Social Science Research Council

SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL
DISSERTATION PROPOSAL DEVELOPMENT FELLOWSHIP

WATER SUSTAINABILITY: SOCIETY, POLITICS, CULTURE
FALL 2007 WORKSHOP AGENDA

Research Director: Steven Caton
Research Director: Ben Orlove

Crowne Plaza St. Louis Downtown, Saint Louis, MO
Thursday, September 6 – Sunday, September 9

This is the second of two annual DPDF workshops designed to help graduate student fellows prepare cogent and fundable dissertation proposals in their chosen field.  The two goals of the second workshop are 1) to help fellows synthesize their summer research; and 2) to draft proposals for dissertation funding. The fall workshop focuses on the mechanics and the philosophy of proposal writing. The workshop also aims to challenge fellows to reflect on their summer research in ways that link meaningfully to their research field. In this, the goals of the fall workshop are closely related to the project of mapping a research field that was started during the Spring workshop in Denver, Co.

Fellows will come out of the second workshop with supportive networks, consisting of both mentors and cohorts of new scholars carrying out research in their fields, as well as intellectually mature dissertation proposals.

Workshop Readings and Resources:
Research Field resources have been placed on the secure DPDF web portal. 

Workshop Assignments

August 31: First Draft of Proposal is due. Please review the three documents on the secure DPDF web portal site that provide guidance on proposal-writing. : 
September 4: Write Your Respondent Comments (first draft) to a Proposal to be Discussed at the SSRC Workshop (please see footnote for the discussion structure)

Each pair of names below contains the commentator’s name on the left, and the proposal-writer’s name on the right.

 
1. Virginia Breedlove/Lisa Pfeiffer
2. Christopher City/Julio Postigo
3. Angelia Haro /Neil Pischner
4. Tessa Farmer / Jessica Lage
5. Hao Nguyen/Christopher City
6. Jessica Lage/Angelia Haro
7. Maya Peterson/Virginia Breedlove
8. Lisa Pfeiffer/Sandra Ruckstuhl
9. Neil Pischner/Sarah Wise
10. Julio Postigo/Hao Nguyen
11. Sandra Ruckstuhl/ Maya Peterson
12. Sarah Wise/Tessa Farmer

WATER SUSTAINABILITY: WORKSHOP SCHEDULE 

Session 1: Panel – The Dissertation Proposal: Strategies and Funding Sources
(Thursday, 9 AM – 12:00 PM)

- Welcome and Introductions (DPDF Program Director Peter Sahlins)
- Dissertation Funder Presentations

Dr. Leslie C. Aiello, President, Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research
Mr. Tony Claudino, Director, Fulbright IIE
Mr. William Hahn, Program Director, Division of Graduate Education National Science Foundation (NSF)
Dr. Nicole Stahlmann, Associate Director, SSRC International Dissertation Research Fellowships (IDRF)

Session 2:  The Art of Proposal Writing
(Thursday, 2:00 PM – 5 PM) 

First part: Discussing strengths and weaknesses in particular sections of the proposal: we will compose a list of the sections that make up proposals (e.g., literature review, methods, problem statement, etc.), and consider what makes them strong or weak. 

Second part: Discussing the integration of the different sections of a proposal, and the fit of the problem, the site and the applicant. What makes a proposal well integrated, and what contributes to the fit?

Third part [briefer]: Discuss the format for the Practicum on Friday and Saturday.

Evening Homework: Revise your respondent comments with the day’s discussion  in mind of what makes a “good” proposal

9 PM: Visual Culture movie screening, “Meet Me in St. Louis” (1944), directed by Vincente Minnelli, starring Judy Garland.

Session 3: Practicum
(Friday, 9 AM – 12:00 PM)

The structure of the discussion is as follows: a respondent (chosen in advance) will comment on the proposal, followed by a general discussion. Each participant is expected to give their comments in writing to the author at the beginning of the session in which the proposal is discussed.

Discussion of Proposals 1-3

Session 4: Practicum
(Friday, 2:00 PM – 5 PM)

Discussion of Proposals 4-6

Session 5:  Practicum
(Saturday, 9 AM – 12:00 PM)

Discussion of Proposals 7-9

Session 6: Practicum
(Saturday, 2:00 PM – 5 PM)

Discussion of Proposals 10-12

Session 7:  Plenary Session – Student Mini-Conference: Mapping Research Fields
(Sunday, 9 AM – 12:00 PM)

The last session of the second DPDF workshop is devoted to student presentations of their research field.  Students in each field are responsible for organizing their group presentations in the mode of a mini-conference.   Each field will be given a total of 25 minutes, and projects should be presented in an order and grouping that gives the field coherence.  Students are invited to use images and other media as appropriate, but should structure their very short presentations around the following:  1) a research question; 2) a working hypothesis; 3) the research site(s) and sources; 4) the methodological approach; and 5) contributions to the field.   These interventions, in short, represent the “cocktail party” version of the answer to the question, “what are you working on?”  The exercise is intended to give fellows the opportunity to develop a summary version of their research project while locating their work in a collectively-defined research field.