I have exhausted my search for a PhD program of my dreams online in the US. I'm a language teacher and I've come to the conclusion that the US has not fully embraced pure language degrees that are available for students who cannot relocate. I have come across a few universities that offer a Self-Designed or Multi-disciplinary PhDs. Has anyone had success with such programs? If so, how does it work with your classwork? Say I'm interested in the linguistics aspect of a language, but the college in question does not have the classwork. Am I free to take it at another university to get the competency in that area? I'm ruling out Union, as it is way above my price range. I saw Walden's Self-Designed PhD, but I'm not sure if I can do with it foreign language education as they do not yet have the classwork. I am hesitant to contact them as I don't want them to contine to call and harass me once they get my info in their system (I've had this happen before!) Any feedback would be helpful. If I don't find a US program, I have a couple of international ones lined up. Thanks in advance.
As a language teacher maybe you could find an Ed.D. degree to suit your needs. Here is one that might be flexible http://www.prescott.edu/academics/phd/index.html
Yeah . . I saw that one. They want about $24,000 a year for a 3-4 year program. That's right up there with Union!
Then you might want to expand your search to universities across the pond. UNISA, UofL, Leicester, and some Australian Universities (USQ, Charles Stuart) are place you might want to check out. In the UK and elsewhere, you typically do not have to worry about coursework since the PhD program will mainly be research based.
Farina you may also want to consider NMSU's EdD program. It has a lot of distance ed component, and its also very affordable. It was discussed in one of the sticky threads.
This isn't accurate. Ph.D. students in "big book" (dissertation only) programs still face considerable learning requirements, expressed as "competencies," often met by coursework. Typically, such programs publish competency requirements that students must meet, which are often met by taking courses on campus. It would be naive to belive one would be able to do a "dissertation only" Ph.D. without ever visiting the home campus. One might be able to negotiate such a situation, but one cannot enter into the negotiations assuming that will be the case.
Good point. I didn't mean to imply they are "dissertation only", rather than the schools I mentioned would *probably* be very flexible regarding the competencies. (Like taking courses at a school in the US, but doing the dissertation through them school.) Also Farina would be going into it with 3 master degrees so that might help also. It boils down to you have to contact the departments directly and talk to them.
In Australia, if the PHD has cross disciplinary aspects, then the student's supervisor organizes co-supervisors for the aspects beyond the expertise of the principal supervisor. The student may even suggest possible co-supervisors. The supervisors will give you reading objectives and may require formal courses. The latter is less likely as most instruction at that level is individualized according to the topic and more Socratic in nature. Often more demanding than formal course work. I have found that you can be asked more questions and your understanding more thoroughly probed. This can be done in the distance setting by internet or via telephone etc. The PHD progress will have certain criteria to be met on the way through. There will be an expectation of a presentation in a conference or peer setting, and a proposal submission for formal admission to candidacy. These are either met or not met, there is no mark attributed to it. I am doing my PHD at a B&M institution and a large part of my discussions with my supervisors is by e-mail or telephone! Good luck
Is your PHD part of a formal program that your B&M institution offers or is it something "arranged" by your and your supervisor? The reason I am asking is because I've considered going this personalized route, but I'm not quite sure how to go about it. Thank you in advance for your input!
I am in a Doctorate programme, although not a PhD, which I would undoubtedly define as self-designed. It is in the UK and not in the USA, the DProf at Middlesex University which is B&M. There are candidates who works in the education and HE fields; the DPRof, in fact, is designed for professionals at work with the aim to produce a project at a doctoral level that will impact the profession. The programme presents some course work and a formal research approval in part 1 before you are admitted in the part 2 which is the research phase. It can be done via DL and there are candidates from all over the worlds, including USA. You may want to have a look http://www.mdx.ac.uk/research/research-degree-applications/research-degrees.asp at this link.
I developed a proposal for study. The proposal was about ten pages. I submitted that to the university with the bureaucratic forms that accompany all enrolments. Before submission, I contacted an Associate Professor at the university and asked him if he would be my supervisor. After outlining what I intended to do, he agreed. The admissions committee considered the porposal and his recommendation. I was then admitted. All PHD's are individualized in this country. I have to do a comprehensive proposal an obtain ethical approval as well as academic approval before proceeding further. The supervisor's job is to guide me through this and ensure that I have the depth of knowledge and methodology to go further. This assistance goes on with the preparation of the thesis. I am doing a traditional thesis. You can do a PHD by publication with some universities. This usually means that you have to prepare at least three publishable papers on the topic area and synthesise the papers with a covering thesis. All the universities that offer distance learning and PHDs in this country are B & M's. Distance learning is largely integrated with other modes of learning and it is not considered exceptional or unusual. On the flip side, no concessions are made because it is distance learning either. Nobody ever comments about how you earned your degree. If you want to go the Australian route. I would suggest that you review Australian Universities on the net. Remember all are government regulated and accredited. There are no private accreditors and there is not the wide variance in performance that is alleged to exist in the US. The use of the word university without government authority leaves one open to prosecution. I am not sure about your field, it will be covered in the major universities. Send an e-mail to a Professor setting out your intentions and see what develops. Most universities have contacts for potential post grads so use that as well. Compare the prices and the currency exchange. All the best whichever way you go.
Is the Union Institute & University www.myunion.edu still self-designed after the changes they underwent a few years back?
I know this is an old thread, but I have to ask, is this still something that can be done? I've actually started to seriously think about a PhD since I'd maybe like to teach at the university level someday, but I see nothing that will encompass specifically what I love. I'd want to do it on comparative religions and intercultural communication (or relations, as it's sometimes called). Is there a way to design a PhD to be specific to ones needs, or would I likely have to get 2 masters degrees that incorporate these fields and then find a PhD in a somewhat related field?
Lots of things were suggested. They remain valid. Another consideration: have a conversation with a school you're interested in. See if you can arrange something more fitting your needs. You'd be surprised what you can negotiate. It's like a secret menu at a fast food restaurant. You don't know until you ask.
Well, it's not an option for me to study non US degrees, I'm not wanting an education doctorate, and I can't find anything about self designed PhD programs in the US. DL or otherwise. But I think I will research schools and speak to the faculty, as you suggested, and see if there's something that can be done. Surely someone SOMEWHERE has been able to design (or even partially design) a PhD that suits their specific needs.
Perhaps what you seek does not exist because it should not. The Ph.D. is awarded for scholarship in a particular academic discipline. Within that discipline, the student might narrow the focus to a particular area. This is done either through coursework (where the curriculum is designed to specialize) or through one's research (where the dissertation naturally creates specialization). Union's old model would have accommodated your effort, provided you could demonstrate how what you wanted to do fit into the larger scholarly picture (as I just described above). Interdisciplinarity is not merely the tying together of two or more areas into a degree program. It is taking more than one discipline's approach to solving an issue. That said, some disciplines do not belong together. That said, you can still take an interdisciplinary approach to a dissertation in a traditional program, if that meets your research needs. But again, it's not merely the mixing of two or three disciplines. For example, I recently undertook a huge research project in Human Resource Development (HRD). In it, I studies a group of practitioners. However, when analyzing the data, I used a paradigm (structure/agency) found in Sociology. I also used a foundational HRD theory, adult development theory, and overlaid polarity theory on top of structure/agency theory. (Essentially, I suggested that Anthony Giddens' structuration theory was a polarity.) Voilà: interdisciplinarity. But notice something. I didn't seek to combine disciplines. I used ideas from other disciplines to analyze a phenomenon. What you're proposing is to study two different things. So go study them. That would be two master's degrees. But if you want to do a Ph.D., you'll need to decide what academic discipline it will be in, find such a program, and then (possibly) weave in the other field. But a self-designed Ph.D.? Those are gone. But to my other point in this thread: ask. Locate a school that offers something near to what you want. Have a conversation. Discuss it. If it makes sense, you'd be surprised what a school might do to support you. But believe this: you'd better be really grounded in what you're talking about. You'll need to be out in front, ahead of them. You can't think like a student; you need to be someone conceiving something new, something they'll want you to do. Or just do those two master's. Good luck.
