See also: Workshops and Videos.

Back when you were an undergraduate, I suggested you think of “knowing” as an ability to discuss things with your peers. That’s still my advice. The main thing that changed when you became a master’s student was the level at which the conversation is going on. The line between your “equals” and your “betters” can no longer be as neatly drawn between students and faculty. On some subjects, you may be better qualified to carry on the conversation than your teachers. The trick is always to construct your peer — the person you are talking to, the reader you are writing for — in terms of a body of knowledge that you have more or less “mastered”.

Since your competence remains tied to the reading and writing you are able to do, academic literacy is still very much a concern. You should be honing your ability to compose clear and coherent prose essays, mindful of the fact that your last semester will be devoted largely to researching and writing a thesis. Within in your first year in the program, you should begin to feel at home in the scholarly discourse. (Your coursework is intended to foster this familiarity.) You should be able to write confidently and read with comprehension. You should be able to recognize a citation and find the source of a quote or the basis of a claim. In a sense, your dissertation (and oral defense) will be testing your ability to participate in a conversation with people who are knowledgeable about a particular subject. It will