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[At a Loss]

After serving on several students' thesis boards, I took on my first Ph.D student this year. I supervised her Master's thesis and know she is very bright, takes the theoretical and methodological issues raised by her work very seriously (and her work reflects this) and often surprises me with how capable and willing she is in bridging the world between history and sociology. That being said, I don't feel this department can offer her what she needs at the doctoral level and I worry about her progress through the program. She has no real grad community here and does not find her classes challenging. The classes are are mixed with graduate and undergraduate students and she has confessed the students are not ready or willing to debate advanced issues. As an instructor who's taught combined classes, I often find myself "caught in the middle" and forced, by sheer numbers, to cater to the undergrads.

She seems happy enough, if a little bored, with the actual doctoral work, but much less so with the program. She's had a few major disagreements with the Grad Chair this year regarding coursework selection, qualifying exams fields, etc. There are few students or faculty working in areas similar to hers and without much departmental support, I just wonder if she won't feel increasingly isolated as she continues through the program. I think she's proposing a very exciting and ambitious thesis but my sense is much of the department finds her work too interdisciplinary. I can see her becoming increasingly suffocated by this program and am at a loss about what to do to try and help. Ideas?

[%sig%]

[anon]

A lot can depend on the wider University community -- at my R1, seemingly everyone in the Humanities/social sciences are cross-appointed in numerous departments, there are specialized faculty/grad student readings groups, interdisciplinary programs, etc.  A suggestion would be to search out these other areas and suggest that she take classes outside her home department.  If she is working in sociology/history, she may find courses in English, Cultural Anthro, Communications/Media Studies, even Art History to be more in line with her skill level.

Back when I was a grad student, my home department had few profs whose work interested me (except for the professor I went specifically to work with), but I established a "second home" in the Communications department, where the majority of cultural studies/critical theory was being done on campus -- worked out great for me.

[Waxwing]

I think that at the Ph.D. level it's not so important to think about challenging students the way you would at a lower level, for students whose acquaintance with the field was spotty.  Your student sounds self-motivated and ready to get on with things.

I wonder about the basis for your assessment of her.  You say that she "seems" happy enough and quote her on a mild criticism of the program, but it's not obvious that you are responding to something that she perceives as a tremendous problem.  Could it be that you are trying to put yourself inside her skin and are expressing what you would feel if you were in her situation?  You might want to create a little more detachment here.

All that aside, the best thing that you can do as her adviser is to prepare her for the job market.  What can she do to make herself the strongest possible candidate (giving papers, writing articles, teaching, etc.)  I think that attention to that, as well as the writing of a stellar dissertation, will keep her sufficiently busy.  It will also get her known to more people and so perhaps allow her to get recommendations from people outside the department, but still in the same discipline (I assume that why you mention your colleague's relative lack of appreciation for her).

WW

[moose]

The best you can do for her is try to deflect some of the administrative ire and help her have a smoother ride. As a grad student, I've survived a few nasty political squabbles, and every time my adviser stepped in for me or at least helped me understand who is on what side, I found it extremely helpful.

By the way, it's not uncommon for interdisciplinary students to face this kind of treatment. You should work with your student on some other related issues as well - for example, making sure that she has an idea where she wants to work later and that her publications are placed in correct journals for the field.

(I have this problem, as my papers are scattered between three different communities. I was a great catch for an interdisciplinary department, but other schools didn't give me the time of day)

[geobabe]

In my department there is a tradition against allowing students to stay inside for multiple degrees for exactly this reason.  We encourage our BS students to apply elsewhere for a masters, and MS to go elsewhere for a PhD.   A savvy student will mine the department for relevant classes and contacts in a couple years, and benefit considerably from switching institutions.  Perhaps you could encourage her to transfer to another research group elsewhere that could offer her more new contacts and ideas.  If she is not going to learn much new from what your department offers, there is no reason for her to stay.

re. Waxwing's comment -
I agree that an advisor isn't so responsible for providing a challenging environment for a PhD student, who should be more self motivated.  However, if the environment ceases to be challenging, that is a different issue.