It is hard to believe the first year of my PhD programme is almost complete. It feels like just yesterday I was arriving in London to begin my degree. Adding to the surreal nature of the moment is the fact we have been under lockdown since March due to COVID-19. Since I am close to submitting my upgrade materials for my first year, I thought this would be a good time to reflect on my first year of the PhD at LSE.
As I’ve written in an earlier post, LSE is an ideal place to do a PhD because of its location in London, its world-class professors, and its proximity to countless archives and libraries. This has made it much easier to conduct research and prepare my dissertation as opposed to if I was at another university. I’ve been very privileged to have a wonderful supervisor who cares a lot about me and my work. Our conversations about my research have always been fruitful and give me new things to consider for the direction of my research. I have been very lucky to have such a hands-on supervisor.
One aspect of the PhD that I think many underestimate is how much work you actually do on your own. At LSE, like many British universities, there are one or two seminars you participate in to introduce skills you need for the PhD, but otherwise, you spend the bulk of your time individually conducting your research. During the first half of this academic year, I spent hundreds of hours reading articles and books on my topic to make sure I understood the literature. Around halfway through the year, I wrote my literature review based upon that reading, which helped me set my eventual dissertation within the broader literature on my topic.
After the holiday break, I began working on my upgrade chapter, which is an original piece of research we is required to submit as part of our upgrade dossier in June. At first, I spent a lot of time reading my primary source materials I had already collected and organised them so they were ready to go when I began writing. Around March, I started writing the chapter, which I have been continuously working on until now. At the moment, I am putting the finishing touches on it and will be submitting it in a few weeks. It will feel great to finally submit it!
The first year of the PhD is a great time to read, think, and write before other responsibilities come into play. If you are going into your first year of a PhD next year, I would encourage you to read widely, strongly consider about where you will fit into the scholarship, and be bold in your arguments. Don’t be afraid to have a different viewpoint and make your case. After all, that is what academia is all about.
