COLLOQUY

THE QUESTION

RESPONSES

BACKGROUND

I know many humanists in several disciplines, and those who are unhappy inevitably feel isolated and adrift. The trouble is not advisor tyranny (most grad students in the humanities are not as tied to their advisor and her opinion as students in the sciences), but a somewhat laissez-faire attitude on the part of faculty. The faculty fail to provide adequate encouragement and oversight so that students make the transition to scholars. The result is students dropping out or taking well night forever to finish their degrees. When humanities graduate students arrive in their departments, they are excited about their fields of study though unsure of themselves. A stand-offish faculty attitude only diminishes students' confidence. Humanities students have to go it alone; their research comes almost entirely out of their own heads, not from collaborative work in labs or from team-published papers. Far too many students end up without a mentor, an elder who is a partner in their learning and professional development. That's sad, and it's a common story among humanities grad students I know.

In any event, I'm not sure that graduate study presents the same challenges in every discipline. The dissatisfaction of those in the natural sciences has a different basis than the dissatisfaction of those in the humanities, even if the outcomes are too often tragic.

-- Michael Cholbi, Ph.D. candidate, University of Virginia (posted 11/6, 10 a.m., E.S.T.)

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