My (Kind of) Two Awards!

good one

Scribing English All Over The Place

There are some pretty awesome–and stressful–things going on for me at this point.

I’m just finishing up an application for a grant to go to the National Conference of Peer Tutors of Writing, after having already sent in the presentation proposal that my (potentialy) co-presenter and I created. I’ve never applied for a grant before, aside from through Financial Aid (I suppose that might count). It’s a little nerve-wracking, and a bit demanding as well. There is a nine page fourm I have to fill out as well as write a cover letter and an essay. I also have to come up with a prompt for next year’s travel grant application as well. I’m hoping that last part is a parcipation thing, and not something they are planning on taking into consideration when contemplating whether or not I’m worth funding. 

Thought, aside from that, this last week I was able…

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How to become a literature searching ninja

Good one. And after downloading the article, u need to read out the extract and findings / conclusion to get a fairly good idea about what to extract for ur literature review. Informative and guiding article

The Thesis Whisperer

We often talk about ‘searching the literature’ – but how do you actually do it?

Literature searches are one of those skills that we assume students already have when they get into a PhD. As a consequence we rarely make time to explicitly teach the skills, so it’s probably not surprising that I meet many students who feel like they aren’t doing it ‘right’. Many of these confused students are too afraid to ask for help from their supervisor. I think the fear comes from the feeling that you should know, even if you have never been properly taught.

This fear, by the way, is a good example of the effects of what my friend Dr Mary-Helen Ward would call the ‘hidden curriculum’ of the PhD. The hidden curriculum is created by the environment in which you are located and instills you with the norms and values of your academic…

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A Prayer for Pakistan

An excellent poem filled with ideas that represent every Pakistani,
BRAVO

sorayaaziz

 A Prayer for Pakistan

Let Pakistan be Pakistan again

Let it be the dream Quaid e Azam wished it to be

Let us remove the suffering, fear and pain

And seek a home where each man is free

Let Pakistan be Pakistan again

Let it be a land free from corruption, economic and mental slavery

Where leaders do not connive nor scheme

A land where people have the freedom of thought and expression

Let my land be a land of Unity and Equality

Let all our children have a right to quality education

Where our nation is free from the shackles of illiteracy

A land where effort and ability is rewarded and celebrated

Let my land be a land free of religious Extremism and Injustice

Let our nation practice their religion without fear of persecution

A land where our people are tolerant, moderate and respectful

A land which can…

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Kubhi Hum Khubsurat Theh

An excellent read…..

sorayaaziz

Kubhi Hum Khubsurat Theh 

By Soraya Aziz

  

This is the Karachi I have heard so much about from my parents and relatives that grew up during the 60’s and 70’s. A Karachi during this era was one where men, women and children could walk the streets of the city till late at night without any sense of fear of being mugged or shot. Karachi, once the centre of cosmopolitanism was known as the ‘city of lights’ that would come alive in the evenings. No matter what their affordability was, Karachiities knew how to enjoy themselves.

This is the same Karachi that was a thriving economic hub and the entertainment capital of Pakistan.  After going about their business by day, friends and families would spend their evenings relaxing and socialising at the numerous venues be it Hill Park, Frere Hall and not forgetting sea view Clifton to name just…

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So, You Want to Start a Blog…

So, You Want to Start a Blog….

Treacherous assault amid truce and power games; where are we heading

Excellent read

factsnotfarce

I woke up to a terrible news of Mr Hamid Mir escaping a terrible ambush by some ‘’unknown’’ assailants on Saturday April 19. I’m deliberately mentioning ‘’unknown’’ because the FIR which has finally been lodged by Sindh govt on the 6^th day of the incident left tongues wagging and mind wandering. This incident brought to a burgeoning controversy after Geo TV which holds monopolistic authority in the Pakistan media world presented 18 hours transmission leveling baseless allegations on the premier intelligence agency ISI.  Fortunately or unfortunately, people of Pakistan dismissed accusations and knew it all along that it was a deliberate, malignant attempt to obscure the truth and
induce to evil through the acceptance of falsification.

Now a lot has been said and just said and not been done in actuality by the Govt as demanded by people and, Govt’s shambolic actions reflects at best rather cowardly and at worst…

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How to write 10,000 words a day

The Thesis Whisperer

One of the most popular posts on the Thesis Whisperer is How to write 1000 words a day and not go bat shit crazy. Last year a Twitter follower brought to my attention a post called How I went from writing 2000 words to 10,000 words a day by the fiction writer Rachel Aaron.

I did a double take.

Can you really write 10,000 words a day? Well, Rachel says she can, with three conditions:

1) Know what you are going to write before you write it
2) Set aside a protected time to write, and
3) Feel enthusiastic about what you are writing

I read the post with interest. Much of what Rachel did conformed with what I suggest in my earlier post, but I couldn’t bring myself to really believe Rachel’s productivity claims. To regularly write 10,000 words: It’s the dream, right? Imagine if you could reliably…

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Book Review: Ethics and Values in Social Research, Paul Ransome

The Thesis Whisperer

Here at the Whisperer we try to make your life easier by reading books and doing reviews. We try to review books which would appeal to most researchers, but some of the books we get sent have more specific audiences in mind. “Ethics and Values in Social research” by Paul Ransome is clearly designed for those in the humanities and social sciences doing field based research. I decided it had just wide enough appeal for us to review, but if you are in the sciences you might want to stop reading now (I wont be offended).

I was lucky enough to find two students engaged exactly this kind of research to review the book for us. Sandra Lauer is a volunteer member of the NSW Rural Fire Service, and is studying rural fire brigades and the concept of “shared responsibility” for her PhD at ANU. Jennifer Upchurch is a member…

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What I Wish We Taught First Years

The Thesis Whisperer

This month, all around Australia, there will be a whole crop of PhD students starting their degree. It’s an exciting time, but a nerve-wracking one as well. Last time we heard from Jonathan Downie he was parenting a toddler. This time Jonathan has some good words of advice for those of you just starting on your PhD journey. You can read more about Jonathan and his work on his blog Rock Your Talk.

By the time this goes live, most of us will be well into the academic year and getting used to cycles of supervision meetings, reading, classes, seminars and conferences. For those of you who have just started your PhD, this is about the time when you realise that if you weren’t a nerd before, you will be one soon.

By the time I got about six months into my PhD, I was heading for THAT…

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So, you’re starting a PhD?

Informative

The Thesis Whisperer

This month, all around Australia, there will be a whole crop of PhD students starting their degree. It’s an exciting time, but a nerve-wracking one as well. Here’s another post to help you start your journey!

This post is by Erika Harris, PhD Candidate. Erika has a Master’s degree in Education, General Education and has worked in instructional design and development in both corporate and higher education settings in the U.S & Australia. Currently Erika is an educational developer, elearning, for RMIT designing online and hybrid courses working with academics in the higher education and vocational education sectors. In this post Erika reflects on the advice given about why NOT to do a PhD and why you would still give it a go anyway.

I am a new PhD student, and have been reading and conversing with current and past PhD students and have come to the sad conclusion…

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