Doctor Elizabeth

This week I defended and filed my dissertation!  This means that I am writing with a newly-acquired fancy title: Dr. Morgan.  Just like my mom.

During my defense, the five members of my committee sat down with me in my advisor's office and took turns asking me questions about aspects of my research and writing, offering advice and suggestions, and sharing their thoughts on how to best turn my dissertation into a book.  We discussed a number of topics, but the most interesting for me was whether or not I should include bits of original, non-academic prose in the text or not.  In each case-study chapter of my dissertation, I have written something in the style of a late-Georgian woman.  In chapter 1, for instance, I wrote a letter from a young woman to her mother, describing her daily piano practice.  My second chapter features a short story, my third a series of journal entries.  There are numerous reasons why I depart from academic norms and include these excerpts of original fiction.  Since so much private-sphere documentation is difficult to find, and a great amount of it has undoubtedly been lost, I am filling in a hole in historical material.  I am also using my imagination to bring history alive--just as the pianists I write about used their imaginations to bring character pieces and accompanied sonatas to life.  Perhaps the most important reason, though, is that I am engaging in a process of performative writing, something featured in recent scholarship across a range of fields.  My approach to writing my dissertation reflects and embodies my historical subject.  

My committee didn't really come to a consensus about whether or not my inclusion of original fiction strengthens or detracts from my project.  I know that I am taking a risk by deviating from standard academic protocol, and perhaps I will reconsider its presence before I expand the project into a book.  But all the members agreed that I could file the dissertation as it was and signed off on it that afternoon.  

I spent the next two days working on revisions based on their thoughts and suggestions, which included adding a few pages to my introduction, in which I discuss performative writing.  The process of filing turned out to be quite an ordeal.  I had to re-format, deal with copyright for my musical examples, and fill out numerous exit surveys for the university.  I filed with forty-five minutes to spare on Thursday afternoon and then hit the road for the long drive back to the Bay Area.

I have completed my PhD!  Unfortunately, I can't swear off school forever yet.  I still have a DMA in the works.  I should be ready to defend my DMA thesis within a few months, and plan to make another trip to LA to do so before the fall.  And then I'll really be done!