I am very excited to announce that Wipf & Stock has recently published my little PhD guidebook called:
Prepare, Succeed, Advance: A Guidebook for Getting a PhD in Biblical Studies and Beyond
This book is a detailed expansion of some of the work that I did on my blog regarding getting into a PhD program, surviving it, and beginning a career in academia. It comes at a very reasonable price of $19.00, with W&S selling it at $15.20. I wrote this book because I really wish I had something like this seven years ago when I was contemplating doing PhD studies. It maps out, as best as I can offer, the appropriate preparation for a PhD as well as tips on choosing a school. There are a number of other features of the book like how to publish an article and book review, how to present a paper, how to do good research in Biblical studies, how to interview at a conference, and how to publish your dissertation as a monograph. Please do check it out and recommend it to others!
If you are wondering whether it is a repeat of what I wrote in my blog post Interested in a NT PhD, it is most definitely NOT. I did not copy and paste it into a file and publish it. I started from scratch, now that I have some distance from my PhD work. I reconsidered some things, added loads of new information, and I called up a number of current and recent PhD students to offer more perspectives on what I was talking about.
I will say that it is in the same spirit as my Interested in a NT PhD post, though I have much more to say in the book. It may help you to know that that original post has been “clicked” over 15,000 times since I first wrote it.
Finally, I will say that the blog post is exclusively about preparing for a PhD (not about doing one), whereas the book seeks to be comprehensive, beginning years before entering a program, following you through one, and following up afterward. I would say you could refer to it for some time after you begin a job as it offers some early career advice.
I have decided to leave to blog post Interested in a NT PhD up even though it may detract from the book’s purpose because I want that information available to the public. However, I want to emphasize that about 75% of the info in the book cannot be found in that post and some of the overlapping content has been re-directed, clarified or even changed.
Congrats!
Congrats on publishing this, Nijay! Your post was very helpful for me as I prepared for the application process this past year. I will make sure to suggest the book to all those that I speak with in the future about preparing for applications.
This is wonderful news! I have used your blog post to structure my undergraduate and graduate work. Do you still recommend Helyer for a textbook on the literature of 2nd Temple Judaism? I fully intend to purchase your book but was just curious as I am currently structuring an independent study class with my professor and wondering which book to use. I have also looked at Nickelsburg’s slightly shorter, and more recent book. Any thoughts?
Congrats and thanks again!
[...] – Nijay Gupta announces that Wipf and Stock will be publishing his Ph.D. guidebook Prepare, Succeed, Advance. [...]
Glad to see it officially available. Were you able to use anything I sent you in response to your initial question to me about OT Ph.D. programs? And if so, where’s my gratis copy (wink)
[...] that Nijay Gupta has recently mentioned the great news that his book on getting a PhD in biblical studie…, I might as well throw in my two cents worth, which is admittedly not as much as his $19.00 [...]
[...] Sola. Portions of his book (PhD advice) can be found on his blog here. He writes about his book here. More (PhD Survival Guide) here. Even with all that is available on his blog, this guide is [...]