Integrating participatory action research into graduate geography studies: a tale of two dissertations

Although literature on participatory and action research approaches is increasing, little is published specifically about using such approaches as part of the doctoral dissertation in Geography. The dissertation process and its requirements are different enough from other research endeavors that it is worthwhile focusing specifically on the challenges of conducting a Participatory Action Research (PAR) dissertation and, most importantly, how to navigate these challenges. This article helps to fill this gap by exploring the impacts of PAR constraints on our dissertations, the factors that contributed to the success of our projects, and the benefits (both academic and non-academic) based on our experiences from the student perspective. We build on what others have written about PAR adding specific examples of how we negotiated some of the traditionally perceived challenges to provide a resource for other Geography students applying PAR in their doctoral dissertations.