhaps someone at your school can help. 

 

No, I just started my MTS. 

 

And I realize that I don't know my a** from my face on this... And I don't even know if I want to pursue a PhD or not. 

 

The reason I am asking on an anonymous forum is to obtain some basics BEFORE I ask someone at my school for advice, since I want to at least have a vague idea before I seek help in person. I'd rather look like a clueless idiot on an anonymous forum rather than in person.

 

I tried googling for information on this, but I did not find much worthwhile.

 

Thank you all for your replies.

Edited December 4, 2014 by Averroes MD

[Averroes MD]

I get the impression that Averroes MD is still an MTS student - in which case, I would think that a dissertation topic is perhaps even a little premature! 

 

Thanks for your advice...

 

I was under the impression that one is supposed to propose a dissertation topic when applying to PhD programs, even though it will likely change...That's why I'm asking now.

[newenglandshawn]

I was under the impression that one is supposed to propose a dissertation topic when applying to PhD programs, even though it will likely change...That's why I'm asking now.

To be honest, I am turning in PhD applications now, and I'm still not clear if that's what one is supposed to do. I think it kind of depends on the program. I think, by and large, you're supposed to express areas of general but unique interest, but not be as specific as expressing exactly what you want to write your dissertation on. Not sure if this makes sense, but that's I've tried to approach it!

[Averroes MD]

To be honest, I am turning in PhD applications now, and I'm still not clear if that's what one is supposed to do. I think it kind of depends on the program. I think, by and large, you're supposed to express areas of general but unique interest, but not be as specific as expressing exactly what you want to write your dissertation on. Not sure if this makes sense, but that's I've tried to approach it!

 

Interesting. Thanks!

 

Best of luck on your applications.

[GeoDUDE!]

If you just started your MTS, don't even think about it (is that Masters of Theological Sciences?). Take courses, do your work, see if there are topics that interests you naturally. Discuss this with your advisors, see where it goes. 

 

If you are curious what types of questions are answered in a PhD, read dissertations. I'm sure you have access to the ones form harvard. 

[xypathos]

Thanks!

 

Should (or can) one address a topic with a hypothesis or theory in mind? Can one, for example, propose a new way of looking at a certain historical event? And then provide evidence to support that view?

 

For example, Fred Donner proposed his "Muhammad and the Believers" theory, which basically argued that the Prophet Muhammad and his early followers were known as "Believers" and included Jews and Christians, and that only later (after the Prophet's death) did "Islam" as a distinct and clearly demarcated religion (mutually exclusive from Judaism and Christianity) emerge.

 

Would that have been a good PhD dissertation? Or, is that more for an already established scholar? Should PhD topics consist mostly of "observations" as opposed to "theories?" I don't know if that makes sense...Sorry if it does not.

 

The idea of Islam as a reform movement of Christianity is certainly known (at least by me and it's something taught at Vanderbilt Div), but it's a controversial topic for both sides. Some speculate Islam is more a push against Islamic Paganism and merely Judaism and Christianity repackaged - again, controversial and rather insulting but still a point of discussion.

 

The conversation I had with David Michelson at Vanderbilt is that if you want to make a unique name for yourself in Islamic Studies - study Quranic literature and its exegesis. Its only taken off as a serious scholarly endeavor in the last decade so its ripe for students to make a name for themselves and produce field-defining work.

[Averroes MD]

If you just started your MTS, don't even think about it (is that Masters of Theological Sciences?). Take courses, do your work, see if there are topics that interests you naturally. Discuss this with your advisors, see where it goes. 

 

If you are curious what types of questions are answered in a PhD, read dissertations. I'm sure you have access to the ones form harvard. 

 

Master of Theological Studies.

 

That's a good idea to read PhD dissertations. Thanks for your suggestion!

 

I was just looking for generalities from the collective wisdom of this forum.

 

 

The conversation I had with David Michelson at Vanderbilt is that if you want to make a unique name for yourself in Islamic Studies - study Quranic literature and its exegesis. Its only taken off as a serious scholarly endeavor in the last decade so its ripe for students to make a name for themselves and produce field-defining work.

 

Interesting!

[-vive2ladifference]

Asking "big questions" is certainly both appealing and very daunting. A great piece of advice given to me by a professor was to research something very specific, which can speak to broader questions. That is to say, you don't necessarily have to directly answer the big question, but approach it through a different lens, a unique perspective or through the idiosyncracies of a particular historical event or individual. Read the general literature and let your interests and own reflections direct you. Precising your exact method or course of study is something that will be developed during your doctorate. 

Edited December 5, 2014 by -vive2ladifference

[-vive2ladifference]

The conversation I had with David Michelson at Vanderbilt is that if you want to make a unique name for yourself in Islamic Studies - study Quranic literature and its exegesis. Its only taken off as a serious scholarly endeavor in the last decade so its ripe for students to make a name for themselves and produce field-defining work.

I'm going to have to disagree. Tasfir (Qur'anic exegesis) was literally, the first field of Islamic Studies. The corpus of literature on the Qur'an is voluminous and perhaps only second to fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence). Tafsir is also not a field one can just enter - advanced knowledge of classical Arabic, the Torah as well as the hadith corpus is also necessary. This field is also very popular among Islamic Studies students coming from the Middle East, who have had a lot of prior exposure to these topics, thus making it more competitive. However, if you want to do original exegesis of the Qur'an, hermeneutical approaches using Queer and Feminist theory are hugely under developed areas where there is a lot of interest but not enough serious scholars. Of course, that area is also very contentious so you would really have to be committed to that approach and unphased by extreme criticism (e.g. just look at what Amina Wudud has gone through).

Edited December 5, 2014 by -vive2ladifference