De-fense, Boyd, De-fense!

On February 6th, Boyd officially ended his career as a graduate student and graduated to being Dr. Boyd! He still has a graduation ceremony at the end of April (all CA friends and family are invited to come out!) but this was the big milestone - the Dissertation Defense.

Before this month, I didn't really understand the defense process and I figure you might be in the same boat. So, let me tell you about that glorious day!

The defense actually starts way before the defense day. Back in July, on the day before we left for Africa, Boyd turned in his full, written dissertation draft to his two advisors. The dissertation is over 350 pages and represents 4+ years of research and writing (the first 2 years of grad school were mostly spent taking classes).

When we got back from Africa, Boyd got the revisions from his advisors and he edited, cut, added, and rewrote stuff up until just before Christmas. Then, he got the whole final draft printed up and again gave copies to his advisors and to the defense committee chairman. They approved(!) and signed off on the "written" portion of the dissertation. After that official approval, he gave copies to his 2 other dissertation defense committee members to read before the oral defense in February.

The morning of February 6th, Boyd woke up excited! He knew that his advisors had already approved of his dissertation and today was mostly a day to get feedback, rather than an actual, vigorous defense.
His defense was set for 10am 11am and I got to go in with him, and several of his other history colleagues, for the public portion.

Boyd started with a brief description of his "intellectual journey," telling how he came to the topic of the Modoc War and how his classes at the U helped him develop his theoretical framework. What started off as an exploration of Native American laborers in National Parks, over time turned into a fascinating (just ask my mom!) discussion of the history of the history of this Indian-US war; a look at the way people remember their own history and use that to tell the story of their past and future.

Celebrating at Town Hall

His colleagues offered a few questions and then the committee kicked us all out of the room. The next 1.5 hours Boyd and his committee discussed the content and impact of his dissertation. They gave him feedback about how he could edit it to turn it into a book (a book is often the requirement for professors to get tenure), and they also complimented him on a job well-done! So you see, the defense is not just scary people berating the student with questions but it can be a constructive reflection on an academic career and the path forward.

Boyd and Seth

After the defense Boyd was glowing! Unfortunately, rather than celebrating right away, Boyd had to rush over to Macalester College to teach his class. THEN we got to raise our glasses and toast Dr. Boyd at good ol' Town Hall. We ate a pretzel in honor of Rob who couldn't be there, and got to celebrate with Seth, who has been our good friend since Boyd met him at their recruitment weekend back in 2006.

We are so grateful for all the wonderful people who have walked with us through this amazing process! I hope that helps give a fuller picture of a history dissertation defense. Also, if you want to know more about the Modoc War, you can still see the Oregon Public Broadcast documentary about it (with Boyd commenting!) here: http://watch.opb.org/video/2165728995/

Friends at Town Hall
The fact that the ketchup bottles are in focus rather than the people is just evidence of a good celebration. ;)

Aubrey and "black cat" Lucky!

Fiona with her marti gras beads! Woooo.

Tanya and Aubrey

P.S. We have some exciting job opportunities coming up for next year! I'll let you know as soon as it is official!!