I am having real difficulty preparing for my next comprehensive exam, principally because the material to be memorized is so dull that every activity and chore holds more appeal than studying.
The only answer is a sort of sensory deprivation: declining all social invitations, banning forays into more interesting books, refusing to undertake photography projects, and forbidding as many things as possible aside from exercise and exam prep.
Author: Milan
In the spring of 2005, I graduated from the University of British Columbia with a degree in International Relations and a general focus in the area of environmental politics. Between 2005 and 2007 I completed an M.Phil in IR at Wadham College, Oxford. I worked for five years for the Canadian federal government, including completing the Accelerated Economist Training Program, and then completed a PhD in Political Science at the University of Toronto in 2023.
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Remember – you chose all this for yourself
This is true.
At the same time, PhD students in political science at U of T must choose from among a limited number of ‘streams’ and none of them are perfectly matched to my research interests.
Also, I chose public policy in part because of how much trouble I was having with the Canadian politics comp. Public policy is only a half-year course, compared with a full year for streams like comparative politics or political theory. It also has a more manageable reading list.