Dissertation Memes for Every Season

Writing a dissertation is an emotional journey as well as a scholarly one. Thousands of people have navigated the treacherous path of the doctoral student and chronicled their journey.

But these aren’t the old days of lengthy journal entries (plus, who wants to write more after they’ve forced themselves to write all day?). This is 2020, and today, we make memes.

The Beauty of Dissertation Memes

Short, pithy, and to the point, memes function both as commentary and a diary. They are also the perfect anti-dissertation: they are easily understood, funny, and their often dark humor mirrors and elevates the emotional state of the doctoral student.

Memes are increasingly being recognized as a legitimate form of political commentary, and have even been studied by academics. Recently, they have even been recognized as a coping mechanism for younger generations to deal with the existential dread of climate change, COVID-19, and other global catastrophes.

Doctoral students are intimately familiar with the feeling of existential dread.

With that in mind, here are some dissertation memes to accompany you throughout every stage of your dissertation journey.

When you need to get oriented

When you finally start writing your dissertation

When you need some motivation

When you really should be writing your dissertation

When things go horribly wrong

When you have to re-do what you’ve already done

When you really should be writing

When you’ve been writing your dissertation for too long

When you’re preparing for your dissertation defense

When you finally finish your dissertation