A Stumbling Journey towards getting your Thesis Proposal Approved

To clear the air, I have to praise God that my Thesis proposal was approved at the beginning of April.

Now that I’ve finished my first school term at Regent and have some time off before the summer term begins, I have a few thoughts about my journey in getting my thesis proposal approved.

Starting with a Good Idea            

Way back when I started thinking about pursuing a ThM at Regent, I already had a general problem that I wanted to research. From my background as a campus staff worker, I wanted to know how technology (specifically Internet related technology) affects University students and I wanted to research this question by means of ethnographic research. I submitted a letter of intent to Regent, outlining the basic argument to my potential thesis (which is similar to what I wrote in this post, HERE), got accepted, and then tried to come up with a definite thesis idea.

Reading for Ideas                                                                    

One of my first courses at Regent was Christianity and Modern Technology taught by Craig M. Gay. The assigned readings for the class (Postman’s Technopoly and Guardini’s Letters from Lake Como) were helpful in getting me thinking about how technology shapes society. Our class also had a reader with various articles/chapters from different authors, thinkers, scholars who have varying viewpoints about technology. Craig also included a good bibliography that highlighted many other good books about technology. 

What I’m getting at is that early on in thesis research (even before settling on a specific topic), you have to read widely and maybe some kind ‘o wonderful will emerge out of the readings.

Getting Supervision 

I can’t stress how crucial it is in having a good supervisor for your thesis. At the beginning of the term, I approached Craig to ask for help about the entire thesis writing process. Since he was the person overseeing the ThM students, he answered a lot of my questions. Also, because his interests are in the area of technology, he became my supervisor.

Throughout the term, I met with him another 3-4 times and we hashed out a preliminary timeline for my thesis. We identified certain milestones (ie. getting research done, finalizing specific topic for thesis, and submitting my thesis proposal). 

Doing School and Research at the Same Time 

Having to attend classes and churning out assignments was quite challenging in the Regent environment. Having to do this while I’m working on a thesis proposal was barely manageable… but I got it done (by living in the library). I met up with Prof John Stackhouse early on in the term (I’m in his epistemology class) and he suggested that I treat my thesis work as another class – setting aside proper time for assigned readings and writing. That was great advice and that’s the way I was able to piece together my vague notions about technology and faith and begin to write down something coherent by way of a thesis.

If I were to discern the time I spent on my thesis proposal, and compare it to my classes, I would guess that my thesis proposal would be the same amount of time as two master level classes.

Overcoming Hurdles 

Perhaps the biggest hurdle that I found out halfway through my term at Regent was that I only had a few months to submit a thesis proposal. Because I began my schooling in January, I had assumed I could submit a proposal sometime in the summer, and work on my research the other half of the year. Which leads me to one important concept for thesis writing.

NEVER ASSUME ANYTHING.

Apparently, the last submission date was end of April, so really I only had less than 2 months to write a thesis proposal. Then, I find out later that this date was when a committee would review my thesis. Instead, I had to submit my thesis by early April. So in total, I had less than 3 weeks to submit my thesis proposal.

Imagine my shock when I was not notified by Regent about this bizarre timeline, my thesis supervisor was also surprised by the dates, and here am I wondering how can I do this under the gun while having other final essays and exams to complete. 

I just plugged in my headphones, listened to music, and started to write. I will definitely be more proactive with my work in the future, perhaps even pestering professors ad nauseam. 

Oh yeah, I also begged the head of the thesis review committee (Hans Boersma) to give me an extension for my thesis (might as well ask, right?). Thankfully, he gave me a weekend extension.

The Benefits of Good Supervision 

After I told Craig about the tight deadline, he offered to help out anyway he could. I gave him a brief outline of my first attempt at a thesis (without even having a solid thesis topic yet), and he helped guide my thinking.

Meanwhile, I began the first draft of my thesis proposal and by the end of a few days, I submitted my first attempt to Craig. Since I was in two of Craig’s classes, I knew how little time he had for me – yet, he was able to quickly edit my draft and offer a few suggestions of his own. We did quite a few of this back and forth via email – I submitted something, Craig edited and offered a few comments, then I would submit another draft. In the end, I think I submitted 1 outline and 4 drafts to Craig before officially submitting my thesis proposal to the committee.

Daring to be Unique 

One of the things Craig told me early on was that my thesis proposal was pretty unique. Due to my ethnographic research component, he wasn’t sure if my thesis proposal would be approved. In fact, during the editing stage, he removed many of my ethnographic research remarks. I’m guessing it was in order to put more emphasis on the traditional scholarly research by highlighting the arguments that I would assert after studying many books.

In spite of this warning, I felt I wanted to include this crucial component. In true interdisciplinary style, I wanted to write a thesis that combines good scholarship and qualitative study and see if the result would be a fruitful dialogue. I wanted something that was theologically informed but conveyed with the words and ideas of students.

Ultimately, everything worked out. I received the wonderful news from the committee that they approved my thesis. So right now, I’m beginning to chronicle what I’ll be reading, my thoughts on various authors, and perhaps even start interviewing campus staff workers and students for my ethnographic research.

In the meantime, please pray for me as this is quite a long and stumbling journeys towards getting my thesis finished within a year.