STATION FLORA AT STOCKPORT TRAIN STATION. TAKEN 1ST SEPT 2014 – THE FIRST DAY OF WORK.
I’ve never been a glass-half-full or glass-half-empty sort of person; I’m the sort that both enjoys the current glass and is excited about the next pint regardless.
Anyway.
Today marks the end of the first 6 months of PhD training. I thought it’d be a good idea to reflect on what I’ve learned, what I’ve done, existential crises, and looking forward to the next few – and remaining 30 – months!
Learned:
- That the words “turn” and “framework” mean different things in academia than what I originally thought. (“Turn”, for example, has nothing to do with the Hokey Cokey.)
- That thinking about place is actually pretty darned cool. I’ve accumulated some thoughts that I’ve had for years to see that there’s some academic thinking that supports a few of them. Also, urban exploration and direct action geography garners new and interesting ways of engaging in place (sadly, I suffer from vertigo so no climbing roofs for me).
- Rochdale is teeming with some intriguing and weird literary texts. I’ve been mining a rich seam of Lancashire and Rochdale dialect poetry. (Bah ‘eck!)
- Developed a new admiration for several academics writing on Place. Especially Tim Cresswell and Tim Edensor (the latter Tim’s work in Manchester will inform some of my work on Rochdale).
What I’ve done:
- Read over 50 books (really, really, I can’t believe that either) and a good handful of academic papers.
- Managed to churn out nearly 5,000 words in a week and a half. Not sure if any of it made sense.
- Had two papers accepted for two conferences – exciting but need to write the things now and make them good. Aiming for amazing, will settle for good and/or enjoyable.
- Attended All Of The Training and relevant CPD offered at my institution. (I’m very fortunate to have a studentship and am making the most of it!)
- Wrote some poetry in a graveyard in November to a soundscape of long tailed tits, robins and a bitter blackcurrant wind wrapped itself around our fingers. All in the name of research and aesthetics!
- Volunteered to help with the next PGR Conference and act as a course rep (hey, I’m one of those chirpy volunteers-for-everything-in-the-first-year types).
Existential crises:
- Early October’s thinking of “I know NOTHING” after looking up a dictionary definition of ‘geography’.
- Somehow managed to fall over a lot, spill an entire pint of milk on myself without realising until I got home (apologies to the person on the train sitting next to Lactose Woman), stab myself in the face with a pen during a supervision.
- “To be honest, I don’t know why I’m reading Husserl either; I think I just don’t want to be getting things wrong.”
- Last night’s insomnia driven: “Why am I doing this? What does it mean? It’s not going to change the shape of the universe. What’s the point of it all? Arrgharrghaaaargh.”
***With the latest panic I’ve been reassured that this is “Normal and Part of the Process of PhD Training”.***
The next few months:
- Write and present two papers in summer.
- Run some creative writing sessions for young people before the end of term.
- Complete a large chunk of thesis and begin planning the transfer part of things.
- At some point I will write something coherent about what I’ve learned and pop it up on here. I’ve read some amazing thinking on landscape and place on other blogs and websites and would love to share them with you. (Whoever you are!)