The Research
The dissertations for this site were originally gathered between 2019 and 2021 for the purposes of research project on unconventional dissertations (Amell, 2023).
I wanted to understand what brought dissertations together as well as what sets them apart.
The aim of this research was to destabilize imaginings of dissertations—conventional and otherwise—by highlighting a range of doctoral dissertations that, seemingly against all odds, manage to diverge from well-worn epistemic and textual paths.
To further this aim, Brittany Amell created writingotherwise.ca with the hope that it could evolve to suit the needs of writers today and tomorrow. However, progress on the site stalled once Britt finished her PhD and the need to find employment took over. Thankfully, Leah Dudak (Syracuse University) arrived on the scene in November 2023. Together, Britt and Leah hope to complete work on this site by November 2024.
Drawing on a textographic approach to research, Dr. Amell gathered different sources of data over the span of two years. Specifically, she collected responses from 70 participants to 22 (long and short answer) questionnaire items and the transcripts from interviews with nine authors and/or supervisors of unconventional dissertations. She also collected and analysed 71 dissertations, 51 of which were identified as unconventional via word of mouth, database searches, participants, a profile page on the Canadian Association for Graduate Studies (CAGS) blog, and/or via analysis.
categories
tags
Architecture areas of unconventionality in academic writing coding Comics Communication connected Creative Writing Decolonizing definitions Digital Digital Component Digital Humanities Digital Media dissertation macrostructures Education English Games Gitahu GitHub glossary glossary of terms health hybrid simple-manuscript Indigenous Research institutional copy interdisciplinary studies Life Writing Literary Edition macrostructure Multimodal Narrative Writing Nisga'a Objectivist Poetry Participatory policy brief Programming Rhetoric rhetorical genre studies Scalar separated Sousanis Twine visual and performing arts dissertations Website Writing Studies
