Advisor Committee

[fsmn36]

I'm having a bit of a dilemma (that my friends assure is me being paranoid, but hey, I over think; I'm a grad student). In my program, we have to have one committee member from our main field, one from the subfield, and one from outside it. Not a problem right? Or so I thought.

My issue is my topic and the limited number of profs in my main field. We have only 3 IR profs. My thesis? Far more applied and in a different subfield of IR than any of those profs are interested in. One told me they wouldn't do it because of my topic. Another has made very clear they don't like my topic. So I've asked the third and am waiting to hear. I'm just worried they will say no and then where will I be? I figure the school will either insist one of them be on my committee or I will have to change my thesis topic (to get a more positive response). I'm not too keen on the idea of someone being forced on my committee AND not liking my topic. It would almost seem easier to change my topic. But quite frankly, it is what intrigues me the most, what I want to study, what I'd like to someday do. Perhaps I'm naively holding onto it? To be honest, though, I don't even know what I would turn to next. My specific interests are simply not reflected by the 3 profs we have.

Anyone had similar difficulties like this or any advice?

[fuzzylogician]

Does this mean you can't get anyone to be your main advisor? It'd be hard to write a thesis without the support of at least one faculty member. Honestly, I've found it's more important to have a good advisor than to insist on a topic that doesn't excite anyone in your department (at least to some extent, it doesn't have to be their main passion). It sounds like people are flat out telling you they don't want to work with you on the topic you suggested, and that's a big problem. I'm telling you this as the person who chose the topic over the advisor - I think I made the wrong choice. In hindsight I wish I had gone with the supportive professor whose interests were less of a match to mine than the one I ended up with who also didn't really like my topic but agreed to work with me on it. She was the biggest hindrance I had to overcome in the course of writing my thesis, and it was absolutely not worth it. I would have written a better paper faster with the other professor, and honestly I believe the professor's enthusiasm would have rubbed off on me even if the topic I would have had to work on wasn't really my favorite. Working with someone who doesn't care is very demoralizing, and in the end the product of such work won't be what it could have been in more favorable setting. Sometimes you have to choose wisely, using cold reason, not your emotions.

[Roll Right]

Honestly this MA thesis is small potatoes. I'm in the same boat. Luckily my profs enjoy my idea, but disagree with my methods. If it was a Phd I'd say go for it, it's your work that will get published. But in an MA you need to work on a thesis that faculty will get on board with, or you can kiss LORs goodbye. It's better to play politics here than to go it alone. Especially if you want a PhD.

[jacib]

I'm having a bit of a dilemma (that my friends assure is me being paranoid, but hey, I over think; I'm a grad student). In my program, we have to have one committee member from our main field, one from the subfield, and one from outside it. Not a problem right? Or so I thought.

My issue is my topic and the limited number of profs in my main field. We have only 3 IR profs. My thesis? Far more applied and in a different subfield of IR than any of those profs are interested in. One told me they wouldn't do it because of my topic. Another has made very clear they don't like my topic. So I've asked the third and am waiting to hear. I'm just worried they will say no and then where will I be? I figure the school will either insist one of them be on my committee or I will have to change my thesis topic (to get a more positive response). I'm not too keen on the idea of someone being forced on my committee AND not liking my topic. It would almost seem easier to change my topic. But quite frankly, it is what intrigues me the most, what I want to study, what I'd like to someday do. Perhaps I'm naively holding onto it? To be honest, though, I don't even know what I would turn to next. My specific interests are simply not reflected by the 3 profs we have.

Anyone had similar difficulties like this or any advice?

Schedule a meeting with all of them face to face, and put it as an "improving my thesis topic" thing. A lot of times its not the whole topic thats a problem, but rather, they think you should focus on something slightly different. Ask how exactly you can improve your topic. Treat them like the experts they think they are. For my undergraduate thesis, I had to have a long talk with my department head and I found probably 50% of her comments and suggestions totally wrong and useless, and leading towards work that I had no interest in. The other 50% were quite good. I ended up with an advisor I saw a handful of times (my school encourages students to take an advisor they know from class... and most of my classes were out of my interdisciplinary department), who nonetheless gave me a few key insights. That said, know if you're advisor isn't super keen on it, you have to be selfmotivated and get it done on your own in a timely manner (my advisor was not there holding my hand... oh God I wish he were. I think he only saw 20 pages [less than half] of it ever before I handed it in). Are there other local universities that have people working on your field? I'd really talk to the people and play to their expertise, "How can I change my topic to make it better". Often their advice is surprising reasonable about what one can be expected to accomplish. But do it face to face, and have a lot of stuff prepared, at least mentally, about exactly what, how and why you want to do what you want to do. Defend yourself without seeming "agressive". I found it really hard not to fight back and say, "Your suggestion here is straight up stupid. Why would I want to do such a boring impotent project?" But I held my tongue, cause I knew it would create more problems. I ended up with largely the project I wanted, just with very little support, which definitely made the project worse.

[mudlark]

Honestly this MA thesis is small potatoes. I'm in the same boat. Luckily my profs enjoy my idea, but disagree with my methods. If it was a Phd I'd say go for it, it's your work that will get published. But in an MA you need to work on a thesis that faculty will get on board with, or you can kiss LORs goodbye. It's better to play politics here than to go it alone. Especially if you want a PhD.

I agree with the content of this post, if not the cynicism.

It's best not to be wedded to a particular idea this early in the game. Is there a way that you can be flexible without ending up with a project you'll hate? It might be helpful to go read some of the publications of the people in your department who you want to work with (if you haven't already) and then see if there's any element in their work that really grabs you, or that you can stretch into a connection with your ideas.

You can also go talk to your grad chair about other options. Can you have someone who's in an adjacent field, but shares an important geological or methodological focus? Can your chair think of anyone that you've overlooked? The program has a certain amount of responsibility to help you out here.