Why I’m Making People Rewrite their Dissertations

A defense of academic modesty

My dissertation defense at Utrecht University in 2012. Photo by Robert van Willigenburg

I’ve been on a bunch of dissertation committees lately, where I’m finding myself to be the tough guy—the last holdout refusing to approve the document. It’s a weird feeling because I don’t really consider myself an academic, much less a rigorous one. I do know some stuff, I wrote a dissertation, I have a PhD, and I’m even a “full”…