A Graphic Approach to Re-Imagining the Doctoral Dissertation

In the past five years, I have posted several blogs to track the conversation about emerging forms of the doctoral dissertation that go beyond the long-form monograph [Manuscript Based, Mar 2023], [Examples MBD, May 2022], [Future of Dissertation, May 2020], and [Innovative Dissertations, Mar 2017].

Canadian Association for Graduate Studies has a great site on Rethinking PhD Profiles [CAGS, URL] that tracks across disciplines from 2016 - 2019. In the 2022 CAGS Task Force Report on Excellence in Graduate Programs [URL], a key recommendation is that Graduate Schools/Programs "allow and promote flexibility in the nature of the dissertation". CAGS (2022) highlights that "interdisciplinary research pushes hard on the norms of what constitutes a traditional dissertation and defence, and highlights flexibility as key to an excellent program" (p. 5), especially in light of the diverse careers that increasingly diverse doctoral students aim to pursue. 

The latest contribution to this discussion comes from Cailynn Klingbeil in University Affairs, "Research re-imagined: As academics experiment with the graphic novel form, their research is reaching – and influencing – new audiences" (May 3, 2023).  In this essay, Klingbeil graphically illustrates the many innovative examples of knowledge engagement emerging from doctoral research in the English department at the University of Calgary, from interdisciplinary research on human biology at the University of Alberta, and from stories of Holocaust survivors at the University of Victoria, to name a few.

A current resource at my own university focuses on the Non-traditional thesis, Faculty of Graduate Studies. This site describes a non-traditional thesis as one that encompasses a wide variety of research endeavours, from Applied, to Creative, Digital, Entrepreneurial, Experiential, Innovative, Integrated, to Practical. Non-traditional theses can include diverse outcomes / outputs.

As we move forward, I invite colleagues to interrogate the use of "alternate" and "non-traditional" as if these diverse forms of expression from doctoral research are somehow "other".