I absolutely LOVE this:
What's the last word in your dissertation?* ...*For those of you still--or not yet--writing a dissertation, what word would you like to be the last word? It might be fun to record it here and then write to it. Voila.
My first thought is that I want my last word to signify--with absolute finality--my successful transition from grad student status to...whatever (non student) status comes next. So, words like "complete," "graduation," "finally," and "employment" come to mind. However, these words have little to do with my dissertation topic so I suspect that writing towards them will lead me astray. And we definitely cannot have that.
So, I must think about my actual dissertation... Now, the last section will have to do with implications of my topic for future research, theory, policy, education, and practice... So, I'm going to choose an appropriate future-oriented word:
TRANSFORMATION.
You read my last word here first, folks! "Voila!"
Posted by perry032 at May 16, 2006 02:52 PM | TrackBackThis is definitely great, I want to do it too.
Posted by: Lilian at May 16, 2006 04:59 PMGood-I can't wait to hear what it is. The comments to the original post are so interesting. I am just envious that all those folks *have* completed dissertations in order to have a last word! At any rate, I now have my provisional last word: Just a few thousand more to go!
Posted by: Yvette at May 16, 2006 05:08 PMThe last word of my diss (currently) is Regardless. I hope that doesn't change because I like it and it reflects the attitude of the Black women in politics that I talk about in the work. I didn't realize it was going to the be last word when I first drafted the conclusion but now I rather like it. I like your last word too--very cool.
Posted by: Mon at May 18, 2006 07:35 PM