Rosan et al,
A quick follow up.
I don't think it's fair to analogise gay marriage with the necessity of
supervision in PhD. If that were so, then one could choose to be gay -
just as one can choose to do a PhD.
I also would like everyone to consider the word "supervision". What
does it mean? (Oh, no, I hear you say - there goes Fil on another one
of those 'definition' tirades....Sorry.)
Literally, it means to watch/see from above. I won't bore you with the
dictionary definitions. But it seems to me that 'supervision' may
encompass a variety of tasks, some being quite passive.
That is to say, supervision can be not much more than a passive
watchfulness over an 'apprentice' by a 'master' to ensure that the
apprentice is going about his work well, or correctly. This seems
entirely consistent to me with the notion of a PhD being independent
study, yet allowing the assessment of the apprentice's work to be
(potentially) more robust than just submitting a thesis.
Cheers.
Fil
Rosan Chow wrote:
>
>
>
> ----- Original Nachricht ----
> Von: Tim Smithers <[log in to unmask]>
>
>>All PhD programmes and all PhD supervisors have a professional
>>responsibility to provide high quality supervision. Now I know
>>full well that this does not always happen, and that people do
>>get awarded PhD degrees after having had nothing like a proper
>>supervised training in doing research, and yet others fail to
>>present a thesis for the lack of good enough supervision. That
>>this is sadly true does not change the fact that a PhD is
>>necessarily a supervised training in doing research.
>
>
> this sounds like 'marriage is necessarily between a man and a woman'
> and
>
> Thinking that an option--to escape
>
>>an unhappy, inadequate, or useless supervision situation--is
>>to go without supervision, is a basic mistake; a clear indication
>>that the student has not yet learned what research is about,
>>and thus, that he or she needs some proper supervised training
>>in doing research.
>
>
> this sounds like 'a woman can never be happy without a man' ,
> that 'a lesbian just to be in love with a man to know what love really is'.
>
> since when phd is necessaily a supervised trainning in doing research? as far as i know,
> phd is an independent, orginial inquiry contributing to (collective) knowlege.
>
> how abandoning an unhappy inadequate or useless supervision is an escape?
> i will tell you that it takes tremendous courage and often support for abused women to leave their abusors.
> most cannot. i will say that same thing about phd students who are in unpleasant situations.
>
> i wonder who is really mistaken here.
>
> rosan
>
>
> rosan
>
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--
Prof. Filippo A. Salustri, Ph.D., P.Eng.
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Ryerson University Tel: 416/979-5000 x7749
350 Victoria St. Fax: 416/979-5265
Toronto, ON email: [log in to unmask]
M5B 2K3 Canada http://deed.ryerson.ca/~fil/
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