How to Excel in Your Doctoral Viva by Stacey Bedwell & Isabelle Butcher

Author:Stacey Bedwell & Isabelle Butcher
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9783031101724
Publisher: Springer International Publishing

Theology

Ian Paul completed his PhD in Theology in 1999. Ian now writes a very popular and well-read blog and various books. Ian shares his experience of the viva:

“My PhD was a mix of biblical studies and philosophy of language, looking at the interpretation of metaphorical language in the Book of Revelation, drawing on the work of Paul Ricoeur. I completed my PhD in six years studying part-time.

To prepare for my viva I re-read the thesis and familiarised myself with the literature. I did not have a mock viva. In my viva the following people were present: external and internal examiners; and my supervisor, who simply observed. It lasted one and a half hours. I did not take any breaks during the viva.

No, I was not surprised by any of the questions. The toughest question was probing the single most demanded resource I had explored, setting out Russian formalist and structuralist approaches to language which influenced Ricoeur’s own thinking. I can still remember the main argument of this article to the present day; my supervisor, at tea afterwards, gasped at it and said ‘I don’t think I could have answered that’! I afterwards also learnt that the internal was very helpful, having deflected an unreasonable question the external wanted to ask.

With regards to enjoying the viva—yes, and no. It was a real, testing, examination, but the outcome was positive, and because I performed well it felt like an achievement. I passed with minor corrections all of which were typos—nothing of substance. I was given three months to complete these.

The viva was an intense experience. But I had worked in industry and business previously, and taking a viva is nothing compared with being responsible for the lives of people on a production line!

One of my positive memories of my viva was that my supervisor was wonderfully supportive, and we had tea in the Queen’s Lane Coffee House afterwards, which he paid for! He afterwards told me he had been in no doubt that I would pass.”

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