So... I've come a long way in my lists...

And now they look entirely different. Well, mostly different. Really, just more focused. I maintained my interest in activism, materiality, and animals. But I've focused the lists in a way that I think will be very useful for the upcoming dissertation. They will be posted soon.

Things I've Learned in the List-Making Process:

1. Don't put it off.
2. New dissertations are your best friends.
3. You can never be too specific. 
1. Them : Material rhetoric? Too broad; it could be the materiality of language of the rhetoric of materiality. 
2. Me: Rhetoric of materiality, then. 
3. Them: Too broad. It could be of any kind. Do you mean object oriented ontology or memorials or the creation of publics or.... 
4. Me: Okay, fine. Rhetoric of Bodies (human and cyborg) - with a specific emphasis on texts that pay attention to how bodies produce meaning rather than how they are materially affected by language and an emphasis on disability studies within that.
5. Them: I guess that will do. We're running out of time as it is.
4. One can never begin thinking about a dissertation topic too early.
5. Despite what people say about wanting you to approach your lists with questions and not an argument. They want an argument. Couched in questions. But an argument. And if you want questions, you have to be prepared to make arguments for it.
6. My random-assed seminar papers actually coalesce around a specific set of issues that are all related. Who knew?
7. Northeastern requires us to read far, far more for comprehensive exams than most of the other Boston-area Ph.D. programs. Take Tuft's exam process as an example. The comprehensive lists (of which there are three) at Tufts consist of 20-ish texts each. After reading for each list, the Ph.D. student does one oral exam in front of their committee. At Northeastern, each list (of which there are three) consists of between 40 to 80 books, usually toward the top end of that range. After reading for each list, you take a timed written exam without access to resources. After passing all three exams, you must do an oral defense of your answers in front of the entire committee. Ridiculous.
8. The comprehensive exam process is still far more logical than the preliminary exam at Northeastern. 

Tomorrow I meet with the entire committee to discuss my timeline for the comprehensive exams. I am terrified. However, I look forward to it as a milestone that marks one leg of the journey complete.