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"Defense of your dissertation does not imply the allowance of any weaponry or martial arts," read a recent chronicle of higher education cartoon. Many doctoral students would rather have more than these two-defense mechanisms. Dissertation writing is one of those mentally involving processes that cause irreversible psychological transformation. As a measure of tolerance, it is more demanding than braving a triathlon in summer.

We always face the terror of a blank page. Writing the dissertation therefore requires strong will, sacrifice and ability to resist distraction. It calls for profound progressiveness to put tons of material together, to blend theory with ethnography and to maintain a good relationship with the dissertation committee.

"Can one really reason like this," is one of those many itchy notes from their professors doctoral students find on the margins of their research proposals, indicating that they are allowing mediocrity to creep into academia. NT wants to help graduates avoid such disturbing and often demoralizing margin notes, and are doing so by inviting Dr. Jodi Kearns, a NT alumni to discuss the nitty-gritty processes of writing the dissertation. She will speak today at the Information Science Building, Room 202 at 6.00 p.m. Jodi will also discuss the process of publishing the first article after receiving the doctoral diploma.

Jodi received her Ph.D. from NT in 2001. Her dissertation has an intriguing first sentence: "Children have childlike perspectives on their environment."

According to professor Brian O'Connor, the Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program associate director and Jodi's dissertation major professor, Jodi's research presents an intriguing blend of Shannon's model of information and issues of children's mediated lives.

If one prefers to have his facts right, rather than have the agility of a martial artist or the rabbinic beard when defending his dissertation, then Jodi's presentation is a must-attend.

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