PhD Chapter 5: Adventures in Thesisland

Piled Higher and Deeper #5

by Jorge Cham

Life in Academia never seemed livelier than in this humorous take on grant writing, academic dress codes and the many uses for lab coats. Follow the phenomenon known as PHD Comics in this fifth book collection of the popular online comic strip. What would happen if Newton tweeted? If TV 'Science' shows were more like real science? If research papers had a comment section? Also included are excerpts from the script of the recently released 'The PHD Movie' and author Jorge Cham's comics journal of his travels and his detention by the U.K. border police.

Genres: Comics, Humor, Fiction

248 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2012

About the author

Jorge Cham is a Chinese-Panamanian post-doc best known for his popular newspaper and web comic strip Piled Higher and Deeper (PhD Comics). He first started drawing PhD Comics as a graduate student at Stanford University, and has since been syndicated in several university newspapers and in three published book collections.

Jorge Cham received his Bachelor's degree from Georgia Tech in 1997, and earned a PhD in mechanical engineering from Stanford. He subsequently worked at Caltech as an instructor and as a researcher on neural prosthetics.

In 2005, Cham began an invited speaking tour of over 80 major universities delivering his talk titled "The Power of Procrastination". In this lecture, Cham talks about his experiences creating the comic strip and examines the sources of grad students' anxieties. He also explores the guilt and the myths associated with procrastination and argues that in many cases it is actually a good thing.

Reviews

[Byurakn · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're in academia, this is a must-read. I had the book lying around in my office and opening once in a while, when I got stressed. It's always good to know that you're not alone.

[Alina Cristea · Rating 5 out of 5]

My personal adventure in Thesisland ended exactly one year and two days ago. What a journey! I think these comics capture really well the roller coaster of emotions that pursuing a PhD can be.

[Erin Penn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collection Five of PhD comics: Adventures in Thesisland continues the wonderful color and presents the years 2009 to 2012. The tech and social media have caught up with modern standards completely, adding Tweets to the procrastination mess. I found this collection the most relatable of the series.

Highlights:
1. PhD made a movie! (Go them!)
2. p. 27 - Why is this still my desktop? I finished my graduate studies fifteen years ago. And when did Dr. Cham visit my house?
3. Thesisland series - Alice in Wonderland side-trip is some of the best art done in the entire series.
4. p. 82 - Can I bottle the statistics on this and send it to all media centers?
5. p. 219-222 - Another of Dr. Cham's travel log reports. This one is ... scary? disappointing? frustrating? prophecy? A report of him being detained in 2009 and nearly not able to make his lecture schedule. When he shared what happened, readers around the UK and the US shared how many non-white academics are being "returned to sender". Are tensions worsening because of the bigotry or is bigotry worsening because of the actions to avoid tension? "Still, I keep looking over my shoulder for some reason." - most of what Dr. Cham writes is real life for amusement sake, but sometimes it is just real life.

As always, the series is funny for those who spent too much time in academia. Or in the hallowed and hollow halls of science. Highly recommend.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 5th book in the PhD comic collection. Unnamed grad student hopes to graduate, Mike gets a job as a PostDoc, Tajel gets married, and Cecilia eats massive amounts of chocolate while grading. Professor Smith is the same lovable curmudgeon he’s always been.

For grad students and fans of the comic, this does not disappoint!

[Jaim · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s funny because it’s true.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really relatable and often quite hilarious. Anyone who has ever been a graduate student would probably appreciate these comics!

[Melvin Marsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these comics. I've been reading them for over 20 years.

[Eugene Mah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anybody who's ever been or currently is a graduate student will find something to identify with in PhD Comics. This is a collection of Piled Higher and Deeper strips from 2009-2012. If you've been following the strip since then, there won't be much new to see and you've just purchased the book to complete your collection (like I did). Even if you've read them already online, they're still funny to read in book form.

It's also the thickest of the PhD collections. Collected at the end of the book are also the PhD on the Road strips published between 2009-2012.

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I work at a university and know a fair few PhD students, but not much of this hit home. While some thought has obviously gone into the comics, the jokes are so straightforward, unsubtle and predictable that they aren't funny. I wanted to like it but I was disappointed. The best parts of this book were the comics at the end about travelling and spending time with other researchers.

[Vlad · Rating 4 out of 5]

This comic always has interesting things to say.

[Kylie Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love this series!

[Scott Meesey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cham has really hit his stride by this one. :)

[Wendelle]

Go Prof. Smith!!