From the FAQ:
Nope, no time limit. Once you do a Ph.D., you're in the club for life. You can dance anytime you want.
You can dance if you want to.
The social science category is a little thin.
They all have to be "science" (defined broadly, but not clearly), which probably explains the relative lack of social science.
"Finalists for each category (Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Social Sciences) will be announced in September."
Not that the dance was that good, but "Coming Out to Parents: Parental Trust and Solidarity Among Only Children and Non-Only Children." wins the Tuesday/not-Tuesday award.
"Coming Out to Parents: Parental Trust and Solidarity" doesn't have enough words for a dissertation title.
It's too bad this is limited to science. Is it possible that philosophers, and political and literary theorists, are unwilling to dance?
Maybe they're too willing to dance. Gotta give the scientists a fighting chance.
9: There might also be a gulf, dancing-wise, between the theorists and, say, the Romance Languages majors, and the Anthropology people. Those guys are nuts.
It would be hard to dance my title, but I had quasiperiodic signals out the wazoo.
You'd think there'd be an architecture category.
12: You'd think architects could really cut a rug, but I think they tend to leave that sort of finishing work to the interior decorators.
If only "wazoo" had been "kazoo" my dance would already be scored. Anyone have a vuvuzela synth?
You'd think there'd be an architecture category.
Well, I mean, how many people get PhDs in architecture?
I for one appreciate it considerably.
15: Cornell appears to mint about less than one per year. So, probably not many at all!
I am appreciating 12. Because I like to be different.
about less than one per year
How should this be phrased?
"By my approximation . . . less than one a year?" How should one denote an approximate value which appears to be less than one?
What's wrong with "about less than one per year"?
Cornell appears to mint about less than one per year.
Twenty-eight currently in Harvard's doctoral program.
I guess that isn't strictly architecture.
It's the grad students studying Architecture in Helsinki who can really shake a leg.
I am appreciating 12.
Says the guy who writes about music.
11: ...quasiperiodic signals out the wazoo.
You might want to see a doctor about that.
I had wave-wave interactions mediated by chaotic particles. Lots of dance potential, and the chaos angle means you don't have to have any sense of rhythm or even full control of your limbs. I've been dancing my PhD since junior high.
Oh my God, I am loving these. Apo's early favorite is truly something to behold. I am emailing this link to my family.
"Male ageing and sexual conflict in the feral fowl" totally brought in ringers.
I thought of you first when I found it, JM.
i just spent about an hour giggling over them, so thank you!
I think the reason there aren't any humanities PhD dances is that the academic culture is so different. A humanities academic would never, ever live down a PhD dance, while a scientist's work is judged much more on its (testable) merits. I've heard stories about goofy behavior from science professors that would utterly sink the authority of a lot of humanities professors, I think.
35 is right, and makes me like scientists. If only I'd been better at math. Fucking math.
A humanities academic would never, ever live down a PhD dance,
Is this true? If it's true it makes me sad, but it doesn't sound like it should be true. Or maybe I'm being like Megan with her "nothing bad would ever happen to anyone who didn't wear suits at a law office, right?"-isms.
You'd probably be fine if your specialization was in something widely considered difficult and rare--and canonical. The guys doing Old and Middle English get away with wackiness. A lot of humanities teaching, though, requires the professor to bring the seriousness to the subject, to convince the students (and administrators) that this shit matters.
I could do this. Is it just based on the title or can you do a multi-chapter stuite?
Is this true? If it's true it makes me sad, but it doesn't sound like it should be true.
Hm. I think 28 is roughly right. I'm having trouble placing (various areas of?) philosophy in the spectrum of the "difficult and rare--and canonical," though.
In any event, it's definitely the case that many humanities fields must convince the audience of their seriousness, particularly when any number of them have become increasingly interdisciplinary.
A humanities academic would never, ever live down a PhD dance
I haven't danced my dissertation, but after my horribly stressful MLA interview for a prestigious job I really didn't want, I did do an interpretive dance recap of the interview for Tweety. I was thinking of something along the lines of Nijinsky's "I will now dance the war."