Why on earth would anyone choose to do a PhD in democracy studies? How and why should we even study democracy? And what are the challenges and rewards of the PhD journey? We have asked these questions to democracy researchers, young PhD candidates, people who have given up on their PhD, fresh post-docs and established professors, as well as coaches, trainers, supervisors, and others. Their confessions, collected in 31 chapters, make up this book.

About the Book Confessions of a PhD shares the stories of twelve authors and their struggles and successes of pursuing their doctorate degrees. Each doctoral graduate has their own struggle and personal situations to overcome. We see a domestic abuse survivor, whose husband threw out all her textbooks. She fought to reach her goal in obtaining a doctorate. A former drug dealer who turned his life around. A graduate who didn’t care to study in high school die to their football dreams, and the injury that made them pursue another path. And another who was a former stripper. Each story has its own message, its own advice to provide to anyone pursuing a doctorate degree, especially for those who seek further advancement in the field of education. Their stories will bring laughter and heartbreak, share successes and failures, all with the affirmation that through hard work, perseverance, and dedication, anyone can achieve their PhD. About the Author Managing editor and contributor for Confessions of a PhD, is a serial entrepreneur, award-winning researcher and statistician, award-winning professor, legal expert witness, business expert, and best-selling author. Dr. Miles is a nationally known startup and marketing expert, and a forensic marketing expert. He has been featured on ABC News, CBS News, Fox News, NBC News, CNN, Huffington Post, Reader’s Digest, Bloomberg Radio, and numerous others. Dr. Miles is also CEO and founder of Miles Development Industries Corporation, a consulting practice and venture capital acquisition firm. He is also the host executive producer of the Game on Business Talk Radio Show. Dr. Miles’ own journey earned him a PhD in Entrepreneurship from the University of the Incarnate Word, an MBA in International Business/Marketing from Our Lady of the University, and a BBA in Marketing from University of Texas at San Antonio.

About the Book Confessions of a PhD shares the stories of twelve authors and their struggles and successes of pursuing their doctorate degrees. Each doctoral graduate has their own struggle and personal situations to overcome. We see a domestic abuse survivor, whose husband threw out all her textbooks. She fought to reach her goal in obtaining a doctorate. A former drug dealer who turned his life around. A graduate who didn't care to study in high school die to their football dreams, and the injury that made them pursue another path. And another who was a former stripper. Each story has its own message, its own advice to provide to anyone pursuing a doctorate degree, especially for those who seek further advancement in the field of education. Their stories will bring laughter and heartbreak, share successes and failures, all with the affirmation that through hard work, perseverance, and dedication, anyone can achieve their PhD. About the Author Managing editor and contributor for Confessions of a PhD, is a serial entrepreneur, award-winning researcher and statistician, award-winning professor, legal expert witness, business expert, and best-selling author. Dr. Miles is a nationally known startup and marketing expert, and a forensic marketing expert. He has been featured on ABC News, CBS News, Fox News, NBC News, CNN, Huffington Post, Reader's Digest, Bloomberg Radio, and numerous others. Dr. Miles is also CEO and founder of Miles Development Industries Corporation, a consulting practice and venture capital acquisition firm. He is also the host executive producer of the Game on Business Talk Radio Show. Dr. Miles' own journey earned him a PhD in Entrepreneurship from the University of the Incarnate Word, an MBA in International Business/Marketing from Our Lady of the University, and a BBA in Marketing from University of Texas at San Antonio.

Compelling Confessions: The Politics of Personal Disclosure is a collection of essays whose shared purpose is to offer an accessible interdisciplinary exploration of the social dynamics behind confessional discourse. As various contributors to this collection demonstrate, confession is ubiquitous in contemporary culture, not only within psychological or therapeutic frameworks or literary analysis, but also in internet discussion groups, in the criminal justice system, in political rhetoric, in so-called 'reality' and interview-style television programming, in writing pedagogy and, increasingly, in the testimonial strain observable in contemporary scholarship. Yet, 'telling one's story' raises questions, not only about authorial intent or authenticity, but also about the pressures disclosure can impose upon its audiences. Far less ubiquitous than confessions themselves, as these contributors suggest, are the critical tools that general audiences might employ in order to better evaluate the rhetoric of personal disclosure. It is, in fact, the shortage of such tools – responses and procedures that could be stated plainly and implemented by any reader or viewer – that Compelling Confessions sets out to address.

You are not a failure. And you are not alone. You are being scammed by a system that promises quick fixes that fix nothing and sells you money-sucking programs that do nothing but fuel overeating. At each meal, 93 million overweight American adults and 14 million overweight children and adolescents risk their lives. More than 300,000 die unnecessarily every year from obesity-related diseases. Hazel Dixon-Cooper was a size 22 woman in a size 2 world until she dumped the weight-loss industry, discovered how food companies lie, and learned that doctors rarely know more about nutrition than we do. Confessions of a Fat Cosmo Girl… • Examines the most popular weight-loss programs and reveals the truth about why they fail. • Confronts the medical profession’s solution of slice-and-dice bariatric surgery. • Debunks the deceptive benefits of fad diets and over-the-counter weight-loss products. • Explores sugar addiction and how it contributes to every major life-threatening disease. • Shows you how to clear your life of toxic food, toxic people, and your own toxic beliefs. • Proves the life-saving benefits of moving to a plant-based diet. • Offers a 21-day challenge that will change your life.

In 2005, I was arrested by agents from both the US Postal Service and the Food and Drug Administration for the importation of illegal human growth hormone and botulinum toxin (Botox) from China. At the time of my arrest, I was a thirty-seven year old Harvard graduate with medical and post-doctoral degrees. I attended one of the finest residency and fellowship training programs in the world at the University of California, San Francisco. I played two sports in college, earned awards at every level of education and training, had wonderful friends and a beautiful three-year-old daughter. Having grown up the son of a restaurant manager and a housewife, I had transcended the humble beginnings of a small Midwestern town to become the quintessential American Dream.Or so I thought. But with my arrest on felony importation charges, everything I had worked so hard for was swept away and the entire trajectory of my life was indelibly altered. I would embark on a three year battle not only for my medical license, but also for my freedom. This journey would lead to intense personal introspection, and in that process, I would discover with ugliness, there was also beauty, and with punishment, mercy. There are many reasons I have written this manuscript, with one of the most important being that I hoped my story would resonate with others who have gone through difficult circumstances as a consequence of a dark side of their personality. With this book, I hope to inspire others to accept and embrace the good and bad, while continually striving for improved self-understanding and acceptance.I have changed names primarily for legal purposes, but the facts are unchanged. Although the events described in the book occurred more than ten years ago, I think about them nearly every day. The shame and humiliation are ever-present. Any simple Google search of my name reveals the truth, and that truth has affected me over and over, despite the years, as it probably should. As the judge told me that day in a federal courtroom, "You have betrayed the public's trust." This is my confessional.