How I Got My Dissertation Topic | Part 1
Kelsay in her feminine bowler hat & Storiarts The Raven Writing Gloves
This morning I gave a short presentation for my Dissertation Chair’s Student Panel on How I Got My Dissertation Topic. I thought I’d roll out some of the tidbits I shared for anyone here beginning their Ph.D journey or any new followers who don’t know me well.
My name is Kelsay, and I’m an A/R/Tographer & Founder of Dialogical Persona Healing Arts, LLC, a business I created this year based on the work I’ve done so far with my dissertation, Deconstructing the Bowler Hat: Life as an Object Lesson in Dialogical Persona.
I had my “mid-life crisis” early at age 33 and realized I no longer wanted to teach in academia. My passion has always been to promote trauma healing and wholeness through the arts, so I’m now working towards certification as a Soul-based Coach and in the Tamalpa Institute Life/Art Process to become a registered Expressive Arts and Somatic Movement Educator & Consultant. I expect to graduate from TID by 2022 having created my own theoretical healing arts modality called Dialogical Persona.
I found my dissertation topic the same way I find most things—listening to my heart & following my creative passions. One of the most important things for my personal, not just professional, well-being is to be secure in my own knowledge that I have something to give to our world.
When I finished my dual MFA’s in Creative Writing, I felt like I had nothing left to give. I lost my voice, my sense of who I was & any clear direction for how to move forward in my life. I pursued a string of unattainable and abusive romantic friendships, which not only left me heartbroken, but also led me back to academia.
