I am to write a dissertation in Greek. The university library I have access to is not paltry, but it’s not awesomely well-stocked either, so I have to look for topics that would allow me to function with less, rather than with more, bibliography.
Also for this reason, something more technical, or linguistic, is better than something more expansive or literary-philosophical. I’m avoiding things that would force me to work with papyri or scattered fragments, and have been aiming for a single author or a restricted corpus. So far, it seems like the most likely formulation should be something like “The use of X in Y”.
I have been thinking this over with a professor from here, who’ll become my advisor, but I’m also looking in other directions. For that reason I thought I’d ask here.
With this in mind, are there any topics that you think may be interesting and/or under-researched?
I mean in Greek, in the sense that it’s going to be inside the academic field of classical Greek Philology. Are they calling it Greek Studies yet?
The rest is pretty much what the problem is. My previous topic involved Byzantine literature (John of Damascus), but really I was hitting a lack of books and references wherever I looked, so I decided I’d have to go back a few steps, and stay closer to Classical/Archaic Greece, where I wouldn’t be wanting for resources, not as much at any rate.
Can’t you or your library use Interlibrary Loan services to get hold of materials?
Two crucial questions:
Are you sufficiently motivated and unencumbered to finish? (Most people accepted into PhD programs never finish.)
Are you looking to find a job in the field when you finish? (If so, examine—and anticipate!—the job market.)
“Epinician futurity” sounds viable to me, even promising. You should know Bill Slater’s work on epinician convention.
Concerning Interlibrary Loan, I can, with some limitations. But Yes to both questions, including to being aware of the job market. I thank you for bringing that up and being candid about it.
I’ve looked into Slater’s work, but what exactly are his go-to texts on epinician convention? I’ve found, apart from his Pindar Lexicon, an article on “The Future in Pindar” and another on “Pindar’s House”. Are these the ones you’re thining about?
I think the two most important things you can consider when doing a Ph.D. topic are the following …
What are you passionate enough about to not lose your motivation when you are in the most tedious days of it?
What need is out there (for the academic field, for the job market, for the church [if you have a Christian background], etc.)?
Some sacrifice 1 for 2 in hopes of getting a job. Some sacrifice 2 for 1 because they can’t bear to do something other than what they are passionate about. The ideal is when 1 and 2 can coincide. I was fortunate in that, even though I prioritized 1 heavily over 2, I am so far okay with respect to #2. But it was a risk.
Thank you all for your advice, which I will follow.
Looks like this is going ahead. I’m brushing up my meter, which I hadn’t touched on in a while, and simultaneously reading Pindar (just about to finish the Isthmian Odes),