Dissertations Made Doable: Writing, Progress, and Staying Sane with GRAD 696-002

Monday
Shelley Hawthorne Smith
Two women sitting at a table looking at a computer. One woman is smiling and the other is speaking.

Each semester, approximately thirty doctoral students gather twice a week to make progress toward finishing their dissertations. The two-unit class, “Dissertation Writing: Navigating the Dissertation Journey” helps them complete a major portion of their dissertation. Two students share how the class has helped them achieve their dissertation goals. 

Fatemma Soto-Herrera is a doctoral student in Higher Education studying college choice decision making in underrepresented students. After taking a four-year break in her doctoral program, Soto-Herrera found the structure and community of the class essential to moving through major milestones in her program. After taking the class this Fall, she says, “this class has been incredibly helpful in giving me the structure, support, and accountability to make progress towards completing the proposal defense and submitting to IRB. I will build off what I learned in the class to carry me through the next milestones as I collect data, analyze, and write my dissertation."

Another student, London McDougal, is a 5th year doctoral student in Nutritional Sciences and studies how exercised mobilized lymphocytes can be used for hematology malignancies. London came out of the cancer research industry to finish his doctorate degree as a personal endeavor to improve himself. Reflecting on his experience in the dissertation writing course, London shared: 

"The materials and insights provided in this course have been invaluable to my success and comprehension of the dissertation process, which has proven to be far more complex than I initially anticipated. Thanks to this course, I am prepared to navigate the complexities without surprises or missed deadlines. I highly recommend this course to anyone looking to finishing their degree within the next year."

The “Dissertation Writing: Navigating the Dissertation Journey” class, also known as GRAD 696-002, is now open for enrollment. The class helps students complete a major portion of their dissertation, such as their dissertation proposal, chapters, and more. Students reflect on writing conventions for dissertations in their disciplines, map out their dissertation plan for the semester, and work to build healthy writing habits while making progress towards their goals. The course helps students advocate for their ideas, relationships, and timelines in the dissertation process.

GRAD 696 – 002: Dissertation Writing   

  • Days and Times: Tues/Thurs, 11:00 AM – 12:15 PM Arizona Time
  • Location: Zoom 
  • Prerequisites: Students need to have completed their comprehensive exams prior to enrolling in the class.
  • Go to Schedule of Classes, and search for “GRAD” and then find “GRAD 696 - Special Topics Seminar” to see current availability.
  • Enroll for the class in UAccess Student.

Questions? Contact Dr. Shelley Hawthorne Smith (shellh@arizona.edu)