I will of course be reading over a few finished theses by recent graduates within my department, but the more I can get my hands on the better! My field is Early Medieval urban life, but all periods are welcome. Thanks again!

Hi there,

I would very much like to view some examples of various dissertations written within the History/Classics field. This is to facilitate my own methodology and structuring of my chapter list, and to gain a general idea of the format or template that is used. If anyone has a good website with example theses, or is able to give some advice on this matter please let me know. Thanks!

Yeah good point. Thanks again!

Bakuvia....come to a pub that isn't affiliated with the uni, and I'll show you shortcomings!!

Although I may have been influenced by my years in Japan...after returning to the UK I see many social values which are just disgraceful here, as proud as I am to have UK-Canadian passports. That being said, there are certainly enough social issues over there to go around as well .

50K debt is easy when you're forced to pay overseas tuition, despite being a British citizen (total scam). I will probably just bite the bullet and keep going with it, because at the end of the day I genuinely do enjoy what I do. As to the remarks about 'slappers', that was to emphasize the fact that money/looks/conformity play a crucial role to many people who live outside of an academic environment. I'm well aware that there are men and women who pursue their lives out of passion and a sense of adventure, but if you're in your mid 20's and living in the West these days, you will certainly wonder sometimes...

As shallow as that sounds, I'm just fed up having to put in 100x more effort than one of my mates who has a good income...it starts to become very frustrating over time. Then again, most of my profs are married with families, so I guess there is a way! lol

I've actually been asked recently, "what good is your job if you can't buy a big house?" I could also put forth about 2 dozen similar comments I've heard within the last year, but I won't bother because such shallow individuals are beneath my contempt. At the same time, I often wish I had maybe just conformed to the social norm and decided upon a lucrative career, in order that the majority of women might take an interest in me, rather than having to constantly hunt for that niche market of women who are interested in more than a guy's wallet (they exist, but I'd say about 0.5% of the overall pop) heheh

Yeah that's a fair point, I am certainly not the homebody type who is scared to travel. That being said, I went to Japan where one can supposedly earn a good salary and didn't save a dime...so I wouldn't be surprised if the same thing happened in Dubai or wherever else hehe. Job satisfaction and passion for my career have been the only things keeping me going throughout my academic studies, but at the same time I feel I am surrounded more and more by incredibly materialistic and superficial women. Perhaps it's because I live in a city in the UK which is notorious for golddiggers and essentially 'slappers', as they say....there are plenty of women around, and I've never had much trouble meeting any until I started this PhD...these days it seems very fruitless.

although I guess if he's happy enough at the end of the day, that's all that matters right? I've been telling myself that for years, but I've been having trouble with it lately.

Also, knowing that I won't be self-sufficient for many years is a serious source of depression. I look at my supervisor who is 60 plus....takes the damn bus to work, because his wife needs to use their beat up car....always penny pinching at restaurants and being a cheap ass.....I wasn't raised that way, and I have no genuine desire to be a cheapskate for the rest of my life. That is another big issue these days.....not sure I could genuinely be happy having to constantly tighten my belt. That is pretty pathetic when you're 60 years old, to be honest...

It's more the fact that I have also done degrees overseas, and paid the respective tuition....my Dad and I have spent about 500k between us so....I am not in any position to do anything (and yes the financial blackmail is often quite explicit, but I am not in any position to even lose a tenth of the support...my uni is just extortionate when it comes to costs). I sometimes just wish I could completely isolate myself from my family, and not have to deal with their crap at all (one reason I went to Japan). Returning to the UK and constantly having to deal with their shit is a major pain/distraction.

Thanks for the great advice, but I'm afraid my family doesn't work on a very rational level, and trying to have anything resembling a rational conversation is not at all possible these days. I discussed the idea of going part time and working, but my supervisor looked at me like I had three heads and said it was an awful idea (so I quickly dropped that). I may just end up trying to finish in the next 2 years, and try not to worry about the 80k debt....taking a single year off would do nothing. I took two years off after my MSc and tried to make some money in Japan, but I didn't save a penny (living expenses cancel out the relatively decent pay). Anyway, thanks again, I appreciate it....guess I'll just have to bite the bullet for another two years and hope I get a job afterwards,
JS

lol sorry for my absolutely appalling punctuation/grammar there, I have been awake for 39 hours due to stress!!

God, this is my life in a nutshell!! I am unable to meet anyone here in the UK for anything meaningful, and I believe it's largely due to how I perceive myself as a PhD student. I've never had problems meeting women when I lived in various countries around the world, at least for casual dating or whatever, but since starting my PhD I have lost the ability to meet women. I have been pondering this for some time now, and I believe it's because I view myself as being too busy for relationships, inadequate financially to support a meaningful girlfriend (please don't flame me with equal pay stuff or being sexist, I am just being realistic...relationships/dating cost a lot more than if you remain single, simply due to the fact that you are expected to 'go out' rather than live like a hermit in your room). Basically I don't see myself having any kind of serious girlfriend throughout the duration of my doctorate for these reasons