PREAMBLE
Welcome to the Critical Interventions in Theory and Ethnography Program (CITE). By joining us, you are becoming an integral part of a scholarly community that is based on mutual respect, collegiality, and open intellectual exchange. While you are here, you will gain foundational knowledge of the discipline and a capacity to critically analyze and debate intellectual claims, assumptions, and theories. You will acquire experience in grant writing as well as professional skills, and training in teaching and in field research methods that will enable you to establish your own field research project.
Being an active member of the CITE community requires making positive contributions to the intellectual life of the program, department, University, and profession. You are expected to participate actively in events such as guest lectures; to develop and participate in reading and writing groups; to work with your fellow students in the AGSA to plan and implement scholarly and extra-curricular activities; to present your work at professional meetings, and perhaps even to publish. All these activities are integral parts of your professionalization.
The ultimate goal is for you to connect your own work to wider disciplinary endeavors and professional organizations, and to develop your capacity to produce exciting, original knowledge. To shift from being primarily a learner to a peer and contributor requires more than just completing basic requirements for the doctoral degree. It also entails your initiative in independently seeking out sources, resources, and opportunities. The checklist included below provides guidelines for successfully completing the program in a timely manner. We recognize, however, that individual circumstances vary; thus there is flexibility in the timeline to accommodate students’ particular situations, when agreed upon with your advisor. One very important point to remember is that regular consultation with your advisor is crucial to your success. The Graduate Student Handbook (particularly the section entitled, “A Student’s Progress”) contains crucial details on many of the steps outlined below; be sure to read it thoroughly and return to it regularly throughout your time in the program.
TIMELINE
Any year
- Develop a plan with advisor if s/he will be on leave
1st Year
FALL
- Read Graduate Student Handbook thoroughly
- Focus on coursework; take no more than 3 (preferably anthropology) courses to adjust to graduate workload
- Have regular conversations with advisor about managing workload
- Read, read, read!
- Spend winter break thinking about summer plans (intensive language training? preliminary research?)
- Consider applying for funds, both external fellowships and summer research grants
- Begin familiarizing yourself with IRB regulations
- Think strategically about who could be your letter writers and begin thinking about your possible committee members
- Begin discussions about field statement topics/scheduling of future research program
SPRING
- Continue coursework, taking at least 2 courses continuing to privilege anthropology courses
- Complete 1st field statement
- Become familiar with “GradFund,” the Resource Center for Graduate Student External Support and other university resources
- Discuss summer plans with your advisor early in spring semester and prepare proposals for summer research/language training
- Early in calendar year work on IRB certification and approvals for summer research
- By the end of Spring, and in consultation with your advisor, develop a project-specific timeline outlining coursework, field statements, potential committee members, and deadlines
SUMMER
- Preliminary research at proposed site, and intensive language training if applicable
2nd Year
FALL
- Continue coursework, consulting with advisor on course choices
- Submit paperwork to have earlier graduate course credits transferred, if applicable
- TA, if applicable
SPRING
- More coursework
- Complete 2nd field statement
- Prepare presentation for Second-Year Colloquium
- For summer, prepare to do more preliminary research or language training (or both) if necessary
- Discuss plans with advisor regarding research, funding applications, etc.
- Outline research proposals
- Finalize members of dissertation committee
- TA, if applicable
SUMMER
- Draft research grant proposals for late summer (e.g., AIIS or NSF) or early fall deadlines
3rd Year
FALL
- TA
- Draft dissertation proposal
- Write and submit grant proposals
- Continue coursework
- Prepare for budgeting and documenting expenditures while in the field. Consult with SAS Business Manager for assistance
- Prepare and submit required ORSP forms 5 days prior to grant deadlines.
SPRING
- TA
- Complete coursework
- Complete and defend dissertation proposal
- Complete necessary research ethics workshops for NSF funding
SUMMER
- Prepare for field research
- Maybe teach a summer course
4th Year
- Conduct dissertation research
- Send regular reports to committee
- File TABERS on a monthly basis
- Submit abstract to AAA by April 1st and/or scout out other regional and relevant conferences
- Consider submitting a “Report from the Field” to Anthropology News, Anthropology Now, or other journals
- Scout out funding possibilities for “writing up”
5th Year
FALL
- TA
- Early in the semester, meet with your committee as a whole to brainstorm the direction of the dissertation and set the terms of engagement for each member and develop a time- line for the dissertation
- Process data (transcriptions, coding, reading field notes, etc.) and begin to write
- Prepare dissertation outline
- Discuss writing strategies with advisor
- Add outside member of committee, if not already decided
- Continue to look for venues to showcase your work and to network
- Consider applying for external dissertation write-up fellowships
SPRING
- TA
- Find or create a writing group. Seek out other post-field students as a way of creating a supportive writing community
- Write, write, write!
- Access professionalization services and resources offered by the Graduate School in preparation for job and postdoc applications in the fall
- Continue to look for venues, such as conferences, to showcase your work and to network
- Maybe submit an article based on a chapter
SUMMER
- Write some more
- Have a complete preliminary draft of your dissertation or at least a few solid chapters completed by the end of summer to be ready for job market
- Maybe teach a summer course
- Consider preparing and submitting another article
6th Year
FALL
- TA (if applicable)
- Revise draft dissertation.
- Apply for jobs and postdocs
- Feel insanely anxious
SPRING
- TA (if applicable)
- Defend dissertation
- Get a great job or postdoc (or both)
Any year
- Develop a plan with advisor if s/he will be on leave