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Got told to self-censor my thesis defense, advisor was right but it burns
So last semester I was defending my thesis on labor history and my advisor pulled me aside. He said drop the section about the 1934 textile strike because two of the committee members had family ties to the mill owners. I thought he was being paranoid. I kept it in. Got hammered for 45 minutes on 'bias' and 'lack of academic balance' and barely passed with a B-minus. My roommate said I should've fought harder. But honestly, my advisor knew the room. He was protecting me from a worse outcome. My question is, when does playing the game become cowardice? Has anyone else had to cut their arguments just to get the degree? How do you live with that choice?
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ericp6718d ago
Back in 2009 I almost failed my comps because I spent the whole prep time reading a book about the history of the postal service in rural Ireland, not because it was required but because my advisor said the library had a really good quiet corner on the third floor. Anyways, I walked in there and got lost in this story about how mail coaches kept getting robbed by the same guy for like eleven years and the postmasters just accepted it as a tax. By the time I got to my actual committee I had nothing to say about my own field, and I kept bringing up the robber guy as a metaphor for something. My point is, sometimes you have to lose the battle just to keep the bigger fight, and a B-minus still gets you the letters after your name, so you can live with it.
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