Dear Dr. Noelle: Flummoxed by Formatting

By Dr. Noelle Sterne

Q: How can I be sure I’m formatting my dissertation the right way?

— Befuddled by Formatting

A: First, if you’re looking for guidance on the contents of your dissertation, that is, the requisite chapter titles and what they must contain, this is not the right place. The answers here pertain to what your school requires for your completed manuscript. However, some of the resources below do contain content information.

So, to Befuddled’s question: Formatting your dissertation can be almost as important as the content (not that I think it should be). You’re graded on the proper format as well as what you’ve written. How can you be sure you’re doing it correctly?

Subversive For Good Reason: How Academics are Traversing Changes in the DEI Landscape

By Sierra Pawlak

Disclaimer: Participants of the Conversation Circle whose stories and advice are shared in this article will remain anonymous. This is to ensure that TAA members still receive key takeaways from the meeting, without repercussions to attendees.

During the February 26, 2025 TAA Conversation Circle, “Incorporating Inclusive Content Into Your Writing,” TAA members shared their concerns with the ever-changing political landscape of DEI. While some participants said their university had a “keep calm and carry on” approach, others experienced changes in diversity-related job titles, eradication of DEI language altogether, and even the possible loss of grant funding.

2025 TAA Conference Bookstore Featured Book: ‘A View From the Balcony: Opera Through Womanist Eyes’

Performative voices of scholars of color present the balcony, opera performances, and opera glasses as signifiers of the origins and entrenchment of racism in the United States. A View From the Balcony: Opera Through Womanist Eyes by Jean Derricotte-Murphy, metaphorically seats readers in theater and societal balconies while glimpsing into and correcting the harmful historical, philosophical, and religious underpinnings of American systemic racism.

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2025 TAA Conference Bookstore Featured Book: ‘Brainstorm! Practice for Unrestricted Imagination and Original Thought’

Brainstorm! Practice for Unrestricted Imagination and Original Thought, by Dr. Olga Zbarskaya, shows, with scientific proof, that the powerful engine of creativity has unlimited fuel and can power every sphere of life, from food preparation to personal relationships and from academia to government administration. It is a manual for leveraging creative thought to overcome barriers, solve difficult problems, and streamline and optimize day-to-day living. Educators, institutional leaders, and CEOs will discover how creativity-boosting courses and trainings can promote unprecedented performance and productivity among students and employees.

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2025 TAA Conference Bookstore Featured Book: ‘Secondary Data in Mixed Methods Research’

With the increasing amount of secondary data available, researchers have a trove of sources for new investigations at their fingertips but few books to guide them. Secondary Data in Mixed Methods Research by Daphne C. Watkins provides a step-by-step guide for incorporating secondary data into mixed methods designs and identifies characteristics of existing datasets that make them good candidates for mixed methods projects. Winner of a TAA 2024 Most Promising New Textbook Award. Published by SAGE.

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2025 TAA Conference Bookstore Featured Book: ‘Invertebrate Medicine’

Invertebrate Medicine by Gregory A. Lewbart is the definitive resource on husbandry and veterinary medicine in invertebrate species. Presenting authoritative information applicable to both in-human care and wild invertebrates, this comprehensive volume addresses the medical care and clinical condition of most important invertebrate species—providing biological data for sponges, jellyfish, anemones, snails, sea hares, corals, cuttlefish, squid, octopuses, clams, oysters, crabs, crayfish, lobsters, shrimp, hermit crabs, spiders, scorpions, horseshoe crabs, honey bees, butterflies, beetles, sea stars, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, various worms, and many other invertebrate groups. Winner of a TAA 2024 McGuffey Longevity Award. Published by John Wiley & Sons Inc.

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