This paper – sorry – blog post consists of two parts. One is confused ramblings of someone revising their first solo paper for an academic journal. The other is some practical advice – not from me, but from my peers, on how not to blow the word limit in the revision process and what to […]
On teaching not to transgress, or Not embodying ‘real utopias’, or My first lecture
‘Real utopias can be found wherever emancipatory ideals are embodied in existing institutions, practices, and proposals’ – said I. I was citing Erik Olin Wright. It was a lecture on ‘Sustainability, democracy and gender’, and I stood there, feeling unsustainably undemocratic, and I would get a very low score from gender scholars, as there was […]
On (not?) co-authoring, or The death of the author, or It takes a village to write a paper
Despite the death of the author having been announced a while ago (reference here – in case you missed it), a point in time comes when a PhD student needs to put some name(s) on their first paper draft (in progress, in progress, and still in progress – does the status ever change?). I did […]
On professors, or Paying it forward (at least some of the interest)
This post is written with a lot of respect and admiration for Professors and what they represent in academia… and their PhD students (the reasonable ones, who do their homework instead of writing irrelevant posts). Never start your day by meeting a professor. Ask for an appointment after lunch, but first thing in morning – […]
On taking criticism of your work, or No post on Sundays, or Off to the garden
During a break on a ‘garden day’ at my son’s preschool on a fine October afternoon, sipping bryggkaffe from a paper cup, I see an email from my supervisor flash on my phone screen. ‘I have struggled with your draft. I found it difficult to read…’, she writes. This is as far as the email […]
What we [don’t] say to our supervisors, Or the price of a ‘really good work’
Student (Mon 8.46): Dear Supervisor. Would you have the time to look at my abstract if I sent it to you today? The abstract which I haven’t even begun to write. The abstract for a non-existent article which I haven’t begun to write and might not for a very long time. Supervisor (Mon 8.47): Yes. […]
On observing teachers
It’s a Thursday evening, and I’m so, so ready to call it a week, or almost. I plan to work from home tomorrow. I imagine how, after leaving my kid at preschool, I will enjoy the brisk snowy walk along the frozen inlet, to the rising sun and the music in my headphones, and make […]
On intellectual autonomy, bogs and jungles, or How I escape the bell jar
Doing your PhD is a solitary journey, I was told. And the intonation implied that it was somehow a bad thing. Yes right, thought I. But I LOVE solitude. Please leave me alone and let me get on with the thing. Lock me in an office, better a bunker. Give me some books, better a […]
On schools of fish, or Open-heart surgery as an encounter with (post-)Theory
What ifIt was as simpleAs the gentle terrorOf falling snow[…] The jury is in – I got the feedback on my Political Discourse Theory course assignment, and now I have no excuse not to write about the experience of my first head-on collision with theory. Despite discovering early on that Laclau and Mouffe go down […]
On the tyranny of Zoom, knowledge policy, flamenco shoes, and touching somebody’s shoulder
What is wrong with a Zoom meeting? Nothing. It’s perfect. A little bubble (or big, size doesn’t matter, marginal costs are zero, the more, the merrier), where you can convene and commune with each other in perfect harmony. Communication for all. Democracy enacted. Everyone can participate. Participatory turn. Erasing barriers, gaps, distances, divisions, frontiers and […]
Fathom 