Don’t forget your shovel.

lol. When I won a SSHRC Doctoral fellowship to support my PhD studies, I went around thanking people for paying their taxes.

A few days ago I was made aware of an interesting CfP for a peer-reviewed academic journal, and for the first time since 2007/8, I feel inspired to submit an abstract. Has it really been that long since I’ve had something substantial to say about my field of study? Well, kind of.

First off, the 2007/8 experience was a bit traumatic. After the guest editors accepted my abstract and my paper was peer-reviewed and accepted for publication, *after all that*, the real editors of the journal decided to let one of their grad students basically re-write huge parts of my paper and one of the editors inserted a reference for a book I’ve never read (let along heard of!). The back and forth was endless and painful. In the end, we came to a compromise that I would accept only for an esteemed journal like this one, but it has taken me literally 2 years to get over it.

Secondly, I’ve been wrapped up, totally focused on my 9-5, working my tail off, and in a relationship. There just hasn’t been time or headspace. But now, for complex reasons, there has been a time-shift and I have that all important headspace. But do I have time?

The abstract is due in mid-April… the paper by August… and, heck, I’m in the process of moving half way around the world, getting my life together, getting my priorities set straight, and reaching deep down in my heart all at once. But for some reason, it seems, I have also gained the headspace to conceptualise and to apply the mounds and mounds of information gathered during my PhD in a new way.

I hope that this continues, because if it does, I might conceptualise myself right into book-writing mode.

Go brain cells!

We’ve all seen these lists now and then… tips. Well, The Beau sent me this list from Slate of 13 tips for getting some writing done. Nothing new here, but I thought it might inspire some of the students who read this blog. Personally, I did not follow too many of these tips while doing the PhD… and I still managed to finish it somehow.

*Shrugs* do with it what ye will.

The powerpoint, apparently, is one of the main reasons university students find lectures boring. And I couldn’t concur more. Anyone who has been my student knows that one of the first things I announce is to skip the powerpoint because, in fact, I cannot see ppt presentations. Due to some kind of brain anomaly, when I am tired or stressed (or a combo thereof), a ppt is just a big blurr to me. I can’t see it no matter where I sit in the room or whether I wear glasses or not. During the first year of my PhD studies, when this first occured, I thought I was going blind. Now I know that I’m not, but it is still frustrating when I go to a presentation.

Plus, there frankly is nothing worse than a ppt which is simply a list of words — the outline of your presentation, as if I cannot hear what you are saying.

A good ppt. should enhance a presentation/lecture. It should provide a proper visual stimulous: stats presented in charts, photos, little videos, etc. Something to make your words come alive. And if you did that, then I even I might relent and let you use one in class… and with luck, I’ve got enough sleep recently, am less stressed than normal and I might be able to see it, too!

Continue reading “60% Students Find Lectures BorrrRing — Why?”

This was in the NYT last week, but I was too busy to blog it. Another article on the relevancy of Academia, and quite a good one at that.

Continue reading “End the University…”