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What should I do my DISSERTATION on?

11:22 / 03.03.02

[i know this topic doesn't exactly fit in the help/policy forum, but it fits slightly better than anywhere else - move it if you feel the need]

So, what do the learned people of Barbelith think I should do my (History) Dissertation on?

One part of me says I should stick do doing a musty old 'proper' historical topic - namely, examining the history of my family as a case study of an early travelling cinema. For this, I'd have access to tons of primary sources that no one else has ever seen.

Only, I'd really like to do something more interesting, based on the more murky area of cultural history. Baring in mind that other 3rd years I know are cruising towards ok grades doing such topics as "The Impact of the Sex Pistols on British Society in 1977" and "Crime Films as a Reflection of American Cold War Society", I think there might be a lot of fun to be had in doing (don't laugh, I came up with this last night), "The Influence of New York Subculture upon Wider American Culture from 1950 onwards".
This, I figure, would allow me to take in a quite enormous number of cool people and movements and read a lot of good books and learn a lot of interesting things. BUT, is it just a little too far removed from 'history' to really be acceptable? And are the crusty old professors ever going to regard it as anything more than a load of arty hoo-hah, before going back to reading the latest to tomes of statistical information regarding the Yorkshire mining industry?

So, those of you who've been through university, what do you think? Any recommendations? More general advice?

(and if both those plans fail, I could always do something about Pirates, ar-ha-ha-ha..)

11:33 / 03.03.02

One part of me says I should stick do doing a musty old 'proper' historical topic - namely, examining the history of my family as a case study of an early travelling cinema. For this, I'd have access to tons of primary sources that no one else has ever seen.

And a major part of me agrees. Goddamn, that doesn't sound musty at all - that sounds fascinating.

Other than that, your idea about the New York subculture seems interesting enough, but a little limited, perhaps, for a dissertation. Then again, I completely fucked up my dissertation at Leicester and only rescued it by good marks in my other modules...

Have you thought about doing something with the old and ancient books in Leicester Uni library's basement? They're cool as fuck - there are proper illuminated manuscripts and everything...

Illuminated? That gives me an idea - how about "The Growth and Assimilation of the Secret Society into modern Western culture?"

That gives you the chance to do tons of interesting research into THEM - just make sure you don't get too close...

11:44 / 03.03.02

oh boy, oh boy .. that's a good idea.. (though primary sources might be difficult to come by, most info. on secret societies generally coming from mass market paperbacks and crazy novels..)

I've got too many choices now..

11:59 / 03.03.02

Actually, can I write the Secret Society one for you?

I really fancy writing a long form piece of non fiction again, and I've got a few sources...

17:05 / 03.03.02

I'm a US PhD, in American Lit, so I'm coming at this as an alien--which may mean that my questions are not productive to you where you're working from--but here's my two, hopefully not egregiously naive questions:

1) Maybe it's because I'm an American, but what exactly is a "traveling cinema"? When were they around and where? I take it that was your family's family business for awhile?
Despite my abject ignorance, this project sounds like it has clear boundaries and feels very feasible.

2) The other project, on the other hand, sounds fascinating, but is more nebulous . . . is it potentially a huge vortex that could suck some hapless researchers (not necessarily you!) into the purgatory of ABD-land? My questions: How would you define "NY subculture" and how do you conceive of--and how would you imagine quantifying--"the wider US culture"? There seem to be a lot of subcultural possibilities--I imagine you primarily mean the arts-subculture; but is that a unified field? (Would it make more sense to limit yourself to a single decade?)

Second, I wonder if your study would be inevitably limited to the effects of that subculture on the broader American media, rather than on the people per se in their daily lives?

For whatever it's worth ... Good luck!

lja

18:54 / 03.03.02

just listing the individual subcultures in new york would take 300 pages, let alone analyzing their historical context and influence on america. you wouldn't necessarily have to do the work of defining subculture (have you read hebdige's book Subculture?) but you would wind up making pretty arbitrary choices as far a history goes. im sure you just mean beatnicks / artists / punk rock / hip hop / gay / film / etc, but is wallstreet a subculture? is bridge and tunnel a subculture?

18:56 / 03.03.02

Um, what do you mean by dissertation - 'cause it's different in different countries and I'm not sure. I get that you mean some sort of long essay, but I'm not sure beyond that...

And I don't reckon any of us can guess how your professors will react to any potential topic. It depends what they're like. I had a pretty hilarious conversation with my Honours co-ordinator when I explained I wanted to write on gay porn - he was obviously uncomfortable, but didn't want to actually say that. Much nervous giggling ensued (on his part, I mean. I'm way too cool to giggle.)

My advice would basically be to do a bunch of research on any slightly out-there topic before you suggest it, so if they seem skeptical you can say 'I'll be reading this and this and discussing it in terms of that' etc., showing that you've actually thought about it and aren't just pissing about.

Good luck...

09:06 / 04.03.02

In the UK Dissertation usually means your last big essay on any topic you pick usually arround 14-16,000 words.

I did mine on semiotics and comics (focusing on the advntures of Luther Arkwright)

I suggest you pick a bombination of something that truly fascinates you and something that very few people will have covered before (as opposed to t5he 3 billionth Jane Austin dissertation) but that's just me.

09:06 / 04.03.02

I suppose you need to figure out how much original research you need to do, and if you have to base your dissertation on that the family history thing might be your best option (and as NMA says it does sound bloody interesting AND you could then write a book based on it...).

The New York subculture thing sounds too big to me, to be honest, and I imagine that you're probably going to be better off doing something which relies less on secondary sources, but that might just be my bias...

As for whether your tutors will like it or not, that depends on how hidebound they are. But even Oxford history dons have to be au fait with cultural history these days, and they are the most hidebound of all, so you should be OK...

19:22 / 04.03.02

Yeah. Pick a specific subculture (or neighborhood) and stick with it.

Bleecker Street (I think) joins Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel and Patti Smith, if that's what you're into. I think there's a Moondog connection, too, which could lead into experimental DIY music and Sonic Youth.

CBGB's might be a nice axis, too.

I'm sure there's a corresponding jazz venue, which would be even more important in the 1950s, but I have huge gaps in music history regarding jazz.

I know Mezz Mezzrow did time in New York - "Really the Blues" would be a great primary text for something a little earlier, 1920s-1940s jazz, selling dope from Chicago to Harlem. White kid learns jive and improvisation.

On another note - is "travelling cinema" the kind of fairground attraction thing I'm thinking of? Cuz that's cool stuff - first learned about it in a class on the Spectacle in Cinema, and that's where it all starts.
Seedy carny stuff, bringing dreams to life.

Personally, I think I'd like to do something on utopian cults (put "Cyrus Teed" and "Koreshan" in any search engine), but that's just me.

23:53 / 04.03.02

byc subculture's kinda been done to death, no? we're all so goddamn curious about yr family's traveling cinema, can you spill it for us a bit even if you don't write yr topic on it?

16:03 / 05.03.02

quote:Originally posted by grant:

On another note - is "travelling cinema" the kind of fairground attraction thing I'm thinking of? Cuz that's cool stuff - first learned about it in a class on the Spectacle in Cinema, and that's where it all starts.
Seedy carny stuff, bringing dreams to life.

Yes, that's the deal - roughly 189something to 1914 - used to tour around the SouthWest and Wales until the government confiscated all traction engines, leaving the cinema equipment stuck in Pembroke where they set it up permanently, my great-grandfather/grandfather/father running local cinemas until a year or two before I was born.

I'm sure I must have told the "My Great GrandFather - World's First Anti-Authoritarian Filmmaker and Inspiration to the Keystone Cops" story at least once before on Barbelith, but if not try looking up 'haggar' in a silent film text book..

Now you come t meantion it, I suppose it is pretty interesting, but I've been hearing all the tales since I was a toddler, and I don't particularly want to be lumbered with the position of 'family archivist'..

Thanks for the advise everybody, I'll try and figure something out over the holidays..

23:23 / 05.03.02

Interviews with participants make history professors cream their jeans.

Something to imagine next time you're chatting with grampa....