I am taking a bit of your time to introduce the start of our Dissertation Support Group. One of the regular members of my YouTube channel suggested this and after our conversation, I decided to launch this Dissertation Support group. The purpose of this group is to come together virtually and to share our ideas, thoughts, and strategies about conceiving and/ or writing our current projects. My hope is that we will be able to use our collective knowledge and expertise to help each other.

How to Join the Dissertation Support Group?

We request two things of you to join the group:

Please send me an email at raja@masoodraja.com with the Subject “Dissertation Support Group.” Add the following details in your email:

  • Your Name and Institutional affiliation (If any).
  • The degree/ project you plan to work on.
  • A one paragraph explanation of your project.
  • What you hope to gain from joining the group?

Please join our Mailing List, so that we can send you additional materials and resources through our mailing list.

The Process

We will follow the following steps before all meetings: 

  • We will meet once a month, either through Zoom or Google Meet (I have not decided on the platform yet, so any suggestions are welcome).
  • Each meeting will be for TWO Hours.
  • I will announce the date and time through email, our mailing list, on our FB Group, and on Youtube.
  • Each member will send me a one-page description/ abstract of their project TWO WEEKS before the meeting.
  • I will collate all the abstracts and share them with the group ONE WEEK before the meeting.

During the Meeting

  • Each member will briefly introduce their project (Maximum 5 minutes)
  • That will be followed by input from the members.
  • We will repeat this process for Two hours.
  • In case of a large number of participants, we might decide to deal with the abstracts over several meetings.

Code of Conduct

  • Please be respectful and professional.
  • We will NOT ALLOW any form of discrimination or intimidation of the participants.
  • In your input, please focus on helping the participants improve their work and avoid any comments that address other than the work under review.

One-on-One Sessions

Obviously, due to the collectivist organization of this panel, I will not be able to offer one on one mentoring for your projects. But if you are interested in such Coaching Sessions, please do take a look at the services I do offer on individual basis:

Conclusion

On the whole, I see this as a great opportunity at creating not just a dissertation support group but a larger and lasting global community of scholars, researchers, and activists. Please do join us and please help us pass it on to as many people as possible.

Most importantly, please use the comments section below to add your suggestions so that we can make it even better!