It was nearly 8 p.m. when I started my descent from the mountain. It was dark and starting to get cold, and Bergen underneath burst into an incandescent shimmering show. I watched the ships dock and undock, I watched bergensar chatting and walking their dogs. It really was time – I could not hide out […]
Tag: research
What to wear to a half-time seminar, or On the power of initiation
On the day of my half-time seminar, I dreamt of wearing a wedding dress. Explanation: half-time (which apparently is a Swenglish term, as the English speakers seem to call it ‘midterm’) is a seminar in which the doctoral student’s work is presented, reviewed and discussed. Kind of a mock defence at an early stage to […]
On major revisions and their potential for radical liberation, or How to revise your first paper and not go mad(der)
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 (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 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 