Abstract

Graduate supervision is a pedagogy that remakes students into the disciplined subjects of scholars and researchers. While the supervision relation is structured by the fixed and asymmetrical institutional positions of supervisor and student, pedagogic interactions between the two can also have a dynamic, playful and more mutual character. At these times, supervisor and student interact over the compelling topic of the thesis. In this article, which draws on the work of Gurevitch , such moments are characterized as improvisation. A supervision dialogue between a humanities supervisor and student pair is used to illustrate and explore the productive, if risky, possibilities that attend improvisation in supervision. Despite its riskiness, however, this creative mode of supervision may itself be in danger as institutional environments increasingly value timely completions, safe projects, and directive modes of supervision