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Nathan

Episode 43: Dr Fiona Whelan

Episode

In this episode I’m talking with Dr Fiona Whelan, who recently completed her PhD at the University of Oxford. Fiona was kind enough to come on the podcast and share not only her interesting research, but also to talk about her viva – which was quite stressful in places but which had a positive outcome.

Since completing her corrections, Fiona has gone on to create Beyond The Doctorate, a blog looking at what comes after the PhD, particularly for PhD graduates in the humanities. On the podcast I asked Fiona for suggestions of articles to check out, and she recommended pieces on academic affiliation, major corrections and transparency. You can find Fiona on Twitter as @FionaEWhelan.

If you’ve got questions or comments for this or any episode then feel free to comment on the site, or email me. You can also tweet @DrRyder or @VivaSurvivors. I’m always happy to hear from people who would be interested in coming on the podcast to share their PhD and viva experiences, or to join me for a special about Academic Jobs or being an examiner. And you can support the podcast by checking out my ebooks on viva preparation!

Thanks for reading!

Nathan (@DrRyder and @VivaSurvivors)

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Nathan

Episode 41: Dr Malcolm Craig

Episode

In this episode I’m talking with Dr Malcolm Craig, who completed his PhD at the University of Edinburgh last year. Malcolm’s research is in Cold War history, and we have an interesting conversation about how he came to research in that area, and also how he did research in that area. Malcolm’s viva was in June 2014, and he shared his preparation and experiences, as well as talking about his blog, The Atomic Age, and the podcast he co-hosts with Mark McClay, American History Too! You can find him on Twitter as @contestedground.

If you’ve got questions or comments for this or any episode then feel free to comment on the site, or email me. You can also tweet @DrRyder or @VivaSurvivors. I’m always happy to hear from people who would be interested in coming on the podcast to share their PhD and viva experiences, or to join me for a special about Academic Jobs or being an examiner.

Thanks for reading!

Nathan (@DrRyder and @VivaSurvivors)

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Nathan

Episode 21: Dr Jessica Goodman

Episode, Podcast

In this edition of the podcast I’m talking to Dr Jessica Goodman, who recently had her viva at Oxford. Jess’s thesis looks at the work and experiences of Carlo Goldoni in Paris in the 18th century, and her research approaches this from many angles. It was fascinating to hear about how she did this research, as well as hear about how she prepared for her viva and what happened on the day.

Jess is currently working on her corrections and will start a position at Clare College, Cambridge, in the autumn. You can find her on Twitter here.

As ever, it would be great to hear your comments about this episode! Either leave comments after a post, email me or tweet at @VivaSurvivors (or the “real” me @DrRyder). Summer can seem like a quieter time in some academic circles, but I’m eager to interview more people so please drop me a line.

I also have a few new features that I hope to include on the site soon, and one or two interesting announcements… Stay tuned!

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