phd comics thesis title

ComicsResearch.org's Comics-Related Dissertations & Theses: Doctoral Note: The original list has now been separated into three pages. See also:  Masters Theses ||  Undergradate Theses To submit additions or corrections, please contact us .  If submitting your own information, you may send as much as you wish. Suggestions for information include: your full name title of project level [doctoral, master's, undergraduate] & degree year awarded institution and program committee members abstract relevant URLs, e-mail addresses publication information (if the work has been published in whole or in part) Entries marked or   have been added or revised since July 7, 2013.

See also: Suomalainen sarjakuvantutkimus vuoteen 2000 - luettelo kirjoista ja kirjoituksista: II OPINNÄYTTEET (A huge list of Finnish academic work on comics) Abschlußarbeiten zum Thema Comic (German-Language university-level works) Comic Related MS/PhD Thesis (a brief list of primarily American work) For more information on comics in academia, see our Academic Resources page . Also, consider joining the Comics Scholars Discussion List . Note: Degrees awarded are Ph.D. unless otherwise specified. Abderrahmane, Azzi. 1985. French Structuralism and its Contribution to Sociological Theory. University of North Texas. DAI. Adams, J.N. P. (Jeff). 2003. Graphic Novels and Social Realism - Three Case Studies: Keiji Nakazawa’s Barefoot Gen , Art Spiegelman’s Maus and Joe Sacco’s Palestine . University of Liverpool (UK).  Supervised by Dr. Jonathan Harris in the Art History/Architecture department, and examined by Prof. Eric Fernie (former director of the Courtauld Institute, London).    Abstract:   The principal questions in this thesis are: why have artists utilised the distinctive graphic novel medium to deal with issues of social crises, and can this practice be considered as realism? To answer this there is an analysis of the political nineteenth century origins and early twentieth century applications of realism. The concept of a critical, social realism is modelled on the theories of critics and writers like T.J.Clark, Linda Nochlin and writers in Germany on political realism in the 1930s, such as Bertolt Brecht and Georg Lukács. Following these models realism is defined as a critical practice that analyses the social conditions of graphic novel production, and offers a critique of cultural and political structures. There are three case studies, all prominent examples of graphic novels. All have been produced in the late twentieth century in response to events of extreme social upheaval.    Barefoot Gen is an autobiographic account of childhood survival after the Hiroshima bombing in 1945. It is an anti-war visual polemic, offering a critique of both Japanese and US militarism. This case study includes a summary of the post-war development of manga, the visualisation of the bombing; the issue of interfamilial violence in manga; graphic reversal the technical difficulties of translation from Japanese; formal traditions and innovations in manga. Maus is a Holocaust narrative that explores ethnic discrimination, the death camps and prevailing post-war anxieties of survivors and their offspring. In this case study there are sections on ethnicity and discrimination; reception and success in mainstream publishing; the question of taxonomy; establishing the graphic novel as a significant means of expressing political values; theories for the inclusion of photographs. Palestine is an account of Palestinian domestic life under military occupation, including the prisons and refugee camps. In this case study there is a discussion of cinematic techniques and Sacco’s methods of visualisation; topographical and political cartoon traditions; the use of frames, text and page layout; Palestine’s political effectiveness in relation to Edward Said’s analysis of the ‘peace process’.    The study seeks to apply the methods of the social history of art, modelled on the work of critics like Clark, Martin Barker, Al Boime and Leonard Rifas, with an emphasis on the objects of study as material productions, inextricably bound up with the political context of state and society. The history and themes of anti-Semitism in post-war US politics, the establishment and maintenance of Israel, the Cold War, and US relations with Japan are all discussed as significant factors in the production of the case study works.    The thesis concludes by summarising the findings of each of the case studies, as measured by application of the theories of realism explored in the earlier chapter. Each graphic novel’s realism is found to be dependent upon the specific graphic language by which the artist challenges political orthodoxies. Adams, Kenneth Alan. 1980. Family and Fantasy: Dread of the Female and the Narcissistic Ethos in American Culture. Brandeis University. DAI. Albertini, William Oliver, Jr. 2004. Catching Discourse: Contagion, Narrative, and United States Cultures at the Century's Turn. University of Virginia. Advisers: Eric Lott, Jennifer Wicke. UMI . Andersson, Lars M. 2000. A Jew is A Jew is a Jew... Representations of 'The Jew' in Swedish Comic Press 1900-1930s . Lund University (Sweden), Department of History.   On-line information ; more . Bailey, Cellastine P. 2000. Teaching Writing and Creating Change in a Multicultural / Urban Elementary Classroom. University of Massachusetts Amherst. DAI. Beaty, Bart.  1999. All Our Innocences: Fredric Wertham, Mass Culture and the Rise of the Media Effects Paradigm, 1940-1972. McGill University, Communications. Best, Mark Timothy. 2002. Secret Identities: American Masculinities and the Superhero Genre in the Fifties. Indiana University. DAI. Blair, Christopher Allan. 2002. To Protect the Children: An Examination of Arguments for the Content Regulation of Mass Media. University of Memphis. DAI. Blakely, W. Paul. 1957. A Study of Seventh Grade Children's Reading of Comic Books as Related to Certain Other Variables. The University Of Iowa. DAI. Bogart, Leo. 1951. The Comic Strips and their Adult Readers: A Study of Male Workers in a New York City Neighborhood. The University Of Chicago. DAI. Bongco, Mila Francisca. 1995. Reading Comics: Analysing Language, Culture and the Concept of Superheroes in Comicbooks. Dissertation Abstracts International, 1996 Sept; 57 (3): 1115A. U of Alberta. Brauer, Stephen Michael. 1999.   Containing the Criminal: American Crime Narratives, 1919-1941 . (Theodore Dreiser, F. Scott Fitzgerald, James M. Cain, Anita Loos, William Faulkner, Richard Wright.) New York University.  DAI. Brown, Charles Marvin. 2002.  The Culture of Culture Industries: Art, Commerce, and Faith in the Christian Retailing and Entertainment Industry. Southern Illinois University at Cabondale. DAI. Brown, Eric H. 1982. Wholistic Reading Comprehension through Comic Book Art Production. Ed.D. Columbia University Teachers College. DAI. Brown, Jeffrey A. 1997. New Heroes: Gender, Race, Fans and Comic Book Superheroes . University of Toronto.  Dissertation Abstracts International, Section A: The Humanities and Social Sciences, 1998 Dec; 59 (6): 1818. Carpenter, Stanford Wayne. 2003. Imagining Identity: Ethnographic Investigations into the Work of Creating Images of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity in Comic Books . Rice University, Cultural Anthropology.   Rice University, Cultural Anthropology. Thesis Committee: Benjamin Lee, Professor, Department of Anthropology; George E. Marcus, Joseph D. Jamail Professor, Chair, Department of Anthropology; George Smith, Professor, Department of Art and Art History; Julie Taylor, Professor, Department of Anthropology Carr, John Leonard. 1988. Leigh Brackett: American Science Fiction Writer--Her Life and Work. The Ohio State University. DAI. Carter, Vicki K. 2000. Learning from work: Thinking aversively about 'Dilbert.' (Scott Adams) D.Ed. Pennsylvania State University. DAI. Castaldi, Simone. 2002. Fumetti cannibali: Il fumetto adulto italiano tra gli anni settanta e ottanta. Brown University. DAI. Catogni, Jacqueline. 1990. Cigarette Smoking through the Franco-Belgian Strip Cartoon from the Century's Beginning to the Present Day. Dr. d'Etat. Universite de Bourgogne (France). DAI. Chai, Su-ching. 1996. A Study of Elementary School Students' Use of Libraries for Study and Leisure Reading in Taichung City, Taiwan, the Republic of China. Ed.D. University of Tennessee. DAI. Chute, Hillary L. 2006. Contemporary Graphic Narratives: History, Aesthetics, Ethics . English, Rutgers University, English. Committee Members: Marianne DeKoven (director), Carolyn Williams, Harriet Davidson. Outside readers: Marianne Hirsch, Jared Gardner. Three parts of the diss have been published:    "The Texture of Retracing in Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis ." WSQ: Women's Studies Quarterly 36.1&2 (Spring/Summer 2008): 92-110.    "'The Shadow of a Past Time': History and Graphic Representation in Maus ." Twentieth-Century Literature 52.2 (Summer 2006): 1-32.    "Temporality and Seriality in Art Spiegelman's In the Shadow of No Towers ." American Periodicals 17.2 (2007): 228-244. Cokely, Carrie Lynn. 2002. Discovering the Magic: Readings, Interpretations and Analyses of the Wonderful Worlds of Disney.  Syracuse University.  DAI. Collomb, Sandrine Aimee. 2001. Le devoir de memoire: Forme et fonction dans l'oeuvre de Jean Rouaud.  University of Cincinnati.  DAI. Coogan, Peter Macfarland. 2002. The Secret Origin of the Superhero: the Origin and Evolution of the Superhero Genre in America.   Michigan State University. Craft, Jason Todd. 2004. Fiction Networks: The Emergence of Proprietary, Persistent, Large-Scale Popular Fictions. [DC universe] Universtity of Texas at Austin. Advisers: Adam Z. Newton, John M. Slatin. UMI . Cusack, John Bernard. 1969.  The American Weekly Humor Magazine in the Nineteenth Century. Boston University. Davidson, Sol M. 1959. Culture & the Comic Strips.  New York University. Davis, Julie Anne. 2000. 'Dilbert' as Organizational Analyst. Dissertation Abstracts International, Section A: The Humanities and Social Sciences, 2001 June; 61 (12): 4755.U of Kansas. Dean, Michael Patrick. 2000. The Ninth Art: Traversing the Cultural Space of the American Comic Book. Dissertation Abstracts International, Section A: The Humanities and Social Sciences, 2001 Feb; 61 (8): 2957. U of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. Desaulniers, Claude Michèle. 1994. Un Exemple de créativité dans la bande dessinée: Les Langages d'Achille Talon. Universite Laval (Canada).  DAI, 1996 Feb; 56 (8): 3103A. Di Fazio, John Sebastian. 1973. A Content Analysis to Determine the Presence of Selected American Values Found in Comic Books During Two Time Periods, 1946-1950, 1966-1970.  The University Of Iowa. DAI. Dorrell, Larry Dean. 1980.  Comic Books and Circulation in a Public Junior High School Library. University of Missouri - Columbia.  DAI. Duncan, Ralph Randolph, II. 1985. Panel Analysis: A Critical Method for Analyzing the Rhetoric of Comic Book Form.   Louisiana State University. DAI, 1991 June; 51 (12): 3942A. Dunley, Kathleen Ann. 2007. The Space Between: Ruins, Narratives, and History . University of Colorado at Boulder. 321 pages; AAT 3284468     Abstract : The postmodern period changed the way most Americans consider the past. While critics like Foucault and Derrida stressed the importance of the archive as a site from which a patchwork history could emerge, critics like Jameson and Boym reflected on the past's sense of nostalgia. The pull between a deep consideration of the traces of the past (the archival model) and the more superficial responses to the past (the nostalgia model) is made manifest by studying the function of the ruin in contemporary fictions, and especially, how the ruin is represented both visually and textually in hybrid works. Through the analysis of various photobooks, graphic novels, and other hybrid texts, "The Space Between: Ruins, Memory, and History" asserts how the very act of reading a hybrid work, especially the piecing together that happens in the space between image and text, mimics the act of archival history making, one which demands reader engagement. The study begins by highlighting the efforts of authors who act as "memory individuals," preserving traces in their illustrated narratives despite the tides of progress. George Hilliard constructs a model history that crosses lines between fact and fiction and between personal and community memory models. In doing so, the text creates a multi-faceted sense of the past of a small, New Mexico town, one that would otherwise be overlooked. The text uses gaps and contradictions to force its reader to pay attention and engage the material, in much the same way that the graphic novelist Seth uses visual anchors, repetition, and suspended perception to reconfigure the comics page in order to "train" his readers to see the presence of the past. On the converse, Jeff Brouws and Chris Ware show the effects of a world without traces of the past--the nonplace. In their representations of contemporary American suburbs and other aspects of urban sprawl, these writers engage the past by the use of the palimpsest. Despite the surface erasure, traces of the past remain in the nonplace, if only thro oral histories, hints, or hearsay. When the past's underwriting interacts with the present, the reader must negotiate the gap that emerges between images from a culture that values forgetting and the evidence from the forgotten historical past that haunts the present landscape. The sense of revision inherent in the palimpsest is further complicated by new media textual forms that demand not only reader participation through submissions and interactive interfaces, but also enable seemingly limitless forms of revision and preservation. "The Space Between: Ruins, Narrative, and History" opens the study of textual representations beyond the canon and the limitations of the printed page, encouraging deeper consideration of the changing nature of the trace, memory, and the larger notions of representing and preserving the past. Dycus, Dallas J., Jr. 2009. Chris Ware's Jimmy Corrigan: Honing the Hybridity of the Graphic Novel. Georgia State University; English dept. Michael Galchinsky, director; Chris Kocela; Randy Malamud. http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/english_diss/47 The genre of comics has had a tumultuous career throughout the twentieth century: it has careened from wildly popular to being perceived as the source of society s ills. Despite having been relegated to the lowest rung of the artistic ladder for the better part of the twentieth century, comics has been gaining in quality and respectability over the last couple of decades.     My introductory chapter provides a broad, basic introduction to the genre of comics its historical development, its different forms, and a survey of comics criticism over the last thirty years. In chapter two I clarify the nature of comics by comparing it to literature, film, and pictorial art, thereby highlighting its hybrid nature. It has elements in common with all of these, and yet it is a distinct genre.     My primary focus is on Chris Ware, whom I introduce in chapter three, a brilliant creator who has garnered widespread recognition and respect. His magnum opus is Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth, the story of four generations of Corrigan men, most of whom have been negligent in raising their sons. Jimmy Corrigan, as a result, is an introverted, insecure thirty something year old man.     Among comics creators Ware is unusual in that his story does not address socio political issues, like most of his peers, which I discuss in chapter four. Jimmy Corrigan is an isolated tale with a very specific focus. Ware s narrative is somewhat like those of William Faulkner, whose stories have a narrow focus, revolving around the lives of the inhabitants of Yoknapatawpha county, rather than encompassing the vast landscape of national socio political concerns. Also, in chapter five I explore the intriguing combination of realist and Gothic elements normally at opposite ends of the generic continuum that Ware merges in Jimmy Corrigan. This feature is especially interesting because it is another way that his work explores aspects of hybridity.     Finally, in my conclusion I examine the current state of comics in American culture and its future prospects for development and success, as well as the potential for future comics criticism. Eastman, Jacqueline Fisher. 1998.  A Study of The 'Madeline' Books of Ludwig Bemelmans. University of Alabama. DAI. Fauvel, Marie-Louise. 1989.  L'Aventure d'une Ecriture: La Bande Dessinée d'Essai. University of Wisconsin - Madison. Flanigan, Beverly Olson. 1981.  American Indian English in History and Literature: The Evolution of a Pidgin from Reality to Stereotype.   Indiana Univesity.  DAI. Fuglsang, Ross Stuart. 1997. Motorcycle Menace: Media Genres and the Construction of a Deviant Culture. University of Iowa. DAI. Fukushima, Yoshiko. 2000.  Japanese Contemporary Theatre in the 1980s: Noda Hideki and the Manga Discourse of Japan.  New York University. DAI. Gabillet, Jean-Paul. 1994.  Le comic-book: Un objet culturel Nord-Am é ricain.   Université Michel de Montaigne-Bordeaux. Gagnon, Jean-Claude. 1980.  L'acte de lecture essai d'analyse experimentale sur la lecture d'une sequence narrative sous forme de bande dessinee.  Universite Laval (Canada). DAI. Garlitz, Ivy. 1998.  The Old Country: An Experiment in Modes of Writing on the Jewish-American Experience in Poetry, Fiction, and Popular Culture.  University of East Anglia in Norwich (UK). [Parts of the critical chapters of the dissertation were published in Comics Forum magazine. ] Gibson, Mel. 2002. Remembered Reading: Memory, Comics and Post-war Constructions of British Girlhood. University of Sunderland. Gordon, E.B.  1970.  The Significance of Political Caricature during the Reign of Louis Philippe, 1830-1835. Philadelphia  [Query: Ph.D or Master's level?] Gordon, Ian Lewis.  1993.  Envisioning Consumer Culture: Comic Strips, Comic Books and Advertising in America, 1890-1945.   University of Rochester. Dissertation Abstracts International, 1993 July; 54 (1): 291A. Hanson, Amy Suzanne. 1996.  Application of an Instrument for Evaluating Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Programs.  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. DAI. Harkins, Anthony Andrew R.  1999.  The Hillbilly in Twentieth-Century American Culture: The Evolution of a Contested National Icon.  University of Wisconsin - Madison.  DAI. Harrison, Michael Preston. 2009. Comics as Text and Comics as Culture: Queer Spain through the Lens of a Marginalized Medium . University of California, Irvine, Dept. of Spanish and Portuguese. Dr. Jill Robbins and Dr. Luis Avilés, co-chairs, Dr. Ana María Amar Sánchez, committee member. Abstract: Both in its textual form, and its pervasive influence on other media, the medium of comics provides a new, unique lens through which to examine the developmental trajectory of the representation of contemporary queer Spanish identity. To this end, I examine cultural, political and social discourses of sexual and gender identity and queer sexual citizenship in post-Franco Spain, specifically as represented by the medium of comics and related comics iconography.    I begin by establishing previous critical explorations of queer Spanish followed by a prehistory of Spanish comics and comics related art forms. I then devote three chapters to the analysis of comics from different historical moments.  In the first, focused on Nazario s Anarcoma, I explore the ways the comic deals with visual representations of fluid gender identity, the constructedness of gender, and the navigation of newly opened gay  spaces. Next, I analyze Manuel by Rodrigo, who transgresses the spatial norms of comics themselves as a means of celebrating the varied freedoms of the Spanish gay community under democracy while linking its refiguring of city spaces with its subversion of comics conventions; specifically the absence of delineated panels and the elimination of verbo-visual text (word balloons). In the third chapter, I discuss Rafa s Chuecatown series and how the text, through the use of the cartoon form and its citation of iconic comics figures, communicates issues of gender and sexual identity, institutionalized homophobia, and current sociopolitical issues such as gay marriage and adoption. My final chapter examines the iconography of comic book superheroes in the poetry of Leopoldo María Panero and Álvaro Tato, and the narrative of Lluis Fernàndez, and how the rich mythological systems associated with these characters are wielded by these poets to concisely convey emotional realities, questions of identity, and expressions of gender.    Although often viewed as a marginalized medium, through detailed analyses of these comics texts I uncover aspects of queer Spanish culture that have yet to be explored in much depth, drawing explicit connections between the mechanisms that comics employs in its narrative project and the specific issues of significance to the development of gay identity post-Franco. Hatfield, Charles William. 2000. Graphic Interventions: Form And Argument in Contemporary Comics [Dissertation on Hernandez Bros, autobiography and Chester Brown.]  U of Connecticut, Department of English.  Dissertation Abstracts International, Section A: The Humanities and Social Sciences, 2000 Oct; 61 (4): 1386. Hayward, Jennifer Poole. 1992.  Trash, Strips, and Soap: Serial Fictions and Mass Audiences, 1836-1992.  Princeton University.  DAI. Heisler, Florence Anna. 1944.  Characteristics of Elementary-School Children Who Read Comic Books, Attend the Movies, and Prefer Serial Radio Programs.  New York University. DAI. Helenelund, Elisabeth. 1982.  Språket i Muminserien : en syntaktisk analys.   Helsingin yliopisto, pohjoismaisten kielten lisensiaatintyö. Published as Språket i Muminserien en syntaktisk analys.  Meddelanden från Institutionen för nordisk språk och nordisk litteratur vid Helsingfors universitet. Serie B,; nr 9 (Helsinki: Yliopistopaino, 1985; ISBN 9514537033). WorldCat. Helsby, Wendy Frances. 1999. Comics in Education: The Link between Visual and Verbal Literacies: How Readers Read Comics. DAI, Section C: Worldwide, 2000; 61 (3): 643-44. U of Southampton. Hemmer, Kurt Richard. 2000.  Cowboys Crashing: The Beat Generation and the American Western Outlaw .   (Brenda Frazer, Michael McClure, Edward Dorn, William S. Burroughs) Washington State University.DAI. Higgins, Mildred M.  1969. Adult Literary Responses to Comic Strip Narratives Among Inmates of a Correctional Institution. ERIC ED040342. Hilbish, Dabney Melissa. 1990.  Relax, It's Only a Movie: Representations of War in The Vietnam Combat Film.   University of Maryland College Park. DAI. Hill, Michael James. 2003.  A Study of Contemporary Australian Comics, 1992-2000 with Particular Reference to the Work of Naylor, Smith, Danko and Ord.  Macquarrie University (Sydney, Australia), Division of Society, Culture, Media and Philosophy.    Abstract: Beneath the surface of the many layers of artistic and cultural practice in contemporary Australian society there is a spirited and lively activity known variously as the underground, independent comics scene or ‘small press’. This is the subject of this thesis. These terms and activity refer to the work of the creators of contemporary alternative comics. This thesis involves an examination of the Australian alternative comics scene in the last decade of the twentieth century. Within the context of Australian art and graphics, this alternative scene operates on a very small scale. Involving approximately 150 creative participants, it is a loosely structured network of creators of self-financed, self-published, and self-distributed comics. Mostly located in the larger urban environments down the eastern coast of Australia from far North Queensland to Adelaide, Melbourne and Tasmania in the south, it is not easily apparent but exists somewhat like an underground art movement.    Despite the steady stream of overseas influences, this Australian alternative comics scene has managed to display a sense of vitality and a local identity. An examination of the work reveals a wide range of subjects, a plurality of graphic styles, a level of self-reflexivity and widespread use of autobiographical material. Many of the participants in the movement have positioned themselves on the creative ‘edge’ antagonising, irritating, satirising and testing the acceptable limits of visual expression. In so doing they take advantage of what is a relatively unregulated outlet of creativity and visual communication. The graphic humour of their work adds to the visual culture of the country and contributes to the ongoing critique of Australian life. No subject is sacred and so Prime Ministers, Premiers, politicians and party members, pop stars, princesses and parents, Olympic mascots and sporting champions, subcultures and even the creators themselves have been the target of these artists’ pens as they seek to satirise the state of Australian affairs. From its position on the margins, its critical viewpoint is often expressed with humour.    In addition to employing artistic practices in their work, these creators also make use of design strategies. In particular, their use of visual communication techniques facilitates its conveyance to a small but nevertheless widespread audience. In its own limited way Australian alternative comics not only contribute to the visual cultural life of Australia but also work as an aid to an understanding of it. They add to the ongoing critique of Australian society, and provide an inviting and creative outlet for these fearless commentators and satirists. This thesis represents a basic description and critique of their practice. Hill, Trent Gregory.  1993.  In Subordination of the Word: Literature, Culture, and the 'American Celebration', 1948-1963 . (Censorship, Charles Olson, Norman Mailer, Ralph Ellison, Modernism). Duke University. DAI. Holcomb, Jack Andrew. 2000.  Playing Popular Culture: A Folkloristic Perspective on Role-Playing Games and Gamers. University of Louisiana at Lafayette. DAI. Hunig, Wolfgang K. 1974. Strukturen des Comic Strip: Ansätze zu einer Textlinguistisch-Semiotischen Analyse Narrativer Comics .  Treves. Ilundain-Agurruza, Jesus Maria.  2000. ...In the Realms of Art: A Conceptual Inquiry of the Genesis of the Work of Art.  University of Illinois at Chamapgne-Urbana. DAI. Jahrling, Savannah Lee. 1998.  The Persistence of the Romantic Paradigm in Popular Art in the Late Twentieth Century.  (Robert John) University of Wisconsin - Madison. DAI. Jasinowski, Rosemary Wright. 2002.  Morimura Yasumasa: A Cross-Cultural Study in the Self-Portrait, Self-Definition and the Creative Process.   New York University. DAI. Jobs, Richard Ivan. 2002.  Riding the New Wave: Youth and the Rejuvenation of France after World War II.  Rutgers - The State University of New Jersey - New Brunswick. DAI. Johnson, Crystal A. 1997.  Schizoid Defenses, Transitional Phenomena and Humor in Bureaucratic Corporate Life.  DAI, Section B: The Sciences and Engineering, 1997 Oct; 58 (4): 2165-66. Wright Institute. Kannenberg, Eugene Paul, Jr. 2002. Form, Function, Fiction: Text and Image in the Comics Narratives of Winsor McCay, Art Spiegelman, and Chris Ware.   University of Connecticut, Department of English. Committee Members: Thomas J. Roberts; Robert J. Hasenfratz; Jerry R. Phillips.  DAI, Section A: The Humanities and Social Sciences (DAIA) 2002 Nov; 63 (5): 1821. Abstract no: DA3054240. Read proposal - includes publication information .  See also: Dr. Kannenberg's website , ComicsResearch.org .    Abstract: This dissertation highlights the importance of critical attention to the design elements in comics narratives. It borrows terminology and reading strategies from other approaches to visual literature, such as artist’s books and shaped poetry, developing new terminology suited to the discussion of the graphic appearance of text when it appears in a graphic environment. This apparatus will prove beneficial to other forms of visual communication in which a work’s visual form constitutes part of its message. It then applies those techniques to the works of three cartoonists who have produced design-intensive comics.    This analysis focuses on three broad themes: (1) The development of comics storytelling from the single comics page to the larger “book experience”; (2) The struggle between art and commerce which is enacted via the publication methods of comics; and (3) The growing opportunities for personal expression in the comics form.    Winsor McCay, who created Little Nemo in Slumberland and Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend at the beginning of the twentieth century, was one of America’s earliest professional strip cartoonists, as well as one of the first American animators. Finding his work constrained to the newspaper page, with no opportunities for his work to grow into a more permanent form, McCay moved into the realm of animation to explore personal themes that his work for William Randolph Hearst increasingly would not allow. His formal and thematic innovations on the comics page, however, influenced generations of cartoonists to follow, including Art Spiegelman, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Maus , whose underground comics work, freed from the editorial and commercial constraints, explored the formal aspects of cartooning in the long form. His eventual role as small publisher himself opened doors for new cartoonists who thrived in smaller comics venues apart from the traditional newspaper or comic book page. Chris Ware, creator of The Acme Novelty Library , uses the freedom and opportunities created by Spiegelman and other alternative publishers to explore form and theme in ways that explicitly acknowledge the importance of design, in both images and the text within them, throughout the course of his comics narratives. Karp. Etta E. 1954. Crime Comic Book Role Preferences. New York University. Kasanof, Nina. 1992. The Illustrations of Everett Shinn and George Luks.   University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign.  DAI. Kasen, Jill Helene. 1978. Portraits from the Dream: The Myth of Success in the Comic Strip, 1925-1975.   Rutgers University.  WorldCat. Kern, Adam Lewis. 1997. Blowing Smoke: Tobacco Pouches, Literary Squibs, and Authorial Puffery in the Pictorial Comic Fiction (Kibyôshi) of Santô Kyôden (1716-1816). Harvard University, East Asian Languages and Civilizations. Forthcoming: The Geisha's Forbidden Comicbook (tentative title; accepted for publication by the Asia Center, Harvard University Press). Kindborg, Mikael. 2003.  Concurrent Comics : Programming of Social Agents by Children.  Linköping universitet , Science and Technology. On-line information . King, Lucy Charlotte Peeples. 1985.  Vers Un Enseignement De La Culture/Civilisation.  D.M.L. Middlebury College.  DAI. Kipniss, Marc. 1993.  Pomo-Pop: Analyzing Postmodernism and Popular Culture.  University of Washington. DAI. Kraemer, Christine Hoff. 2008. The erotic fringe : sexual minorities and religion in contemporary American literature and film . Boston University, Religious and Theological Studies. Advisers: Peter S. Hawkins and Susan L. Mizruchi. Full text available through ProQuest/UMI. Contact: http://inhumandecency.org/christine / [email protected] Abstract: In the wake of the sexual revolution, the Christian Right has waged a religiously-based campaign for pre-1960s gender norms and against gay rights. This project treats works in which sexual minorities respond by constructing the erotic as a source of sacred experience, one superior to that offered by conservative Protestant Christianity and Mormonism: the novel The Fifth Sacred Thing (Starhawk, 1993), the cult film Hedwig and the Angry Inch (John Cameron Mitchell, 2001), the play and film Angels in America (Tony Kushner, 1992/2003), and the graphic novel Blankets (Craig Thompson, 2003). My method is historically contextualized close reading that also considers the formal advantages of hybrid media in communicating a controversial message. I introduce The Fifth Sacred Thing as part of an American tradition of sexually alternative millennial communalism. This communalism, however, is always in dialogue with an individualistic Emersonian religion of the self, as in Hedwig's tale of Gnostic personal transformation. Hedwig (in the tradition of The Rocky Horror Picture Show [1975]) demonstrates this individual/communal dialectic in its fans' media-centered group practices. Next, I turn to Angels as a failed queer utopian vision in which neither its political agenda nor its religious eroticism is fully realized. Finally, I examine individual liberation in Blankets, which demonstrates how strict, religiously-based sexual and gender roles can create closeted sexual minorities even among heterosexuals. Against the Religious Right's focus on the nuclear, blood family, these works privilege individual transformation, chosen families, and utopian communities liberated and then bound together by erotic experience. Engaging the power of religious rhetoric in American culture, they mark a rhetorical shift by sexual minorities to speak of sexual liberation not purely as a secular matter of civil rights and cultural norms, but rather as a sacred mission that promises individual and social transformation. The effectiveness of hybrid media in engaging audiences helps to explain the strong responses--ranging from censorship efforts to the founding of new spiritual communities--that readers and viewers have had to these works. Kraft, Karl R. 1990.  The Use of Comic Strips and Single-Panel Cartoons as an Outreach to Unchurched Young Adults through the Broad Street United Methodist Church, Burlington, New Jersey.   D.Min.  Drew University.  DAI. Krinsky, Charles Jay. 1998.   Rebels without a Closet: The Construction of Juvenile Delinquency, Masculinity, and Male Sexuality in American Culture, 1945-1961.  University of California, Irvine. DAI. Kurzrok, Allan. 1993. 'The Kids from 'Help' Look at Loss and Life': The Inception, Conceptual Framework and Creation of a Comic Strip and Psychodynamically Established Text for Increasing Psychological Awareness and Motivating Insight Orientation and Personal Growth in the Lay Public.  Union Institute (Ohio).  DAI. Lamanno, April Arthur. 2007. Exploring the Use of Graphic Novels in the Classroom: Does Exposure to Non-Traditional Texts Increase the Reading Comprehension Skills and Motivation of Low-Functioning Adolescent Readers? Dissertation Abstracts International, Section A: The Humanities and Social Sciences, 2008 Apr; 68 (10): 4243. Pennsylvania State U. Lanyi, Ronald Levitt. 1977. Comic Book Creativity as Displaced Aggression. University of California-Davis. Lee, Chris and Jack Adams-Webber. 1987. A 'Projective' Test of the Golden Section Hypothesis [psychological evaluation of comic strip characters]. Social Behavior and Personality 15(2):169-175. [query: is this truly a thesis or dissertation?]

Lipper, Mark M. 1974.  Comic Caricatures in Early American Newspapers as Indicators of the National Character.  DAI, 1974; 34: 5896A(So. Ill.). Lococo, Mark Edward. 1995.  'Burned Behind My Eyes': The Dissolution of Invincibility through Performances of the Vietnam War.  Northwestern University, Department of Performance Studies. DAI. [War toys, comic books, short stories, poetry]

Lunning, Nancy French. 2000.  Comic Books: Sex and Death at the Edge of Modernity. DAI, Section A: The Humanities and Social Sciences, 2000 June; 60 (12): 4225. U of Minnesota. Macdonnell, Francis Michael. 1991. Insidious Foes: The Axis Fifth Column and the American Home Front, 1938-1942. Harvard University. DAI. Makemson, Harlan E. 2002. Images of Scandal: Political Cartooning in the 1994 Presidential Campaign. University of North Carolina. Malach, Michele Marie. 2000.  You'd Better Dust Off Your Own Black Suit: The FBI in Recent American Film and Television.  University of Texas at Austin. DAI. Marston, Emily Wright. 1982.  A Study of Variables Relating to the Voluntary Reading Habits of Eighth Graders.  Ed.D. Harvard University. DAI. Martin, George Ira. 1992.  Secondary English Students' Responses to Classics Illustrated Comic Books. Ed.D. University of Virginia. DAI. Mattozzi, Alvise.  1998.   Nuvole Sotterranee.  Alaisi Socio-Semiotica del Fumetto Underground .  Universita' Degli Studi di Siena, Facolta di Lettere e Filosofia, Corso di Laurea in Scienze della Communicazione.  Relatore: Ch.mo Prof. Omar Calabrese. McFadden, Margaret Theresa.  1996.   Anything Goes: Gender and Knowledge in the Comic Popular Culture of the 1930s.  Dissertation Abstracts International, Section A: The Humanities and Social Sciences, 1997 May; 57 (11): 4796. Yale U, 1996 [note: uncertain if this diss mentions comics or not] McKinney, Edgar Duane. 1990.  Images, Realities, and Cultural Transformation in the Missouri Ozarks, 1920-1960.  University Of Missouri - Columbia.  DAI. McQuillan, Elizabeth. 2001.  The Reception and Creation of Post-1960 Franco-Belgian BD.   University of Glasgow. Merino, Ana. 2001. Las dimensiones narrativas del comic del mundo Hispanico en los limites de la modernidad. (Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Cuba.)  University of Pittsburgh.  DAI. Mickelson, Holly Michelle.  2002.  Replacing Memory: Comics, Survivorship, and Narrative Rupture in Art Spiegelman's Maus Project.   Purdue University.  Abstract on-line . Miller, Jeffrey Alan.  2001.   Critical Analysis of Comic Strips: A Semiological Approach.   (Roland Barthes.)  Dissertation Abstracts International, Section A: The Humanities and Social Sciences, 2001 Oct; 62 (4): 1271. State U of New York, Buffalo. Monnin, Katie M. 2008. Perceptions of New Literacies with the Graphic Novel 'Bone.' Kent State University. Dissertation Abstracts International, Section A: The Humanities and Social Sciences, 2008 Dec; 69 (6): 2188. Murray, Ross. 2009. Changing Bodies: Representations of Metamorphic Comic Characters. University of Western Sydney, Australia. Nash, Susan Smith.  1996.  Apocalypse in Twentieth-Century Literature, Film, and Cultural Texts: The Persistence and Questioning of the Messianic Vision.   The University of Oklahoma.  DAI. Neff, William Albert. 1977. The Pictorial and Linguistic Features of Comic Book Formulas .  University of Denver. review by Neil Cohn Nelson, Sandra G. 1993. J. Minor Gwynn: 1897-1971.   (Textbook Writing, North Carolina)  Ed.D. University of South Carolina. DAI. Neustadt, Robert Alan. 1995.  (Con)Fusing Signs: Three Spanish-American Encounters with(in) the Postmodern Position. Alejandro Jodorowsky, Guillermo Gomez-Pena and Diamela Eltit. (Mexico, Chile)  University Of Oregon.  DAI. Nguyen, Nhu-Hoa. 2009. Narration graphique : l’ellipse comme figure et signe peircéen dans la bande dessinée . Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) Mutifaculty (philosophy, communication and literary studies); program: Ph. D. in semiology. Advisors: Dr. François Latraverse (philosophy) & Dr. Philippe Sohet(communication).

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Your Thesis Title

Oct 13, 2014

Half a decade in one sentence. Make it count.

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The Most Stupid Thesis, of all Times : Unparadoxically Theorized Heterological Literate Words for The Uncaring Globalised World How'd i do, doc?

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Comics Academe: How To Write a Comics Dissertation

Out there, somewhere, is a woman who writes about comics who wants to turn that writing to a comics dissertation or thesis, or at least I sure hope there is! The field is wide open and ready for more. For the uninitiated, a dissertation or thesis is the long essay or project that serves as the capstone for most advanced degrees (especially doctoral degrees) in the sciences and humanities. There is some degree of coursework or class-type work in most programs, but this is the project that determines whether or not you earn the degree. The nature and form of these projects has been  under debate in recent years , but the actual production of some object that concludes the PhD remains a constant. The internet has worked alongside the fast-moving and collaborative nature of digital scholarship in general to jolt the usually slow-to-change academic establishment. By making wide varieties of information more available to a wider public and expanding the possibilities of collaboration, digital forms of scholarship have disturbed the idea of authority. This idea of authority is what allows some group to grant a degree to someone else. You can see why this sort of debate can be disturbing!

What I’ll talk about most here is writing about comics in a dissertation as opposed to writing a dissertation as a comic. Be warned: the minute you start pairing talk of “comics” and “dissertation” people are going to assume you’re writing a comic. For some of you, this will be a fantastic way to go. If your committee has trouble imagining your dissertation as a comic, you might point out Nick Sousanis’s recently published comics dissertation Unflattening . His process bringing the dissertation into comics form is lovingly documented all over the internet by academics and comics people alike, such as here , here , and here . Such a precedent is wonderful to present to a wary committee. If their hesitation comes from fears that you won’t be taken seriously, it’s nice to have a publication from Harvard University Press to point out. Of course, you should listen to your committee, more on them in a moment.

I, personally, want to see more dissertations with/about/using comics in a variety of fields, and I want everyone to have a good time. So, I’m going to offer you some advice. This particular set of advice features an emphasis on surviving a comics-centric humanities-based academic endeavor. I’ve survived it. You can, too, Woman Who Wants to Write about Comics in a Dissertation.

Find Your Peers

If you want to use comics as your subject or a major player in your dissertation, you want find your comics-studying peers as quickly as you can. Especially if you are adding comics to some other academic field, you should start seeing out your comics-peers and comics study well before you are ready to dissertate. Don’t dive in half-ready. Besides doing diligent research on comics themselves, include a search for comics-related dissertations already around.

ComicsResearch.org maintains a list of comics-related dissertations and theses that anyone can access, but use the full power of your university library and databases to seek out a wide array of related projects before you begin your own. I can almost guarantee that you’ll learn something from the scope of the dissertations that have come before yours.

Extensive research before you begin in earnest can assuage what my friends call that feeling of “disencouragement” that comes when you find some work that looks a lot like your thing but not exactly like your thing. You want similar work that assures you you have something to add to an active conversation, not to find that you’re not as original as you thought! Doing this before you solidify your committee can help you figure out who you want on it, as well.

Find Your Committee/Pick Your Audience

The Dissertation Committee in most graduate programs is made of three or four senior scholars who already have the degree you are striving to earn. These people are the gatekeepers for your degree and the primary audience for your project. As such, it’s important to choose wisely. Not every program will have a faculty member that uses comics the same way you do in your work (some day I should write a post about choosing a graduate program).

The head of the committee (the head of your Voltron) is the most important member. You want someone who plays well with other faculty and who has the most depth of knowledge around the particular project you are creating. You want an organized person who answers your emails in a reasonable amount of time and gives you critical feedback. You want them to challenge you. The rest of the committee follows this person. Make sure they are game for the kind of project you are pitching! You want this person to be comfortable criticizing your work and giving you a bit of a hard time. That makes it better. You also want someone who can understand why your work is of value. That makes it better, too.

Committees are hard to put together anyway, but sometimes committees on comics projects can be extra difficult. In the United States, we struggle mightily with a stigma around comics that not only marks them as lowbrow, but in the 1950s, as anti-academic and even anti-American. Many of the people in academia ow grew up around these ideas. Don’t shout them down! Listen to their objections carefully. Take their advice. Make your project better than they expect it is possible to be.

Form a Writing Group

Support for your comics project can come from other areas, too. Your writing group might be gleaned from a group of fellow fans or people you find through social media who share an interest in your niche of the comics world. I found academic friends over at Sacred and Sequential who share my love of both comics and the study of religion. It was great having all these scholars to talk to during the process. Sometimes having confirmation that there are other people out there studying comics seriously was an incredible boost.

Push it FURTHER

Dissertations require an incredible amount of work; make it work that means something to you. Once you’ve done your review of the available literature, try to make your project do something other than what’s been done. Inevitably, you’re going to knock against other people doing this comics work, but the field is still so wide open that you’re also going to find yourself enjoying these brief moments of fellowship with other people who value this work.

We live in a delightful age of interdisciplinarity. The academy is noticing that fields that play well with others have much to offer the world. If you’re thinking, “I’m not getting a fine arts degree, how can I talk about comics in the field of X?”, let me give you an idea: My degree is a PhD in Religious and Theological Studies from a joint program between the University of Denver and the Iliff School of Theology. My concentration is in Biblical Interpretation. Nothing about this screams comics? Hold onto your hats! My dissertation is called “ Imagining the Scandal of the Cross with Graphic/Novel Reading . ” In this study, I read the crucifixion of Jesus through the lens of several modern comics that treat the idea in a range of provocative ways in order to breath life into an interpretation of the views of two New Testament authors. In short, I show how comics can help shake up biblical scholars when their imaginations are stuck.

I think there are plenty of other fields that could use this sort of a shake up in all kinds of ways. After all, if you can think it, there’s a comic about it. I see no reason why there can’t be a dissertation about it, too.  Because comics is still a newish field—maybe it’s not that new anymore, but the study of religion and the Bible is either, about 100, around 350, or maybe closer to 1700 years old, depending on how you’re counting. This kind of time gives fields the chance to become established in a way that comics studies is only beginning to enjoy in some places. But, comics studies has a youth that makes it nimble. We have a chance to make the conversation more than defensive and on into something truly meaningful—about the ways we tell our human stories to one another with text and pictures in whatever combination we please.

Don’t Give Up

In every dissertation process—every single one—there is at least one moment where you are going to feel like you are at the end of your writing-rope. Dissertations are painful. Be gentle with yourself. This process requires support from a network of people, some of whom you will know and some of whom you will only read. Draw strength from these people, both the living and the written. Understand yourself as a part of a community of scholars and writers.

If you’re writing a dissertation on comics or with comics or that is in any way comics-related, you’ll find other people can sometimes be a unique challenge. Instead of allowing these nay-sayers to control the conversation in your head, immerse yourself in the work of people who take these fantastic creations seriously, who find them worthy of critique. Find strength in the magic of comics. Let yourself feel a shiver occasionally when you recognize a moment of true invisible art .  Don’t give up. The rest of us need your work!

Dr. Elizabeth Coody completed her dissertation in May 2015. She loves her committee. However, she’s still not quite over the experience, and would like to do what she can to help those who follow.

Elizabeth Coody

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July 17, 2012

Get Your Thesis Animated by PhD Comics!

By Carin Bondar

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American

Jorge Cham, the artist behind PhD Comics and The PhD Movie , has created a ‘Two Minute Thesis’ contest. Can you use plain language to summarize your PhD thesis in two minutes? You could win the opportunity to have your thesis illustrated by Cham as part of the PhD Comics new venture PhD TV.

All of the details for submitting are clearly posted on the PhD Comics website – so I won’t repeat them here. I will however, say that his is a pretty excellent opportunity with some unique and substantial prizes. What better keepsake for your years in graduate school than a fantastic two minute animation to show off to friends and family members?

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Experiences of a London PhD student and beyond

Thesis Title: Examples and Suggestions from a PhD Grad

When you’re faced with writing up a thesis, choosing a title can often fall to the bottom of the priority list. After all, it’s only a few words. How hard can it be?!

In the grand scheme of things I agree that picking your thesis title shouldn’t warrant that much thought, however my own choice is one of the few regrets I have from my PhD . I therefore think there is value in spending some time considering the options available.

In this post I’ll guide you through how to write your own thesis title and share real-world examples. Although my focus is on the PhD thesis, I’ve also included plenty of thesis title examples for bachelor’s and master’s research projects too.

Hopefully by the end of the post you’ll feel ready to start crafting your own!

Why your thesis title is at least somewhat important

It sounds obvious but your thesis title is the first, and often only, interaction people will have with your thesis. For instance, hiring managers for jobs that you may wish to apply for in the future. Therefore you want to give a good sense of what your research involved from the title.

Many people will list the title of their thesis on their CV, at least for a while after graduating. All of the example titles I’ve shared below came from my repository of academic CVs . I’d say roughly 30% of all the academics on that page list their thesis title, which includes academics all the way up to full professor.

Your thesis title could therefore feature on your CV for your whole career, so it is probably worth a bit of thought!

My suggestions for choosing a good thesis title

• Make it descriptive of the research so it’s immediately obvious what it is about! Most universities will publish student theses online ( here’s mine! ) and they’re indexed so can be found via Google Scholar etc. Therefore give your thesis a descriptive title so that interested researchers can find it in the future.
• Don’t get lost in the detail . You want a descriptive title but avoid overly lengthy descriptions of experiments. Unless a certain analytical technique etc was central to your research, I’d suggest by default* to avoid having it in your title. Including certain techniques will make your title, and therefore research, look overly dated, which isn’t ideal for potential job applications after you graduate.
• The title should tie together the chapters of your thesis. A well-phrased title can do a good job of summarising the overall story of your thesis. Think about each of your research chapters and ensure that the title makes sense for each of them.
• Be strategic . Certain parts of your work you want to emphasise? Consider making them more prominent in your title. For instance, if you know you want to pivot to a slightly different research area or career path after your PhD, there may be alternative phrasings which describe your work just as well but could be better understood by those in the field you’re moving into. I utilised this a bit in my own title which we’ll come onto shortly.
• Do your own thing. Having just laid out some suggestions, do make sure you’re personally happy with the title. You get a lot of freedom to choose your title, so use it however you fancy. For example, I’ve known people to use puns in their title, so if that’s what you’re into don’t feel overly constrained.

*This doesn’t always hold true and certainly don’t take my advice if 1) listing something in your title could be a strategic move 2) you love the technique so much that you’re desperate to include it!

Thesis title examples

To help give you some ideas, here are some example thesis titles from Bachelors, Masters and PhD graduates. These all came from the academic CVs listed in my repository here .

Bachelor’s thesis title examples

Hysteresis and Avalanches Paul Jager , 2014 – Medical Imaging – DKFZ Head of ML Research Group –  direct link to Paul’s machine learning academic CV

The bioenergetics of a marine ciliate, Mesodinium rubrum Holly Moeller , 2008 – Ecology & Marine Biology – UC Santa Barbara Assistant Professor –  direct link to Holly’s marine biology academic CV

Functional syntactic analysis of prepositional and causal constructions for a grammatical parser of Russian Ekaterina Kochmar , 2008 – Computer Science – University of Bath Lecturer Assistant Prof –  direct link to Ekaterina’s computer science academic CV

Master’s thesis title examples

Creation of an autonomous impulse response measurement system for rooms and transducers with different methods Guy-Bart Stan , 2000 – Bioengineering – Imperial Professor –  direct link to Guy-Bart’s bioengineering academic CV

Segmentation of Nerve Bundles and Ganglia in Spine MRI using Particle Filters Adrian Vasile Dalca , 2012 – Machine Learning for healthcare – Harvard Assistant Professor & MIT Research Scientist –  direct link to Adrian’s machine learning academic CV

The detection of oil under ice by remote mode conversion of ultrasound Eric Yeatman , 1986 – Electronics – Imperial Professor and Head of Department –  direct link to Eric’s electronics academic CV

Ensemble-Based Learning for Morphological Analysis of German Ekaterina Kochmar , 2010 – Computer Science – University of Bath Lecturer Assistant Prof –  direct link to Ekaterina’s computer science academic CV

VARiD: A Variation Detection Framework for Color-Space and Letter-Space Platforms Adrian Vasile Dalca , 2010 – Machine Learning for healthcare – Harvard Assistant Professor & MIT Research Scientist –  direct link to Adrian’s machine learning academic CV

Identification of a Writer’s Native Language by Error Analysis Ekaterina Kochmar , 2011 – Computer Science – University of Bath Lecturer Assistant Prof –  direct link to Ekaterina’s computer science academic CV

On the economic optimality of marine reserves when fishing damages habitat Holly Moeller , 2010 – Ecology & Marine Biology – UC Santa Barbara Assistant Professor –  direct link to Holly’s marine biology academic CV

Sensitivity Studies for the Time-Dependent CP Violation Measurement in B 0 → K S K S K S at the Belle II-Experiment Paul Jager , 2016 – Medical Imaging – DKFZ Head of ML Research Group –  direct link to Paul’s machine learning academic CV

PhD thesis title examples

Spatio-temporal analysis of three-dimensional real-time ultrasound for quantification of ventricular function Esla Angelini  – Medicine – Imperial Senior Data Scientist –  direct link to Elsa’s medicine academic CV

The role and maintenance of diversity in a multi-partner mutualism: Trees and Ectomycorrhizal Fungi Holly Moeller , 2015 – Ecology & Marine Biology – UC Santa Barbara Assistant Professor –  direct link to Holly’s marine biology academic CV

Bayesian Gaussian processes for sequential prediction, optimisation and quadrature Michael Osborne , 2010 – Machine Learning – Oxford Full Professor –  direct link to Michael’s machine learning academic CV

Global analysis and synthesis of oscillations: a dissipativity approach Guy-Bart Stan , 2005 – Bioengineering – Imperial Professor –  direct link to Guy-Bart’s bioengineering academic CV

Coarse-grained modelling of DNA and DNA self-assembly Thomas Ouldridge , 2011– Bioengineering – Imperial College London Senior Lecturer / Associate Prof –  direct link to Thomas’ bioengineering academic CV

4D tomographic image reconstruction and parametric maps estimation: a model-based strategy for algorithm design using Bayesian inference in Probabilistic Graphical Models (PGM) Michele Scipioni , 2018– Biomedical Engineer – Harvard Postdoctoral Research Fellow –  direct link to Michele’s biomedical engineer academic CV

Error Detection in Content Word Combinations Ekaterina Kochmar , 2016 – Computer Science – University of Bath Lecturer Assistant Prof –  direct link to Ekaterina’s computer science academic CV

Genetic, Clinical and Population Priors for Brain Images Adrian Vasile Dalca , 2016 – Machine Learning for healthcare – Harvard Assistant Professor & MIT Research Scientist –  direct link to Adrian’s machine learning academic CV

Challenges and Opportunities of End-to-End Learning in Medical Image Classification Paul Jager , 2020 – Medical Imaging – DKFZ Head of ML Research Group –  direct link to Paul’s machine learning academic CV

K 2 NiF 4  materials as cathodes for intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells Ainara Aguadero , 2006 – Materials Science – Imperial Reader –  direct link to Ainara’s materials science academic CV

Applications of surface plasmons – microscopy and spatial light modulation Eric Yeatman , 1989 – Electronics – Imperial Professor and Head of Department –  direct link to Eric’s electronics academic CV

Geometric Algorithms for Objects in Motion Sorelle Friedler , 2010 – Computer science – Haverford College Associate Professor –  direct link to Sorelle’s computer science academic CV .

Geometrical models, constraints design, information extraction for pathological and healthy medical image Esla Angelini  – Medicine – Imperial Senior Data Scientist –  direct link to Elsa’s medicine academic CV

Why I regret my own choice of PhD thesis title

I should say from the outset that I assembled my thesis in quite a short space of time compared to most people. So I didn’t really spend particularly long on any one section, including the title.

However, my main supervisor even spelled out for me that once the title was submitted to the university it would be permanent. In other words: think wisely about your title.

What I started with

Initially I drafted the title as something like: Three dimensional correlative imaging for cartilage regeneration . Which I thought was nice, catchy and descriptive.

I decided to go for “correlative imaging” because, not only did it describe the experiments well, but it also sounded kind of technical and fitting of a potential pivot into AI. I’m pleased with that bit of the title.

What I ended up with

Before submitting the title to the university (required ahead of the viva), I asked my supervisors for their thoughts.

One of my well intentioned supervisors suggested that, given that my project didn’t involve verifying regenerative quality, I probably shouldn’t state cartilage regeneration . Instead, they suggested, I should state what I was experimenting on (the materials) rather than the overall goal of the research (aid cartilage regeneration efforts).

With this advice I dialled back my choice of wording and the thesis title I went with was:

Three dimensional correlative imaging for measurement of strain in cartilage and cartilage replacement materials

Reading it back now I’m reminder about how less I like it than my initial idea!

I put up basically no resistance to the supervisor’s choice, even though the title sounds so much more boring in my opinion. I just didn’t think much of it at the time. Furthermore, most of my PhD was actually in a technique which is four dimensional (looking at a series of 3D scans over time, hence 4D) which would have sounded way more sciency and fitting of a PhD.

What I wish I’d gone with

If I had the choice again, I’d have gone with:

Four-dimensional correlative imaging for cartilage regeneration

Which, would you believe it, is exactly what it states on my CV…

Does the thesis title really matter?

In all honesty, your choice of thesis title isn’t that important. If you come to regret it, as I do, it’s not the end of the world. There are much more important things in life to worry about.

If you decide at a later stage that you don’t like it you can always describe it in a way that you prefer. For instance, in my CV I describe my PhD as I’d have liked the title to be. I make no claim that it’s actually the title so consider it a bit of creative license.

Given that as your career progresses you may not even refer back to your thesis much, it’s really not worth stressing over. However, if you’re yet to finalise your thesis title I do still think it is worth a bit of thought and hopefully this article has provided some insights into how to choose a good thesis title.

My advice for developing a thesis title

• Draft the title early. Drafting it early can help give clarity for the overall message of your research. For instance, while you’re assembling the rest of your thesis you can check that the title encompasses the research chapters you’re included, and likewise that the research experiments you’re including fall within what the title describes. Drafting it early also gives more time you to think it over. As with everything: having a first draft is really important to iterate on.
• Look at some example titles . Such as those featured above!
• If you’re not sure about your title, ask a few other people what they think . But remember that you have the final say!

I hope this post has been useful for those of you are finalising your thesis and need to decide on a thesis title. If you’ve enjoyed this article and would like to hear about future content (and gain access to my free resource library!) you can subscribe for free here:

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