McGill does have residency requirements and, even if it didn't, I'm not
sure a complete PhD program-at-a-distance would be a great idea, for
either the candidate or the institution. (More on that in a moment.)
However, there are ways of fulfilling residency requirements that don't
involve a full-scale re-location to Montreal. We have spring and summer
sessions, all our Education graduate courses are offered in the evening
(5:30-8:30; Ottawa-based students have managed to take one and even two
of those courses in a semester), and no one keeps residency attendance.
A distance-PhD would rob the student of chances to immerse herself in a
community of fellow students. As we all know, the hours spent discussing
ideas in the bar/café with peers are easily as important as the hours in
seminars and lectures. In addition, not being around means you can't
teach or be a TA or RA, it means you miss the public seminars and other
regular events that universities host, it means you don't have easy
access to the libraries and other resources that universities have, and
so on. For the institution, distance-PhDs rob the community of a gifted
newcomer who would certainly influence the community's activities and
conversations. I think the literatures on situated learning and
communities of practice offer eloquent arguments in favour of residency
requirements, but I realize long-term residency is a problem for some
people, and I believe our program is flexible enough to accommodate some
of those people. Anyway, I'd be happy to discuss this with anyone who's
interested.
Anthony
PS: Can it really be Inkshed 20?!
Anthony Paré
Chair
Integrated Studies in Education
Faculty of Education
McGill University
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