======= Date Modified 06 Jul 2011 16:57:05 =======
Hi guys,

I am in my second year of an arts / humanities PhD. My supervisor and I have had an increasingly fraught and negative relationship, and it has finally come to the point where we mutually agreed we would part ways, and I would find a new supervisor to work with.

While I am relieved to be "free" because our working relationship had gotten so bad, I am also unsure of what to do now. I have contacted a student advisor and am meeting with them in a couple of days, and think I probably need to arrange a meeting with my Head of School now to discuss it all.

Has this ever happened to anyone else on the forum? I would really appreciate any advice!

Thanks!! :)

Hi Jen!

I also had a terrible fear of public speaking - TERRIBLE!!! For conference presentations, I would get uncontrollably nervous, wouldn't be able to sleep for days beforehand, felt sick, shaky, tongue-tied, my mind would go blank, my voice would quiver.... ugghh it was terrible. And I know this is such a Nike cliche, but the only way I have been able to conquer it is by DOING IT! Just force yourself, don't think about it too much - take on the teaching you've been offered, and sign yourself up for conferences... make yourself commit to events. Make sure you are well prepared, and then just get the job done. It helps me to think things like "This is just 20 minutes of my life, not that big a deal" and "This time tomorrow it'll be in the past, it'll be gone". Each time I give a presentation, it gets a bit easier. It really does.

Also, I haven't got experience of teaching in a university setting, but I used to be a community & education arts worker, and taught art classes to really diverse groups of people, from children to teenagers to pensioners! What worked for me was remembering that they are all just people - so relate to them that way, just be friendly and make them feel welcome. Be yourself, take an interest in them and ask questions, and chat about "normal" things if you get stuck. It will relax both you and them. The rest will follow.

Another good tip that my old boss gave me is that you cannot control people - people may not do what you want them to do, say what you want them to say, react the way you expect them to react... When you are beginning any kind of teaching it is easy to get caught up in planning a class to death - which often leads to panic/frustration.

So try to be flexible and open to letting the group go where it goes, to some extent. They're just people, same as you - same fears of embarrassment, nervousness, stupidity - all the rest of it. Try to remember that and think about what kind of class you'd enjoy yourself.

Hope this has helped a bit, and GOOD LUCK!!! :)

Hi Chococake! I would agree with Dom - I found 'The Unwritten Rules of PhD Research' to be absolutely brilliant. I am in my 2nd year and have just finished reading it - ohhh how I wish I had come across it before starting the PhD!! I would've saved myself alot of wasted time, confusion and headaches. It is full of brilliant advice and ideas, and really helped me to clarify my research topic, and my role as a PhD student. Give it a go! :)

Hi Eska, Joyce and Stressed!

Thank you so much for your help, and I'm sorry it has taken me a while to reply. I kinda wanted to take in everything you three said and mull it over for a few weeks, and get back to you once I had something to report... unfortunately, despite lots of frustrating days of painstakingly trying to figure out what to do, nothing has really changed :-(

Your analogy of kicking the car wheels before you purchase really struck a chord with me Eska, and I thought that was what I was doing. But I don't know now... it's like I've kicked so much that I've kicked myself out of my discipline and totally alienated myself from my topic, like to the point of no return!! And I have got to the point where the car has totally fallen apart and I may have to admit to myself that it isn't worth purchasing... all a bit of an abstract way of saying I think I may have to seriously consider leaving the PhD, which I would be so disappointed in myself for doing, and would feel such a failure.

Your reply was really helpful Joyce - I wish I could get to my 'eureka moment', I just don't know how!! I don't know what the focus of my research is anymore. I will definitely take a look at Chris Hart's book, if it worked for you maybe-just-maybe it might for me!

How are you getting on, Stressed? Has your situation improved? I really hope so!!

Thanks again guys :-)

Hiya,

I am coming to the end of my first year of a PhD in postfeminism and popular culture. I was wondering if there are any other PhD students out there who are working in the area of women's studies, feminism, cultural studies and/or film studies, who are finding that they are losing faith in their subjects. The more I work on my PhD, the more alienated I feel by these disciplines - a year ago I would have balked at the thought of me saying this, but now it all seems increasingly trivial and misinformed, like it bears little relation to reality. Is there anybody else out there experiencing something similar? It seems like all the other PhD students I know, my supervisor, and most of the scholars I read do not share these doubts at all, and I find myself questioning all this on my own.

I hope there's someone else out there to talk about this with! Thanks :)