In October, four of our CSPS PhD candidates successfully defended their dissertation. We are so very proud of them. congratulations to all! Two questions to dr. Tara Ruttenberg and dr. Rodrigo Alves Rolo about their experience as a PhD researcher at WUR.
dr. Tara Ruttenberg (SDC) | Decolonizing Surf Tourism: Alternatives to Development, Surfer Subjectivity and Surfscape Commons Governance | Download her dissertation here
What did you enjoy most about your PhD trajectory at WUR?
As an external PhD candidate, I loved the opportunities I had to choose coursework from diverse institutions related to my field topic, methods and theoretical framework. The supportive relationships I developed with my supervisory committee helped me tremendously in the thesis-writing process, and I found the article-writing trajectory both challenging and ultimately greatly rewarding.
There should, however, be more support for external candidates in the final stages of the PhD checklist, formatting/printing the thesis and preparing for our defense ceremony, since this was all very challenging to do from afar, especially when we are needing to prepare for the defense itself. I hope you can communicate that to those responsible.
And what will you take with you into the future?
I look forward to building on the relationships created and nurtured through the PhD candidacy to continue developing my research, collaborating with others, and contributing to my fields of study and activism. I now feel confident in my ability to produce quality work in the academic world and feel a renewed commitment to my research and work.
dr. Rodrigo Alves Rolo (GEO) | Spaces for Planning Evolution. Path, inter and goal dependencies in the revival of spatial planning in Argentina | Download his dissertation here
What did you enjoy most about your PhD trajectory at WUR?
It took me 7 years to get my PhD. Many things changed in that time, both on a personal level and concerning the context in which I developed my research. What I enjoyed the most throughout my trajectory as a PhD candidate was the opportunity to share a learning situation with other PhD fellows in the climate of camaraderie and mutual support that has always characterized GEO.
What will you take with you into the future?
The teachers’ willingness to help us and the certainty that it is possible to finalize a PhD and still have (some) fun along the way are things I now cherish. These things I will take with me into the future, especially when (if) I am the one accompanying a new candidate.
Also have a look at the dissertation of Roald and Revati:
dr. Roald Pijpker (HSO) | Employee Burnout: prevention, recovery, and outdoor therapy. A salutogenic perspective | Download his dissertation here
dr. Revati Pandya (SDC) | Intersecting Identities and Altered Relations: Locating the Material and Symbolic Factors Shaping Local Engagement with Ecotourism at India’s Corbett Tiger Reserve | Download her dissertation here
Centre for Space, Place and Society 