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Open Access Theses

Theses from 2018 2018.

A study of the characteristics of a differential privacy implementation , Niveah T. Abraham

Additive Manufacturing for Aerodynamic Diffuser Designs in a Centrifugal Compressor , Ruben Adkins-Rieck

Synthesis of Stable Open-Shell Moieties and Polymers for Charge Transfer Applications , Varad Vinayak Agarkar

Experimental Study of a Transcritical Thermoacoustic Device , Dayle N. Alexander

Heat and Mass Transfer Analysis for Membrane Distillation , Albraa A. Alsaati

Changes in Audiovisual Word Perception During Mid-Childhood: An ERP Study , Elizabeth Ancel

Control of Urea Dosing for Urea SCR System in a Diesel-Powered Vehicle , Harshil Rajesh Angre

Exploring the Cognitive Tasks Surrounding Professional Horse Judging Practices in Stock- Type Halter Classes , Paige Marie Arehart

Touch Screen Assessment of At-Risk Infant Comprehension , Rachel Elizabeth Hahn Arkenberg

Effects of a mobile tablet device and an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) application on individuals with an acquired communication disorder: Influence on communication abilities and quality of life , Yamini Balasubramanian

Determining the Influence of Evidence-Based Messaging on Millennial Agriculturalists’ Attitudes towards Genetically Modified (GM) Foods , Erica M. Ballmer

Advanced Torque Control Strategy for the Maha Hydraulic Hybrid Passenger Vehicle. , Pranay Banerjee

MR-compatible Electrophysiology Recording System for Multimodal Imaging , Nishant B. Barbaria

Optimization of Zein Based Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy Biosensor for the Detection Of Gliadin as a Marker for Celiac Disease , Emma A. Barber

Automated Power Consumption Scheduling for Connected Appliances in a Remodeled, Energy Efficient House , Andrew W. Batek

Effect of Surface Treatments on Radiation Tolerance of ATI 718Plus Alloy , Yerik Bazarbayev

The Role of Material Complexity in Retrieval Practice Effects , Joseph P. Bedwell

The Effects of Card Playing on Cognition , Julia Nicole Bergmann

Double-Crop Soybean Response to Maturity Group and Plant Population in the Ohio River Valley Region , Stephen J. Boersma

Demonstrator for Selectively Compliant Morphing Systems with Multi-stable Structures , David M. Boston

Synthesis and Characterization of Novel Double Perovskites , Andrew Kent Bowser

Comparing Disdrometer-measured Raindrop Size Distributions from VORTEX-SE with Distributions from Polarimetric Radar Retrievals Using the Constrained Gamma Method , Jessica Bozell

Working Equids: A Case Study Investigating if Locus of Control Effects Welfare in Central America , Lauren Ann Brizgys

Exploring Double Consciousness: The Rhetoric and Retention of Black Graduate Students at Predominantly White Institutions , Kimberly Nicole Broughton

Prevalence and Control of Listeria monocytogenes and S. enterica in Retail Produce Environments , John Lawrence Burnett

Supervised Machine Learning Applications to Winter Road Impacts , Kevin D. Burris

Evaluating the Effects of Education on Student Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behavior Regarding Food Waste , Rebecca Busse

High Resolution Temperature Measurement Using TERS , Qian Cao

SafeguaRDP: an Architecture for Mediated Control of Desktop Applications by Untrusted Crowd Workers , Sylvia T. Carrell

Droplet Spreading on a Substrate , Chao-Ying Chen

Evaluation of Economic Improvement in United States and China Pork Industry through Modeling and Genetic Tools , Jian Cheng

Effects of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) on adults' diet quality , Kaiyan Chen

UV/Chlorine Treatment of ANTX-a , Moshan Chen

Effects of Carbon Nanotubes on Microbial Growth and Horizontal Gene Transfer , Ran Chen

A Mapping of Applied Electric Fields in the Spinal Cord via Finite Element Analysis , Kavya Cherukuri

Modeling and Parameter Characterization of A Betavoltaic Cell , Darrell S. Cheu

The approach to ridge regression for big data: An examination , Wan-Chih Chiang

Predicting Customer Complaints in Mobile Telecom Industry Using Machine Learning Algorithms , Chiyoung Choi

Experimental Study of Fractional Order Behavior in Dynamic Systems , Rajarshi Choudhuri

Categorizing HBSI Errors Using Wearable Trackers. , Jeffrey Chudik

Evaluation of Additive Manufacturing Technology for Microchannel Heat Sinks , Ivel Lee Collins

Care Givers: Motivating and Enhancing Non-Profit Caregivers’ Experiences , Mingchu Cong

Design and 3D Printing of Integrated Fluid Power Components , Alfonso Costas

The Mnemonic Effect of Choice , Michelle E. Coverdale

Chocolate Almond Milk Consumption Changes SalivaryProline-Rich Protein Expression, whichAlterAstringencyandBitterness , Ciera Crawford

Living in a Liminal Space: Standing Rock and Storytelling as a Tool of Activism , Janelle Cronin

Hyperspectral Modeling of Relative Water Content and Nitrogen Content in Sorghum and Maize , Valerie Cross

Ultrasonic Attenuation of Bridge Steels and Narrow-gap Improved Electroslag Welds , Bridget M. Crowley

A Lexically Driven Taxonomy for Political Campaign Interactions on Twitter , Joshua Curth

Identifying Pollinator Species of Indiana Soybean Fields and their Potential Contributions to Yield , Brooke Dennis

Detection and Management of Diabetes Mellitus (Type -II) , Ridhi Deo

Community Detection in Cyber Networks , Harsha Vithalrao Deshmukh

Using corn zein to improve the quality of gluten-free bread , Aminata Diatta

Validation of Object Identification and Tracking in Radar Imagery , Daniel T. Dietz

Characterization of an Aluminum-Lithium Alloy Based Composite Propellant at Elevated Pressures , Gabriel Diez

Quality and Economic Analysis of Green Coffee Beans Stored in Purdue Improved Crop Storage Bags , Natalie Kay Donovan

Liquid-Vapor Imaging in Fuel Sprays Using Lifetime-Filtered Planar Laser-Induced Fluorescence , Alber Douglawi

Improving Hotel Demand Forecasting Accuracy by Identifying Seasonality-Adjusted Outliers , Tingting Duan

Development of tools to reduce risk of nosocomial and foodborne pathogens exposure , Paula A. Duarte-Guevara

Simulating composite delamination with a damage-type cohesive zone model , Haodong Du

Distribution and Spread of an Invasive Shrub (Pyrus calleryana Decne) Across Environmental Gradients in Southern Indiana , Kalli Dunn

Enrichment of Turbulence Field Using Wavelets , Yifan Du

Habitat and Interspecific Interactions Affect Mesocarnivore Occupancy in the Eastern U.S. , Michael Egan

BioDynamic Imaging System: A novel, noninvasive method for assessing embryo viability. , Natalie Ehmke

Who Are We Now? Examining Internal Organizational Communication During Crisis , Elizabeth England

Electrostatic Regulation of Phospholipase C beta Enzymes , Candi Michelle Esquina

Parental Restrictive Feeding with Latino Adolescents: Examining the Role of Adolescent Self-Regulation in Associations with Body Mass Index , Carly Danae Evich

Genetics and Genomics of Golden Eagle Populations with Contrasting Demographic Histories , Nadia B. Fernandez

Micropropulsion Trade Study and Investigation for Attitude Control of Nanosatellites , Katherine L. Fowee

Power Management Modeling of Electric Machine Converter Systems , Drummond R. Fudge

Activity markers and horse riding in Mongolia: Entheseal changes among Bronze and Iron Age human skeletal remains , Matthew R. Fuka

Exploring The Effects of a STEM Integrated Program Experience on Girl Scouts’ Pro-environmental Intentions , Miranda E. Furrer

Development of a Finite Volume General Two-phase Navier-Stokes Solver for Direct Numerical Simulations on Cut-Cells with Sharp Fixed Interface , Vishwanath Ganesan

Hybrid Energy Storage Systems for UAV Applications , John J. Ganser

The Effects on User Perception of Uniqueness of Three Factors as Applied to 3-Dimensional Tree Models , Ge Gao

The Acquisition of Aspectual Properties in Reflexive Psych Predicates and Physical Change of State Verbs , Aida Garcia Tejada

Refiguring Hybridity in Star Trek , Elizabeth Gellis

Synthesis of Next Generation Open-Shell Small Molecules: Effects of Functional Group Modulation of Blatter’s Radical , Stephen Gilbert

Conceptual Framework for Implementing Integrated Project Delivery for Infrastructure Projects in Peru. , Sulyn Cossett Gomez Villanueva

The Effects of Agronomic Management and 40 Years of Variety Release on Soybean Seed Fill and Yield Components , Kathryn Graf

Acorn Dispersal and Oak Regeneration in a Managed Landscape , Skye M. Greenler

Aerosol Impacts on Simulated Supercell Thunderstorms in VORTEX2 and VORTEX-SE , Mingyang Guo

Determining the Critical Success Factors in Big Data Projects , Aishwarya Gupte

Polarization in Media: Perception and Reality , Parag Guruji

The Impact of Colostrum versus Formula Feeding and Fat Supplementation on Vaginal Lipidome and Uterine Development in Gilts on Postnatal Day 2 , KaLynn Harlow

Visualization in the Teaching of Agricultural and Biological Engineering Concepts , Claire E. Haselhorst

Modeling of Reynolds Stress Tensor with Embedded Galilean Invariance using a Supervised Deep Learning Algorithm , Dominik Tobias Hauger

Experimental Wave and Material Property Measurements for an Elastomer Binder and Particulate Composite Material , Caleb R. Heitkamp

Brain Atlas and Neuronal Connectivity Visualization and Interaction in Virtual Reality , Lindun He

"The Effects of Oxidative Stress on Exosome Release in Human Skeletal Muscle Satellite Cells" , Zachary R. Hettinger

A Thermally-Actuated Micro Shutter Array Device for Mask-less Lithography , Zitao He

The Female Threat: Reactions to Increased Representation of Women in Traditionally Male-Dominated Domains , Laura Hildebrand

Environmental and genetic considerations for the conservation of an arboreal species: Phascolarctos cinereus , Kendra C. Hodge

Priming Sentence Comprehension in Older Adults , Emily Hosokawa

Exploring Generation Z’s Work Values: Implications for Future Work , Pei-Yu Hsieh

The Effect of Sc on the Formation and Distribution of In-situ TiB2 Particles in an Aluminum Matrix , Dan Huang

Understanding the Collaboration Difficulties Between UX Designers and Developers in Agile Environments , Yun-Han Huang

A Study on Synthesizing PDM and LMS in K-12 Environments , Meagan Hughes

Design, Modeling, and Control of a Flying-Insect-Inspired Quadrotor with Rotatable Arms , Jin Hu

Quasi-One Dimensional Modeling of Rotational Detonation Engines , Jenna A. Humble

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Department of Philosophy College of Liberal Arts

Current Dissertations & Placements

[ 2012   2013   2014   2015   2016 2017 2018   2019 2020 2021   2022  2023 ]

Despite an ongoing tight market nationwide for new Ph.D.s entering academic philosophy, the Purdue University Philosophy Department has enjoyed a strong record of success in placing its graduates during this period.  The Department granted Ph.D.s to sixty-five people in this decade.  Fifty-five of those sixty-five did unrestricted searches for academic positions, and forty-eight of those fifty-five received a full-time offer of some sort.

We attribute this success in large measure to two things:

• This department devotes considerable energy and resources to help its students secure academic appointments, beginning with the work of a Placement Director whose job is to oversee all aspects of preparation for and execution of the application process.  This includes: an early-Fall placement meeting for prospective candidates (including those still a year or two away from completing their dissertations), during which the contents of an extensive placement manual are discussed in detail; multiple-faculty review of draft CVs; compilation of a full dossier, including a special letter about the applicant's success as a teacher written by the Director of Undergraduate Studies; full subsidy of copying and postage costs; mock interviews by faculty for all candidates; and on-site assistance and advice from the Placement Director at the Eastern APA Meeting.
• The Graduate Program at Purdue is structured so that all students emerge with strong competence in a range of traditional areas of philosophy.  This, together with concerted effort at giving our students extensive experience teaching their own courses under faculty-mentor oversight, has earned Purdue a reputation of turning out unusually well-trained teachers of philosophy.

Many of our students begin applying for jobs as latter-stage ABD candidates; most of our students secure a continuing tenure-track job within three years of graduating.  The list below shows the employment record for the past decade by year of graduation, listing current position first and then any previous ones.  Every effort has been made to provide information that is as complete and accurate as possible: please send corrections to [email protected] .

In Progress

DuncanCordry: “Between Technology and Tradition:  Navigating Spirituality and the Politics of Progress in the Modern Age” (Dan Smith and Leonard Harris)

James Elliott:  “Religion and Morality in the Young Hegel’s Reception of Kant: An Analysis of the Early Theological Writings” (Jacqueline Mariña)

Benjamin Elmore:  “Scanlonian Contractualism and Animals” (Pat Kain)

T. Josh Folk:  “Leibniz on Reasons for Acting and Moral Obligation” (Pat Kain)

Ana Carolina Gómez Sierra:  “The Problem of Universality of Human Rights: An Analysis Through the Explanatory Role of Social Contracts” (Christopher Yeomans)

Sarah Lucas:  “Theoretical Virtues and Moral Theory Selection” (Pat Kain)

Jashiel Resto Quiñones, “Moderate Theistic Metaethics and Its Implications for Natural Theology” (Paul Draper)

Anselm Rodriguez,O.Praem: “Thomas Aquinas on the Human Body as theInstrument of the Soul” (Jeffrey Brower)

Troy Seagraves:  “Moral Permissivism” (Pat Kain)

Alex Vrabely: “Essays in Social Metaphysics” (Dan Smith)

Chen Yang: “Perspectives onthe Concept of Infinity” (Chris Yeomans)

Samantha Seybold:  “White Noise: The Epistemic Injustice of American Post-Truth Normativity” (Dan Smith)

Thomas Doyle:  “Persons in Dis-Ease: Understanding Medicine Through Phenomenology” (Dan Smith)

Research Associate, University of Indiana Center for Bioethics

Brian Eckley:  “Simone de Beauvoir's Existentialist Ethics: Sex, Gender, and Indifference” (William McBride)

Visiting Instructor, University of Portland

Alžbeta Hájková:  “Hannah Arendt and Contemporary Politics: Refugees, Identity, and Gender Equality” (Christopher Yeomans)

Postdoctoral Researcher, Georgia Tech

Perry Hendricks:  “Skeptical Theism, God, and Evidence” (Michael Bergmann

Dan Linford:  “Essays on Philosophy of Cosmology” (Paul Draper)

Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Chemistry, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Luke Wilson:  “Divine Motivation and Bayesian Natural Theology” (Paul Draper)

Assistant Professor (Tenure Track), Illinois Wesleyan University

Previously: Visiting Assistant Professor, Illinois Wesleyan University

Berman Chan:  “The Metaphysics of Goodness” (Pat Kain)

Associate Professor, Lanzhou University

Joseph Krylow:  “Rejecting Physicalism: A Causal Analysis of Augustine’s Argument from Presence to Incorporeality” (Jeff Brower)

Assistant Teaching Professor, UNC Raleigh

Rob Luzecky:  “The Times of Deleuze” (Dan Smith)

Adjunct Professor, George Mason University

Tiffany Montoya:  “Beyond the ‘Rational, Autonomous, Individual’: A Critical Reexamining of the Self in Normative Political Theory” (Leonard Harris)

Consortium for Faculty Diversity Postdoctoral Fellow in the Philosophy Department at Muhlenberg College

Ryan van Nood:  “Vital Ethics: The Meaning Effect and Seeing the World Aright” (Dan Frank)

Lecturer, Institute for Philosophy at Leiden University

Brandon Rdzak:  “‘It is of the nature of reason to regard things as necessary, not as contingent’: A Defense of Spinoza’s Necessitarianism” (Dan Frank)

Visiting Instructor, Cornerstone Integrated Liberal Arts Program & Department of Philosophy, Purdue University

Stephen Setman:  “Moral Responsibility, Reasons Responsiveness, Normative Control, and Political Radicalization” (Dan Kelly)

Assistant Professor (Tenure Track), St. Bonaventure University

Previously: Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy, St. Bonaventure University

Samuel Bennett:  “With and Without Self-Control: The Aristotelian Characters of Akrasia and Enkrateia ” (Pat Curd)

Visiting Assistant Professor, Cornerstone Integrated Liberal Arts Program & Department of Philosophy, Purdue University

Patrick Hoburg:  “Stratigraphic Time: The Temporal Nature of Evolutionary Change” (Dan Smith), Philosophy and Literature

Vince Jacobson:  “A Nominalist Theory of Content” (Rod Bertolet)

Compliance Communications Specialist, Stryker Corporation

James Mollison:  “Dialogues with Nietzsche: Re-Thinking  Amor Fati , Perspectivism, and the  Ubermensch  with the Stoics, Leibniz, and Deleuze” (Dan Smith)

Director of Debate Program, Purdue University

Keunchang Oh:  “Essays on Social Norms and Racism” (Leonard Harris)

Lecturer, Seoul National University

Melanie Swan:  “Kant and Hegel's Philosophical Thirds: A New Perspective on Explaining Appearances” (Dan Smith)

Research Associate at University College, London Centre for Blockchain Technologies

Lacey Davidson:  “That’s (Also) Racist! Entity Type Pluralism, Responsibility, And Liberatory Norms” (Dan Kelly)

Assistant Professor (Tenure Track), University of Indianapolis

Previously: Visiting Assistant Professor, California Lutheran University

Reyes Espinoza:  “The Ethics of Tragic Uncertainty: A Visceral Ethics for Global Relationships” (Dan Smith)

Adjunct Instructor, Philosophy Department, University of Texas, El Paso

Brian Johnson:  “Conscience and Human Nature and the Evolutionary Challenge” (Chris Yeomans)

Michael Popejoy:  “Pantheism in Spinoza, Hegel, & Contemporary Philosophy of Religion” (Chris Yeomans

Utah Public Lands Director at Grand Canyon Trust

Previously: Lecturer in Philosophy at Northern Arizona

Max Spears:  “Technology and Topology: Rethinking the Space of Existence” (Dan Smith)

Owner and Operator of Twede’s Diner in North Bend, Oregon (the Double R Diner in  Twin Peaks )

Ashley Albrecht:  “Gendered Representations of AI in Film: Alternatives to Dystopic Futures in Her & Ex Machina” (Dan Smith), Philosophy and Literature

Research Associate, National Center for Professional and Research Ethics

Elaine Blum:  “A Pragmatic Methodology for the (Queer) Self” (Dan Smith)

Lecturer, Hillsdale College

Previously: Lecturer, University of West Georgia

Changtze Chia:  “Choosing Wickedness: Moral Evil in Kant’s Religion” (Jacqueline Mariña)

Jonathan Fuqua:  “Metaethical Mooreanism” (Mike Bergmann)

Assistant Professor, Conception Seminary

Alex Gillham:  “Eudaimonia and the Best Life: Epicurus’ Objective Goods Perfectionism” (Pat Curd)

Assistant Professor (Tenure Track), Bonaventure University

Joel Johnson:  “Final Causality in the Thought of Thomas Aquinas” (Jeff Brower)

Visiting Assistant Professor, John Carroll University/Borromeo Seminary

Matthew Kroll:  “‘ muthologos has lost such ground’: Myth, History, and Orality in the Poetics of Charles Olson” (Arkady Plotnitsky and Dan Smith), Philosophy and Literature

Upper School English Teacher, Bullis School

Previously: Academic Programs Manager, Dept. of Philosophy, Purdue University

Lynn Parrish:  Precinct and Praxis: Cultic Ritual and the Built Environment in the Greco-Roman World” (Bill McBride and Chris Yeomans), Philosophy and Literature

Clinical Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Purdue University

Strand Shendahl-Thomason:  “Discourse, Documents, and Counter-Discipline: Michel Foucault’s Ethics and the Practice of Writing” (Dan Smith), Philosophy and Literature

Limited Term Lecturer, Purdue University Fort Wayne

David Coss:  “The Case Against Interest-Relative Invariantism” (Rod Bertolet and Matthias Steup)

Instructor in Philosophy at Indiana University, Kokomo

Joshua Gulley:  “Mixture, Powers, and Reality in Empedocles and Aristotle” (Pat Curd)

Previously: Adjunct Professor, Indiana University at Kokomo

Andrew Israelsen:  “Kant and the Unity of Nature” (Chris Yeomans)

Adjunct Professor, Salt Lake Community College and Utah Valley University.

Ibrahim Marazka:  “Heterotopias: Spaces for the Practice of Freedom. Investigations into a spatial category in the philosophy of Michel Foucault and the late work of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe,” (Bill McBride), Philosophy & Literature

Visiting Assistant Professor of German, Purdue University.

Chapman Waters:  “Frege’s Realism Revisited: A Critique of Recent Trends in Frege Scholarship” (Rod Bertolet)

Continuing Lecturer, University of Utah

Previously: UWorld Exam Preparation

Scott Coley:  “On the Consequences of Skeptical Theism” (Paul Draper)

Continuing Lecturer at Mount St. Mary’s

Andrew Iliadis:  “A Black Art: Ontology, Data, and the Tower of Babel Problem” (Ashley Kelly and Dan Smith), Philosophy and Communications

Assistant Professor (Tenure Track), Temple University Department of Media Studies and Production

Previously: Postdoctoral Fellow in Digital Media, Data, and Culture at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology and the Decimal Lab (2016-17)

Donovan Irven:  “Being and Literature: The Disclosure of Place in Modernity” (Dan Smith), Philosophy & Literature

Visiting Assistant Professor, Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas

Davis Kuykendall:  “Leibniz on Intra-Substantial Causation and Change” (Jan Cover)

Term Assistant Professor at George Mason University

Jessica Mejia:  “Animals and the Value of Life” (Mark Bernstein)

Nancy Schaenen Scholar and Assistant Director of Academic Services, DePauw University

Previously: Visiting Assistant Professor, DePauw University

Amy Pommerening:  “The Time of Liberation: Prison Abolition and the Coming Community,” (Harris), Philosophy and Literature

Continuing Lecturer Texas State University

Netty Provost:  “A Phenomenologial Inquiry into Sacred Time in Hinduism” (Dan Smith)

Academic Advisor, University of Southern Maine

Previously: Lecturer in Philosophy, IU Kokomo

Mark Satta, “A Defense of the Ambiguity Theory of ‘Knows’” (Matthias Steup)

JD, Harvard Law School (2019) Assistant Professor (Tenure Track), Wayne State University

Beto Urquidez,   “Racism and Conceptual Analysis: A Defense of The Wittgensteinian Approach” (Leonard Harris)

Assistant Professor (Tenure Track), James Madison University

Previously: Visiting Assistant Professor, Gustavus Adolphus University; Visiting Assistant Professor, St. Olaf College; Consortium for Faculty Diversity (CFD) Postdoctoral Fellow in Philosophy, Bowdoin College

Joshua White:  “The Epistemology of Enculturation” (Mike Bergmann)

Web Applications Developer at Purdue University

Richard Hamm:  “It’s All Uphill from Here: Finding the Concept of Joy in Existential Philosophy and Literature” (Bill McBride), Philosophy and Literature

Associate Professor, Lynn University

Christopher Penfield:  “Foucault, Kant, Deleuze, and the Problem of Political Agency” (Dan Smith)

Assistant Professor (Tenure Track), Sweet Briar College

Natalia Washington:  “Mental Health and Human Minds: Some Theoretical Criteria for Clinical Psychiatry” (Dan Kelly)

Assistant Professor (Tenure Track), University of Utah

Previously: Cyc Software in Austin, TX (2017-18); Post-doc, Washington University in St. Louis Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology Program, (2015-17)

Yubraj Aryal:  “Affective Politics and Non-sovereign Identity,” (Dan Smith)

Adjunct Professor, University of Texas at Arlington

Previously: Visiting Professor, Ivy Tech; Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Montreal (2015-17); Visiting Scholar NYU (2015-16)

Justin Litaker:  “Capitalism and Social Agency,” (Chris Yeomans and Dan Smith)

Adjunct Instructor, University of Mobile and University of South Alabama

Anthony Malagon:  “The Hidden God in Kierkegaard and Marcel” (Bill McBride and Dan Smith)

Instructor, Queens College of CUNY

Justin Matchulat:  “Practical Cognition and Moral Motivation in the Thought of Thomas Aquinas” (Jeff Brower)

Assistant Professor, (Tenure Track), Mount St. Mary’s University

Ashley Puzzo:  “A Dissertation on the Identity of Indiscernibles” (Rod Bertolet)

Visiting Assistant Professor, DePauw University.

Sophia Stone:  “Plato’s Metaphysics of Soul” (Pat Curd), Philosophy and Literature

Brian Besong:  “Moral Intuitionism, Disagreement, and the Prudent Conscience” (Pat Kain)

Assistant Professor (Tenture Track) Ohio Dominican University

Previously: Assistant Professor, Kutztown University; Visiting Assistant Professor, Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Philip Osborne:  “Justification, Truth, and the Philosopher’s Armchair,” (Mike Bergmann)

Instructor at Rowan University, Camden County College, and Rowan College at Gloucester.

Julie Swanstrom:  “The Metaphysics of Causation in the Creation Accounts of Avicenna and Aquinas,” (Jeff Brower)

Assistant Professor (Tenure Track), Georgia Southern University

Craig Titus:  “A Theory of State Justice: Human Rights as the Basis of Political Legitimacy,” (Bill McBride), Philosophy and Literature

Jacob Tuttle:  “Suárez’s Metaphysics of Efficient Causation” (Jeff Brower)

Visiting Lecturer, Gonzaga University

Previously: Post-doc, Loyola Marymount University; Visiting Assistant Professor, St. Michael’s College, Vermont

Marco Altamirano:  “The Problem of Nature: An Essay on Time” (Dan Smith)

Adjunct Professor, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge; Co-founder of Grad Square

Erik Baldwin:  “Fully Informed Reasonable Disagreement and Tradition Based Perspectivalism” (Paul Draper)

Adjunct Professor, Indiana University Northwest

Previously: Adjunct Professor, University of Notre Dame (2013-16); Research Visitor, University of Notre Dame, (2011-12)

Jonathan Beever:  “The Semiotic Foundation of an Ecological Ethic” (Mark Bernstein)

Assistant Professor (Tenure Track), University of Central Florida

Previously: Visiting Scholar, Hastings Center; Postdoctoral Fellow at Rock Ethics Institute, Pennsylvania State University

Vern Cisney:  “Toward a Philosophy of Difference: From Derrida to Deleuze” (Dan Smith)

Assistant Professor (Tenure Track) in Interdisciplinary Studies at Gettysburg College

Rockwell Clancy:  “Gilles Deleuze’s Political Anthropology: From a Critique of Psychoanalysis to the Superiority of Anglo-American Literature” (Dan Smith)

Research Assistant Professor at the Colorado School of Mines

Previously: Associate Teaching Professor, University of Michigan-Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute, Shanghai, China

John Houston:  “Aristotle on Friendship, Justice, and the Human Good” (Pat Curd)

Assistant Professor, St. Benedict/St. John College

Previously: Visiting Assistant Professor, Wabash College

Olga Lyanda-Geller:  “Lekta and Inner Form as Loci of Sense in Metaphysics of Language” (Dan Smith)

Continuing Lecturer, School of Languages and Cultures, Purdue University

Leonard Sidharta:  “Moral saints and eudaimonia : A philosophical justification of moral sainthood” (Pat Kain)  

Winship Varner:  “Hylomorphism: A Viable Restrictivist Approach to Material Composition?” (Jan Cover)

Adjunct Professor at Sierra Nevada College

Joshua Watson:  “Form, Harmony, and Mechanism in Leibniz’s Philosophy of Laws” (Jan Cover)

Continuing Lecturer, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Richmond P. West:  “Hostility Toward the Unattractive: A Critique of ‘Sexual Harassment’ Law” (Dan Smith), Philosophy and Literature

Graduate Program Dissertations and Placement History from 2001-2011

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Dissertations & Theses

The Purdue University Libraries collects, preserves, and provides access to dissertations as original works of scholarship in conjunction with doctorates awarded by the University. Other pertinent student works such as master's and honors theses may also be collected.

What is the difference between a thesis and a dissertation?

At Purdue, “thesis” typically refers to a Master’s program and “dissertation” refers to the Ph.D program. In the early years a thesis was written in many undergraduate programs (i.e B.S. in Engineering).

How can I find dissertations that were written at Purdue?

The Purdue Libraries holds one copy of each title from 1882 to present. In some cases these have been marked confidential or have restrictions in place for a limited period of time. The original paper copies do not circulate and must be viewed in Archives and Special Collections. These can be requested through the Libraries catalog . Please log in to request your item. When the request is received, it is pulled from the storage Repository and delivered to be viewed in the Archives and Special Collections Research Center on the 4 th floor of the Humanities and Social Sciences Library (HSSE). This is located in Stewart Center, 504 W. State Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907. You will receive a confirmation email when the item is ready along with directions to the Archives.

More information:

The first Thesis is available to be viewed in Archives and Special Collections . Early Purdue University Theses and Dissertations (starting in 1882 and scanned up to 1906 so far) have been scanned and are available online. Open access copies are available online through the Theses and Dissertations, Purdue e-Puds (including some copies from ProQuest). Copies available for loan: Some of the theses and dissertations have been microfilmed and can be requested for off campus use through Interlibrary Loan (ILL) . Also, some paper duplicates will show up in the catalog, please request the copy that does not say “Only viewable in the Archives.” Alumni can request an electronic copy of their theses or dissertation from the past by contacting [email protected].  If you have questions about depositing your thesis or dissertation, please contact the graduate school Thesis and Dissertation Office . 

How can I find theses or dissertations from U.S. institutions?

Go to Dissertations and Theses (PQDT) . It offers a comprehensive listing of bibliographic entries for theses and dissertations in the Dissertation Abstracts database. Theses and dissertations listed since 1997 are available in PDF digital format for users affiliated with Purdue University with access to theses and dissertations from CIC institutions. For those entries not full-text, 24-page previews are available. For non full-text entries and possible borrowing of non-Purdue titles, consult Interlibrary Loan .

How can I find dissertations that are free?

• From Center for Research Libraries (CRL) search for available paper-bound titles. CRL has more than 750,000 uncataloged foreign [non-U.S. or Canadian] doctoral dissertations, of which approximately 20,000 are presently in this database. Please consult with CRL if you are unable to find a dissertation that you may require.
• Cybertheses permits access to selected French dissertations from 1972 to the present. This database can provide access to another index where full-text provision for selected dissertations [theses in French] may be provided.
• NDLTD - Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations . NDLTD provides access to thousands of digitally available dissertations and theses. Both U.S. and foreign dissertations and theses can be accessed through this site for those institutions participating within this association.
• << Previous: Scholarly Societies, Associations & Journals
• Last Edited: Apr 1, 2024 3:29 PM
• URL: https://guides.lib.purdue.edu/amstudies

What is a Ph.D. Dissertation?

[I wrote this in 1993 as a letter to a student concerning a draft of his dissertation. In 2003 I edited it to remove some specific references to the student and present it as a small increment to the information available to my grad students. In 2023 I made small edits for grammar and to expand coverage.--spaf]

Let me start by reviewing some things that may seem obvious:

• Your dissertation is part of the requirements for a PhD. The research, theory, experimentation, et al. also contribute. One does not attempt to capture everything in one's dissertation.
• The dissertation is a technical work that documents and proves one's thesis. It is intended for a technical audience and must be clear and complete but not necessarily exhaustively comprehensive. Also note -- experimental data, if used, is not the proof -- it is evidence. The proof is presented as an analysis and critical presentation. Generally, every statement in your dissertation must be common knowledge, supported by citation to technical literature, or original results proved by the candidate (you). Each of those statements must directly relate to the proof of the thesis, or else they are unnecessary.

Let's revisit the idea of the thesis itself. It is a hypothesis, a conjecture, or a theorem. The dissertation is a formal, stylized document used to argue your thesis. The thesis must be significant, original (no one has yet demonstrated it to be true), and it must extend the state of scientific knowledge.

The first thing you need to do is to come up with no more than three sentences that express your thesis. Your committee must agree that your statements form a valid thesis statement. You, too, must be happy with the statement -- it should be what you will tell anyone if they ask you what your thesis is (few people will want to hear an hour's presentation as a response).

Once you have a thesis statement, you can begin developing the dissertation. The abstract, for instance, should be a one-page description of your thesis and how you present the proof of it. The abstract should summarize the results of the thesis and should stress the contributions to science made thereby.

Perhaps the best way to understand how an abstract should look would be to examine the abstracts of several dozen dissertations that have already been accepted. Our university library has a collection of them. This is a good approach to see how an entire dissertation is structured and presented. MIT Press has published the ACM doctoral dissertation award series for decades, so you may find some of those to be good examples to read -- they should be in any large technical library.

The dissertation itself should be structured into 4 to 6 chapters. The following is one commonly-used structure:

• Introduction. Provide an introduction to the basic terminology, cite appropriate background work, and briefly discuss related work that has already covered aspects of the problem.
• Abstract model. Discuss an abstract model of what you are trying to prove. This chapter should not discuss any specific implementation (see below)
• Validation of model/proof of theorems. This is a chapter showing proof of the model. It could be a set of proofs or a discussion of the construction and validation of a model or simulation to gather supporting data.
• Measurements/data. This would present data collected from actual use, simulations, or other sources. The presentation would include analysis to show support for the underlying thesis.
• Additional results. In some work, there may be secondary confirmation studies, or it might be the case that additional significant results are collected along the way to the proof of the central thesis. These would be presented here.
• Conclusions and future work. This is where the results are all tied together and presented. Limitations, restrictions, and special cases should be clearly stated here, along with the results. Some extensions as future work may also be described.

Let's look at these in a little more detail

Chapter I, Introduction. Here, you should clearly state the thesis and its importance. This is also where you define terms and other concepts used elsewhere. There is no need to write 80 pages of background on your topic here. Instead, you can cover almost everything by saying: "The terminology used in this work matches the definitions given in [citation, citation] unless noted otherwise." Then, cite some appropriate works that give the definitions you need. The progress of science is that we learn and use the work of others (with appropriate credit). Assume you have a technically literate readership familiar with (or able to find) standard references. Do not reference popular literature or WWW sites if you can help it (this is a matter of style more than anything else -- you want to cite articles in refereed conferences and journals, if possible, or in other theses).

Also, in the introduction, you want to survey any related work that attempted something similar to your own or has a significant supporting role in your research. This should refer only to published references. You cite the work in the references, not the researchers themselves. E.g., "The experiments described in [citation] explored the foo and bar conditions, but did not discuss the further problem of baz, the central point of this work." You should not make references such as this: "Curly, Moe, and Larry all believed the same in their research [CML53]" because you do not know what they believed or thought -- you only know what the paper states. Every factual statement you make must have a specific citation tied to it in this chapter, or else it must be common knowledge (don't rely on this too much).

Chapter II. Abstract Model. Your results are to be of lasting value. Thus, the model you develop and write about (and indeed, that you defend) should have lasting value. Thus, you should discuss a model not based on Windows, Linux, Ethernet, PCMIA, or any other technology. It should be generic and capture all the details necessary to overlay the model on likely environments. You should discuss the problems, parameters, requirements, necessary and sufficient conditions, and other factors here. Consider that 20 years ago (ca 1980), the common platform was a Vax computer running VMS or a PDP-11 running Unix version 6, yet well-crafted theses of the time are still valuable today. Will your dissertation be valuable 20+ years from now (ca 2050), or have you referred to technologies that will be of only historical interest?

This model is tough to construct but is the heart of the scientific part of your work. This is the lasting part of the contribution, and this is what someone might cite 50 years from now when we are all using MS Linux XXXXP on computers embedded in our wrists with subspace network links!

Chapters III & IV, Proof.There are basically three proof techniques that I have seen used in a computing dissertation, depending on the thesis topic. The first is analytic, where one takes the model or formulae and shows, using formal manipulations, that the model is sound and complete. A second proof method is stochastic, using statistical methods and measurements to show that something is true in the anticipated cases.

• clearly showing how your implementation model matches the conditions of your abstract model,
• describing all the variables and why you set them as you do,
• accounting for confounding factors, and
• showing the results.

Chapter V. Additional results. This may be folded into Chapter III in some theses or multiple chapters in a thesis with many parts (as in a theory-based thesis). This may be where you discuss the effects of technology change on your results. This is also a place where you may wish to point out significant results that you obtained while seeking to prove your central thesis but which are not supportive of the thesis. Often, such additional results are published in a separate paper.

Chapter VI. Conclusions and Future Work. This is where you discuss what you found from your work, incidental ideas and results that were not central to your thesis but of value nonetheless (if you did not have them in Chapter V), and other results. This chapter should summarize all the important results of the dissertation --- note that this is the only chapter many people will ever read, so it should convey all the important results.

This is also where you should outline some possible future work that can be done in the area. What are some open problems? What are some new problems? What are some significant variations open to future inquiry?

Appendices usually are present to hold mundane details that are not published elsewhere but are critical to the development of your dissertation. This includes tables of measurement results, configuration details of experimental testbeds, limited source code listings of critical routines or algorithms, etc. It is not appropriate to include lists of readings by topic, lists of commercial systems, or other material that does not directly support the proof of your thesis.

Here are some more general hints to keep in mind as you write/edit:

• Adverbs should generally not be used -- instead, use something precise. For example, do not say that something "happens quickly." How fast is quickly? Is it relative to CPU speeds? Network speeds? Does it depend on connectivity, configuration, programming language, OS release, etc? What is the standard deviation?
• As per the above, the use of the words "fast," "slow," "perfect," "soon," "ideal," "lots of," and related should all be avoided. So should "clearly," "obviously," "simple," "like," "few," "most," "large," et al.
• What you are writing is scientific fact. Judgments of aesthetics, ethics, personal preference, and the like should be in the conclusions chapter, if they should be anywhere at all. With that in mind, avoid the use of words such as "good," "bad," "best," and any similar discussion. Also, avoid stating "In fact," "Actually," "In reality," and any similar construct -- everything you are writing must be factual, so there is no need to state such things. If you feel compelled to use one of these constructs, then carefully evaluate what you are saying to ensure you are not injecting relative terms, opinions, value judgments, or other items inappropriate for a dissertation.
• Computers and networks do not have knees, so poor performance cannot bring them to something they do not have. They also don't have hands, so "On the one hand..." is not good usage. Programs don't perform conscious thought (nor do their underlying computers), so your system does not "think" that it has seen a particular type of traffic. Generalizing from this, do not anthropomorphize your IT components!
• Avoid mention of time and environment. "Today's computers" are antiques far sooner than you think. Your thesis should still be true many years from now. If a particular time or interval is necessary, be explicit, as in "Between 1905 and 1920" rather than "Over the last 15 years." (See the difference, given some distance in time?)
• Be sure that any scientist or mathematician would recognize something you claim as proof.
• Focus on the results and not the methodology. The methodology should be clearly described but not the central topic of your discussion in chapters III & IV
• Keep concepts and instances separate. An algorithm is not the same as a program that implements it. A protocol is not the same as the realization of it; a reference model is not the same as a working example, and so on.

As a rule of thumb, a CS dissertation should probably be longer than 100 pages but less than 160. Anything outside that range should be carefully examined with the above points in mind.

Keep in mind that you -- the Ph.D. candidate -- are expected to become the world's foremost expert on your topic area. That topic area should not be unduly broad but must be big enough to be meaningful. Your advisor and committee members are not supposed to know more about the topic than you do -- not individually, at least. Your dissertation is supposed to explain your findings and, along with the defense, demonstrate your mastery of the area in which you are now the leading expert. That does not mean writing everything you know -- it means writing enough about the most important points that others can agree with your conclusions.

Last of all, don't fall into the trap that ties up many candidates and causes some of them to flame out before completion: your thesis does not need to be revolutionary. It simply needs to be an incremental advancement in the field. Few Ph.D. dissertations have ever had a marked impact on the field. Instead, it is the author's set of publications and products of the author that may change the field.

If your dissertation is like most, it will only be read by your committee and some other Ph.D. candidates seeking to build on your work. As such, it does not need to be a masterwork of literature, nor does it need to solve a long-standing problem in computing. It merely needs to be correct, to be significant in the judgment of your committee, and it needs to be complete. We will all applaud when you change the world after graduation. And at that, you will find that many well-known scientists in CS have made their careers in areas different from their dissertation topic. The dissertation is proof that you can find and present original results; your career and life after graduation will demonstrate the other concerns you might have about making an impact.

So get to work!

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Deposit Checklist

Use this deposit checklist form to ensure all requirements have been met before submitting your thesis to the Purdue Graduate School. This checklist will help to mitigate common formatting errors.

Please review each item and check all boxes. Once the form is completed, you will be able to submit your thesis.

Required Documents and Permissions

I have submitted my Form 9.

I have completed the following survey(s) required for my degree:

• Master’s students must complete the Master’s Exit Questionnaire.
• PhD students must complete both the Doctoral Exit Questionnaire and the Survey of Earned Doctorates.
• PhD students must complete the Survey of Earned Doctorates.

To format my thesis, I have used:

Purdue Microsoft Word thesis template

I have used the official Purdue Microsoft Word thesis template from the Purdue University Thesis & Dissertation division website.

I am submitting my final thesis as a Microsoft Word document.

I have used the correct graduation month & year date on the title cover page.

All committee member names and the department thesis form head name on the Statement of Committee Approval page in my thesis/dissertation match the names shown on my Form 9 Electronic Thesis Acceptance Form.

I have complied with all Purdue University Thesis & Dissertation division template formatting requirements.

Submit Your Thesis

Purdue LaTeX/Overleaf thesis template

I have used the official Purdue LaTeX/Overleaf thesis template from the Purdue University Thesis & Dissertation division website.

I am submitting my final thesis as a PDF document. I understand that the LaTeX/Overleaf source file should not be included in the submission.

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• Thesis and Dissertation Formatting

For theses, the Purdue Polytechnic Institute has adopted the APA, parenthetical citation format as implemented by Purdue University as the format for theses and dissertations. For students in departmental or school MS programs (AT, BCM, CGT, CIT and TLI [IT]), additional information may be available on your department's graduate web site.

Formatting Your Thesis

TECH 646 (a required course for most students) assists the student in developing their proposal and therefore covers how to format the thesis or dissertation. Students who are not required to take TECH 646 may use the following guidelines to ensure their thesis or dissertation is acceptably formatted.

Foremost, students should use the University Microsoft Word Thesis template which is available on the graduate school's web site . This template has styles included within it to make formatting less cumbersome. The Graduate School also holds seminars on use of the template and following the formatting requirements.

Students should NOT use the LaTeX format provided by the university. Instead, if a student desires to use LaTeX, they should use the attached template .

Note that there are a few things that the Word template will not do. Even when using the thesis template, students must:

• Ensure that they do not use vertical lines in tables.
• Properly format captions for tables and figures (including proper italics for each).
• Ensure proper tabs for each paragraph and proper hanging indents on references.

Other specifics of the format can be seen in this example document that can be used as a guide for formatting theses and dissertations.

Formatting Review for Theses

Students are required to meet with the their Thesis Format Advisor at least two weeks before they defend their thesis. The last date to meet with the Thesis Advisor for a thesis formatting appointment is two weeks prior to the last day to defend the thesis. A thesis formatting appointment is mandatory. Students who do not meet with the Purdue Polytechnic Thesis Advisor and get the appropriate approval signature on the Form 9 will not graduate at the end of the semester.

Thesis advisors in the Purdue Polytechnic include the following:

The Thesis Formatting Review requires the following steps:

• Scheduling the meeting to occur before the thesis/dissertation defense.
• Submitting an electronic copy of the thesis via email to the Thesis Advisor two days prior to the review meeting for submission to the iThenticate plagiarism checking software.
• Attending the Thesis review meeting.

Note that the thesis format review does not apply to directed projects. Only theses and dissertations are reviewed for format requirements.

Scheduling Formatting Appointment

To make a thesis formatting appointment with the Thesis Advisor, students will need to email the contact shown above. Once the thesis has been approved, the student may schedule a defense. It is recommended that students make an appointment with the thesis advisor as early as possible.

Providing an iThenticate Copy

Two days prior to your scheduled Thesis Advising appointment, you should email a complete copy of your thesis as a single Word or PDF document with no images to your Thesis Advisor. After receiving your document, the Thesis Advisor will submit your electronic document to the iThenticate application to verify there is no plagiarism within the document. At the Thesis Advising appointment you will be able to review the results of the check as well as receive the electronic results.

NOTE: You should bring a USB drive or other storage media with you to the Thesis Advising appoint so that you may receive a copy of the iThenticate results.

Attending the Formatting Appointment

Please e-mail Dr. Newton ( [email protected] ) a copy of your dissertation two days prior to your formatting appointment.

Thesis Pre-review

If a student is in doubt whether their document is formatted correctly, they may email a sample from their thesis to the Thesis Format Advisor for review and comment. “Pre-review” meetings are also a possibility but must occur before the sixth (6th) week of each semester.

Three-Article Dissertation Format (Alternative)

Having an article-based dissertation is a collection of 3 (minimum) published (or accepted for publication without further revision) research articles in high quality refereed journals related to a common theme. Prior to submission to the journals for publication, the candidate must obtain approval of each article and the journals from all current Committee members. The relationship between the articles and theory bases they are drawn from must be described in an introductory chapter. Crosscutting themes, conclusions, implications and recommendations that may be drawn from across the articles must be described in a concluding chapter. 

Students are required to be first author, and confirm their contributions of each article before their listings according to the following Multiple Author Policy.

Requirements

Multiple Author Policy

(Adapted from Morgan, 1984)

A author is a person who has used professional skills to make a significant contribution to a published article and who can take public responsibility for its content.

A significant contribution is a contribution without which the article would have been seriously compromised in scope or quality. A significant contribution to a research project may be made by an author in one or more of the following research phases:

• Conceptualization and design,
• Methodology and/or simulation design,
• Data Collection,
• Conclusions, and/or
• Recommendations

Types of work that are specifically excluded from this definition are as follows:

• Referring subjects to researchers,
• Performing routine laboratory work, data entry, or analysis,
• Any nonprofessional work, and
• Proofreading or correction of the format or style of the article.

Unjustified multiple authorship dilutes the value of authorship, reduces the credibility of the study and can violate the essential principle that science can advance only through the work of those who understand what they are saying.

Reference: Morgan, P. P. (1984). How many authors can dance on the head of an article? Canadian Medical Association Journal, 130, 842.

Student authors are required to confirm contributions to each paper with the following statement.  My contributions within the parameters of this article are:  _____________________________________________.  List each author and their contribution to this article. An example may look like this style from the Transportation Research Record:

Author Contributions

The authors confirm contribution to the paper as follows: study conception and design: Author1lastname, I.; data collection: Author2lastname, X.; analysis and interpretation of results: Author3last, Z, and Author1lastname, I.; draft manuscript preparation: Author1lastname, I. and Author4last, Y. All authors reviewed the results and approved the final version of the manuscript.

A dissertation authored using this structure will need to include acknowledgement of prior publication within the respective chapter, and permission from the Journal for publication with the following statements.  The Journal of ________________________ ________________________________ provided permission for me to publish this article titled ___________________________________________ in this dissertation.  Please attach permission letters in Appendices.

Although each journal may have specific statement requirements, the acknowledgment should be single spaced and appear 3 single spaces under the chapter title. Consult your publisher regarding required information that should appear in this acknowledgment.

Three-Article Dissertation Contents

All dissertations will conform to Purdue Polytechnic and Purdue Graduate School formatting and format review guidelines. A typical article-based dissertation will use the following structure:

Preliminary pages

• Statement of Approval and authorship page
• Dedication (optional)
• Acknowledgments (optional)
• Table of Contents
• List of Tables
• List of Figures

Main Body pages

• Introduction of Dissertation Research and Overview of Purpose and Significance of Research.  Research question(s) addressed overall, and the question(s) addressed in each published article. Discussion of how these articles address the research question. Additional information may need to be provided; e.g. the survey development may need more discussion and to be supplemented with the IRB information and a copy of the survey instrument; or other pertinent research details that may not appear in the specific articles. 
• Published Article #1
• Published Article #2
• Published Article #3
• Additional Published Articles numbered
• Discussion of overall contribution supported by the contributions of each article. Crosscutting themes, conclusions, implications and recommendations that may be drawn from across the articles must be described.

Back Matter pages

• Appendix (Include Permission Letters for Previously Published Articles)
• Vita (optional)
• List of Publications (optional)
• Forms and Documents
• Graduation Candidate Resources
• Grade Appeals
• University Graduate Student Resources

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

From Dissertation to Book

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

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After many years of hard work, a dissertation is a monumental accomplishment. With so much time and effort coupled with the desire to add to scholarly discourse, many people hope to transform their dissertations into a book. Graduate writing has equipped scholars with extensive information about their discipline-specific genres, but the genre of book - and certainly a book hoping to appeal to audience outside of their field - requires new ways of writing. This page provides information and considerations aiding one’s efforts in a “publish or perish” world

Before you Begin

Many people feel the pressure of publication, especially of a book valued by scholars in your field, as they add that “Dr.” to their email signature. The truth is, book publication is still considered the standard even though many entities like the Modern Language Association (MLA) suggest moving away from a book as being the standard for tenure, instead giving articles and chapters more weight. Despite this pressure, it is highly recommended that you take some time (ideally at least a year) away from your dissertation. After dedicating so much time to such a specific topic over the past years, it can be difficult to look at your dissertation with the fresh eyes necessary to reshape it into a book without taking time away. 

Once you have taken this break and are able to greet your research anew, critically think about whether this should be a book. Trying to be objective, ask yourself if you really need a book-number of pages to convey your argument or if it would perhaps be better suited for an article or series of articles. Consider that the dissertation may actually have potential for both articles and a book. Another consideration for this choice is timeliness - articles come out much quicker whereas books can take a few years until they hit the shelves. If you think something might be old news in a few years, an article is the way to go. 

You may also consider researching subsidies. As a new author, you are a risk to your editor. Coming with funding to offset printing costs will make you less of a risk and ideally have your editor look at your proposal a little more deeply. 

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, remember to resource yourself. With workshops, grants, editors, senior scholars, and presses, you are not alone on this journey. While you may consider avoiding your committee so that your feedback is coming from fresh eyes, colleagues often have words of wisdom regarding the book-publishing process. Throughout the process, you’ll also get feedback from your editor and anonymous peer reviews. While it’s easy to get defensive, it’s important to acknowledge and value their opinions and explain your reasoning if you decide not to incorporate a suggestion. You and your editor are on a team, so you both may make compromises throughout the process. Remember - they are on your so team, so go in with a growth mindset and you’re next academic accomplishment will be more in reach. 

During the Process

Once you’ve decided that you are, in fact, going to make a book out of your dissertation, it’s time to prepare for the practicalities of this process. First, you need to figure out how you are going to make it possible for you to accomplish such a feat. Writing a book takes intense discipline, so it’s important to create clear goals and plans by considering all the steps it will take you to get to that finish line. Simple actions like scheduling protected writing time can make a huge difference in success. Perhaps you set a goal of writing one page every day. Remember that writing constructs knowledge and the act will get you closer to your final product, even if it isn’t writing that actually ends up in your book,

The process of transforming your dissertation into a book is centered around audience, so you’ll want to keep that audience at the forefront of your mind throughout the writing process. Consider very carefully who your ideal reader(s) are. There may be multiple, and that’s great. Is it scholars in your field? An “intelligent layperson” (Luey, 2004) outside of your field? Whatever group of ideal readers you end up with, review your writing from each individual perspective. People often dream of a broad audience of people outside of academia without actually seeking feedback from anyone outside of the academy. If you’re telling your editor that you believe this will appeal to a history buff outside of the academy, get feedback from someone in that group and have them note places where your writing is not clear. This generalist perspective will help you see what items like jargon are confusing or what information feels boring, increasing the chances of success for this book. 

When considering your new audience, remember that you no long need to share everything you know about your topic in this document. While you did have to prove yourself to your committee, this audience automatically assumes you are an expert, so sections that were proving you’re reliable can be ditched or significantly parsed down. This means your literature review will be significantly cut, if not deleted altogether. This is also true of methodologies unless your methodology is exceptionally groundbreaking and interesting. 

Your old audience had to listen to you - it’s part of their job description. This new audience will need to be actively reached. Even if your main goal is people in your field, to make a book broad enough to sell - which your editor is going to look for - you’ll need to write for a wider audience which may require you to let go of any anxiety about being “taken seriously in your field.” 

A book will require broadening the appeal of your topic. This can be accomplished in a variety of ways such as: 

• Humanizing your subject - this may take additional research (such as interviewing the people who make up your statistics) or be as simple as adding personal elements about your topic (such as adding personal life information that was outside of the scope of your dissertation focused on a person’s political career).
• Adding narrative elements - plot, characters, setting, your own voice, and a beginning, middle, and end that pushes the reader forward are all key to marketability.
• Finding a new angle - an angle that directly impacts your reader such as financial or navigation of a life event is going to reach a larger audience.
• Expanding the topic culturally and temporally - take a broad topic related to your subject and see the impacts and/or comparisons of contexts such as religions, race, communities, geographical region, politics, time period, etc. perhaps referencing other studies in your field.
• Justifying your topic’s value - you may hope to create a guide showing your topic’s influence in hopes of affecting mindsets, policy, and funding of stakeholders and those in power. 

While your presses’ and editors’ feedback trumps all, there are some general considerations all editors are looking for. As you walk the line between theory and narrative, you’ll want to consider items such as: 

• Transitions - does the book flow in a way that keeps the reader interested? 
• Chapter length - are the chapters similar in length? If not, what can be combined or split up? 
• Repetition - do you find places where facts, stories, or claims are being repeated? Where do those best fit? 
• Hyperquotation - do you have too many or too long of quotes? How can you reframe that information with a focus on your work? 
• Bibliography/End Notes - is this information necessary? Does your editor/press have limitations on these sections? 
• Hagiography - are you ever writing about a subject without criticism? How can you make sure your argument is balanced? 
• Tables and Graphs - Does the chart fit without having to turn the book sideways? Does it repeat what’s in the prose making it not worth the cost? Can charts be combined? 

Now That You Have a Book

While some people may not have a completed book when they submit a proposal, many have at least a large chunk written and certainly a general outline and thesis. If you do have a whole book complete, you may consider the following advice in the “before you begin” part of the process. 

With the reality of budget cuts, editors are accepting fewer and fewer book proposals, making it more imperative than ever that your proposal sticks out. If you are an emerging scholar in your field, you probably won’t have the benefit of being actively sought out by publishers. This means you’ll need to do your research to find the right press and editor for you. Editors tend to have niche areas of topics they like to publish. Check out who published resources you used or check out the list of latest book releases in your field to see who is publishing work in your subject area. These are the publishers that you should propose to. 

First, make sure that you follow proposal formatting and content requirements. If you don’t, an editor may disregard your proposal due to the inability to fit within their genre guidelines. Furthermore, if you write more than they ask for, they may assume you cannot write in a concise and clear way and choose to put it in the “no” pile. Beyond this, to make your proposal attention-grabbing, you’ll want to draw them in with a title, table of contents, and abstract or first chapter that are clear, concise, and interesting to someone who may not share your natural enthusiasm for your topic. Typically, the more concisely you can get your points across, the more faith they’ll have in you as a writer. 

This also ties in with something academics may feel uncomfortable facing - this book needs to make money. Editors often look to see if their writers are able to get their point across concisely because fewer pages means less printing cost. Similarly, having low numbers of pictures, graphs, and charts, which cost more to print, can make your book feel less risky to an editor. Being upfront about what costs you anticipate and which you can avoid will help your editor calculate if this book is worth taking the risk of taking on a new voice to the field. 

Final Thoughts

The transformation from dissertation to book can be very exciting. Oftentimes, creating a broader appeal brings out engaging, compelling writing that will be more readily available to the masses. With this book, you have something to say instead of something to prove. Enjoy your new status as an expert as you get to share your unique findings with the world, moving your discipline forward. There will most likely be obstacles and frustrations along the way, but remember that you have already completed the monumental task of writing a dissertation and you are also capable of this. Best of luck on this journey!

LUEY, B. (Ed.). (2008). Revising Your Dissertation: Advice from Leading Editors (2nd ed.). University of California Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt13x1g8x