ASGS, The Association for Support of Graduate Students
In their book, In Pursuit of the PhD, Bowen and Rudenstine, point out that “Certain stages of graduate study have become especially problematic. By virtually all accounts, the time between the end of coursework and the moment of energetic engagement with a dissertation topic is an unusually vulnerable time for many graduate students [in fields other than the sciences]. . . . Selection of a topic appears to have become an increasingly formidable task, at a time when the expectations of many faculty and institutions concerning the dissertation have become more demanding than ever. . . . It is not uncommon for students to spend between 1 and 2 years searching for the “right” topic and preparing a dissertation prospectus.”

Stumbled on this association this morning as I worked on something completely different.  Their quote from Bowen and Rudenstine describe exactly where I am right now…picking a topic.  I’ll be taking Advanced Qualitative this spring and should be able to get my proposal started, but I obviously need to know what I’m going to propose.