Reading for Research

Posted on November 30, 2020 by Sara Bell

Photo credit: Sara Bell

One of the most daunting parts of research papers—and, admittedly, of college humanities courses at large—has been secondary reading. I had read journal articles for some classes in high school, but mostly for science classes: academic papers in the humanities were new to me, in particular highly theoretical ones. If you’re just starting out in college, or maybe taking an intense class in the humanities for the first time, you’ll benefit from being strategic about how you read. These tips carry through to humanities research, where secondary reading abounds. 

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Let Your Thinking Flow

Posted on November 25, 2020 by al223

A progression of flowcharts. Photo credit: Isabel Wong

It’s the middle of November, which means I’m anxiously awaiting the three days we’re given off from school during which I become more mashed potatoes and apple crisp than human. I say “anxiously” because while I cannot wait to wake up after the sun for consecutive days in a row, I’m also stressed about all the work due before and after the break. If you’re a first-year in UWriting, a part of your stress is probably over P3. When I was a first-year, my November weekends were largely devoted to P3, which, for those first-years in Fro Sci, stands for Progression 3 and not, unfortunately, potatoes and pumpkin pie. I remember going over the syllabus on the first day of UWriting and thinking there was no way I could write a 10- to 12-page research paper. However, as all Columbia students, including you soon enough, will attest to, it is possible! 

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Pacing Your Papers

Posted on November 24, 2020 by Sara Bell

Photo credit: Sara Bell

If the start to your November has been anything like mine, every item on your to-do list has had something to do with the word “essay”: whether a five-page paper for my intro-level lecture class, a ten-page paper for my graduate-level seminar, or a proposal for the Senior Essay (the English department’s name for a thesis), I’m up to my elbows in double-spaced Times New Roman. But in everything except font, no two essay assignments are created equal. My approach to that five-page paper is going to have to be different from the semester-long, 20-page paper I’m writing for one of my seminars. Over the course of college, I’ve grown into someone who doesn’t start anything the night before (first-years, quashing this habit is one of the best gifts you can give yourself) but the timeline of a paper I write in a week just won’t work for a long research paper or a thesis. So how do you pace yourself on a semester-long self-driven research project, while also trying to keep up with the rest of the semester’s assignments? 

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Circular Process, Linear Result

Posted on November 14, 2020 by Teresa Brown

Photo Credit: Kristian Woerner.

It recently occurred to me that I have an entire chapter of my thesis due next week, and yet I have only done a little over half of the reading and research that I will eventually complete for my entire thesis. Rather than finishing all of my research and then sitting down to write my paper, I will essentially be doing both at the same time.

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Falling into First Drafts

Posted on November 6, 2020 by Isabel Wong

Anne Carson’s Bird by Bird, which houses the chapter, “Shitty First Drafts.”

The other day, part of my thesis was due. As the deadline loomed, I found myself unable to write more than half a page. I crafted opening line after opening line, but no matter how many times I stepped away from my writing to gain a new perspective, I couldn’t move beyond the first couple of paragraphs. 

Since turning those pages in, I have come to realize that what prevented these starts from leading to anything more than frustration and abandonment was my own inability to let drafts be drafts. Each day, after struggling through a paragraph, I would look back at what I had left on the page and cringe in horror. Everything I had written sucked. It was absolutely terrible and completely unsalvageable, and the only option left was to begin again. I cannot go on writing like this, I would think to myself.

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It’s Okay to be Scared of Office Hours! 

Posted on November 3, 2020 by Rhea Sahai

Photo credit: Toa Heftiba, unsplash.

I am not the type of student who goes to office hours every week. I’m eternally jealous of my friends who are able to just go chat with their professors about anything and everything, but maybe I’m too scared, maybe my school didn’t give me a lot of student-teacher interaction. To be frank, I don’t know what the answer is but no matter how much I tell myself that it’s worth my time to go to my professors’ office hours, I’ve just never been able to do it unless I have a very specific reason.

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DIY Templates

Posted on October 31, 2020 by Isabel Wong

Variations on a cake. Photo Credit: Isabel Wong

On October 31, 2020 I will become my sister.

We’re dressing up as each other for Halloween, which means I’ll have to wear leggings in 80ºF heat. More than a simple clothes swap, I’ll attend dance class and learn 75% of Hamilton lyrics. Boba will govern my stomach, thoughts of getting a puppy my dreams.

Conversely, my sister will wear too small shirts coupled with too large pants, everything that fits me still boxed in New York. She’ll wake up before the sun at 5 a.m. and sigh always and loudly. Writing a single email will take her two hours.

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Why am I writing a thesis?

Posted on October 29, 2020 by Teresa Brown

Amsterdam Ave. at night. Photo credit: Kristian Woerner.

Recently, I’ve found myself pondering the question: Why am I writing a thesis?

Now, I don’t think that there’s any specific right or wrong answer to this question. For some, writing a thesis is a natural extension of a project they have already been working on for a while. For others, the thesis is an opportunity to take a topic or research question of interest that they have always been intrigued by but never had the chance to pursue and to devote a significant amount of time to developing this project. Still others might have a personal connection to their topic of choice.

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No Thesis, No Shame

Posted on October 27, 2020 by Rhea Sahai

Photo Credit: Columbia School of Professional Studies

Most of the people in my life tend to be a bit surprised to learn that I’m not writing a thesis. After all, I write a blog that talks about research on campus, and it’s frequently assumed that an interest in research must mean an interest in writing a thesis. In fact, research and theses are so tied together that I’m not the only CC research ambassador to write about this subject— Isabel Wong wrote a beautiful piece on her decision to ultimately write a thesis. I spent the past year going back and forth on the idea of committing myself to this academic milestone. But every time I got close to deciding on doing a thesis, the time commitment spooked me. Prior to writing this piece I spoke to some of my friends who are writing a thesis. One friend estimated that he was spending 20 hours a week on his thesis. Another speculated that they were spending anywhere from 17 – 25 hours a week. 

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Making the Most of Meeting Professors

Posted on October 20, 2020 by Teresa Brown

Barnard College Library. Photo Credit: Teresa Brown

At the end of September I had to choose a “second reader” for my thesis. In the History
department, all students writing a thesis attend a year-long thesis seminar course. In addition to the professor for this course, who leads the class, each student is required to seek out a second reader. The second reader is ideally another professor of history whose research interests are similar to that of the student’s and thus can function as a sort of expert in the field and faculty mentor.

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