We, Monsters: An Autoethnographic Review of Literature of Experiencing Doctoral Education Programs

• In Event: It's a Hard Doc Life

Abstract

Through an autoethnographic review of literature, this paper disrupts existing narratives on the subject of doctoral education. The authors articulate goals of enlivening the literature review genre and expressing personal accounts of experiences. Aligning with a poststructural framework, we use our own autoethnographic accounts as doctoral students in education as lenses through which to review literature on experiences in doctoral education programs. These encounters demonstrate a need to struggle with the tools of academia and the spaces that many doctoral students occupy between performing in doctoral school and engaging in doctoral studies. We conclude with a call for encountering and entangling academic literature reviews and subjective experience.

Authors

• Jordan Corson, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Tara Schwitzman, Teachers College, Columbia University