Defense Against the Dark Arts

Today I had the opportunity to meet a person who has literally changed the scope of education for millions of people.  When we were loaded into the car, headed to lunch she asked if a fellow doctoral student and I were willing to accept some advice.  Clearly we were open to it.

In the Harry Potter series there is a course called Defense Against the Dark Arts.  This course is designed to prepare wizard students against sudden death, and dangerous situations.  As doctoral students prepare for oral prelims and dissertation defenses there is similar advice that crosses our paths for consideration.  By no means do I think any faculty would ever intentionally be difficult, but being prepared is worth consideration.

The advice that was shared with me today related to defenses, mostly dissertation defenses, but there is value across the board.

1. No one, not even your advisor knows your research like you do.  So you have that in your corner.  Just be prepared, and know that you have done the best you can up to your defense.
2. By the time you defend you're prepared to defend a dissertation there is little chance that faculty will fail you.  They have invested too much energy and time in you to let you fall so late in the process.  Also, there have been many other chances to catch your falls along the way.  This means ideally few surprises should remain.  If you are prepared to accept feedback, and have done your prep work all should be well.
3. Sometimes there will be simple questions just to show that the members have read your dissertation carefully.  This is a natural thing.  Just take the feedback in stride. 
4. If a faculty member has a suggestion that you had not considered but is if value, a response of "that is room for future research" may suffice.  
5. Select your committee carefully.  Dynamics between faculty members can make a defense more challenging.  If two faculty members have disagreement with each other that could make a defense more difficult than necessary and that could have little to do with any of your work.  If your topic requires faculty with a past you might not have choice.  But consider avoiding a conflict filled committee if possible.  Talking to an advisor could begin to clear this up some.

I will not defend for over two years, but I am grateful for all of the food for thought that I get along the way.  Our lunch date today was insightful and I am grateful for the thoughtful feedback.

Remember that what lies ahead might be a challenge but it is worth every minute.