The UBC Department of History recently had the opportunity to connect with nine previous graduates from our Honours program. We were curious to hear their insights about the honours thesis writing process and invited them to share any advice or recommendations for future cohorts. Scroll down to read through their insights!
Leo Zhaoxu Liao
Calvin Lin
Emma Prantner
Laura Silveira
Aydin Quach
Azmeh Malik
Kayla Wilford
Patrick Wen Rui Leong
Emily Mann
What advice would you offer to someone who is excited but nervous about the prospect of writing their honours thesis?
- Laura Silveira: Choose a topic you genuinely care about and the curiosity will carry you through the harder moments!
- Leo Zhaoxu Liao: Remain open to the scope of your research. You should formulate a general plan regarding your research direction before you examine the available archives. You may later find that you must adjust your research questions, temporal or geographical scope. The bottom line is to ascertain your research topics and approximate period or locations, as well as the current academic gap in historiography. You don’t need to be too specific about the issue before checking the archives.
- Kayla Wilford: Maybe the biggest piece of advice I would give to students facing the daunting prospect of archival research is to use all the resources that you can! UBC has so many phenomenally knowledgable and kind librarians, and if you have any specific archives you want to visit they will also have wonderful resources you can reach out to. Advisors and professors are (of course) also important fountains of knowledge, but it pays to remember that they’re not your only points of contact.
- Azmeh Malik: My advice would be to take on your thesis with the expectation of difficulty and tough times but to know that you will be strayed onto the right path by your trusted advisors and peers.
- Leo Zhaoxu Liao: It is also common to readjust your research questions or focus if you find that the archival sources can be used to support a new argument that doesn’t align with your initial thoughts.
- Emily Mann: Communicate well with your supervisor and be very open to changing your idea for where you want your project to go!
Do you have any thoughts to share with students who perfection?
- Aydin Quach: Everything will work itself out. Do not strive for perfect work — strive for work that matters to you. I will also say that you need to allow yourself the time, space, and energy to enjoy the practice and art of writing. It is so lost on people now, given the rise in AI and ChatGPT! “Perfect” is sometimes boring. I love to see the raw and the imperfect because it shows that you are human! Be experimental, be playful, and push yourself to try something new!
- Patrick Wen Rui Leong: Don’t stress about writing a “perfect” thesis prospectus! Pick a topic that interests you and let your research take you to weird and unexpected places. The whole point of the thesis process is to challenge pre-existing assumptions and deepen your knowledge – just accept it and enjoy the ride.
Do you have any insights to share about time management and staying grounded during the writing process?
- Calvin Lin: Start writing and communicating your ideas early; even if the check-in result is not what you envisioned, you will have time to tweak and edit for a better version. But if there are too many things on your mind (which there will be), I find taking a break in a quiet spot (Pacific Spirit Park, Spanish Banks, Nitobe Garden, Museum of Anthropology, or even a parking lot that’s not close to the main roads) a helpful distraction to clear the voices in your head and regroup again.
What additional recommendations or secondary pieces of advice do you have to share?
- Emma Prantner: My second piece of advice is to start writing early – even if it’s just in the form of doodling. Getting words on a blank paper is the hardest part but once you get into the flow of writing it gets easier. It is also much easier to flush out your thinking and your arguments when you have something concrete to work with.
- Leo Zhaoxu Liao: My second suggestion is associated with the methodology, which is the toughest part throughout my research in the third and fourth years. You may systemically learn various methodologies used in historiography in the third year, but I will strongly recommend that you explore the most suitable methodology on your own. One effective method, according to my experience, is to observe the methodologies used by other scholars researching similar topics. This method could help you understand what methodologies are usually used in your research field, allowing you to learn from the previous scholars’ methodologies.
- Kayla Wilford: My second piece of advice is to be cognizant of your limits. As much as I wanted to do a history of female performing artists in 17th century Japan, if I had gone forward with that initial idea with the level of linguistic ability I had, the end result simply wouldn’t have been a decent piece of historical writing. Keep in mind what you can do, what you can’t, how much time you have, and what archives you have access to. And remember that you have a lot of time to continue in any vein of research during graduate studies if that’s something you’re interested in pursuing!
Do you have any thoughts on the importance of connecting with others and getting support throughout the writing process?
- Emma Prantner: Talk about your project! Both with your peers, your other friends and with professors. It’s how you learn to express what your topic is really about, and often the questions that you get asked help you think about new angles of your research. You’ll also be surprised by just how much you know about your topic!
- Laura Silveira: I’d also recommend surrounding yourself with a supportive group of friends, with whom you do regular library working sessions. Research and writing a thesis can be an isolating process, so being surrounded by good friends makes a huge difference. If you’re as lucky as me, you will have friends who regularly show up at the library with chocolate to share!
Are there any additional thoughts or words of encouragement that you would like to share with future honours cohorts?
- Azmeh Malik: Writing my honours thesis was one of the most fulfilling experiences of my life. There is something extremely rewarding about taking the time to learn and develop ideas that may not exist as of yet. There is also something very brave about putting yourself out there to think outside the box.
