Watery Ink on Paper

musings of a (former) grad student / PhD / focus on Shakespeare and early modern drama / follow from @lizbennett2013 / I track #books-and-studyblr

[my-deer-friend]

If you ever wondered why writing a dissertation/thesis takes so damn long, this has been my day so far.

Me: Okay, I should probably add a paragraph about the contextual late-18th-century understanding of republicanism. Let me read over a key text to make sure I'm being accurate. [downloads a 42-page book chapter] Me: Hmm, okay, on page one of this chapter they're expecting me to know some nuanced things about civic humanism. Better just brush up real quick. [downloads 9-page primer from Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy] Me: Okay, cool, but there's some stuff in here about Machiavelli that I really should read in its annotated source context, because that's what my history guys were working from. [downloads 283-page book on Machiavellian political philosophy with source texts] Me: Oh, for fuck's sake-- [downloads Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics]

[enlitment]

how it feels like doing research:

[jamsandsuch]

does anyone else get academic zoomies? when everything starts to connect and your writing enters a flow state and everything is falling into place that you need to get up and pace around or scribble it down immediately or you'll forget it because you're so excited

[books-and-studyblr]

I have had good conferences and bad conferences, but the one I went to this past week may have been the most productive and supportive conference of my life and I’m still riding the high.

[going2hell4everythingbutbeingbi]

top five ways to conclude your thesis

so yeah

and I stand by that

thanks for reading

you get it now right

call me with questions I really want to talk about this more please please please

[frederickchiltonsdivacup]

Today I learned that, if your headcanon about a super old book has enough supporting evidence, the big guys at the top of all literature will nod their heads and call it Analysis

[bakwaaas]

u could literally have a PHD in something but a random man will still think he knows more about it than you because he’s male and you’re female and he read a post about it on reddit

[minotauri]

the em dash and i are in a torrid toxic love affair

[catoswound-moved]

to be confident in posting about your Guy all u need to do is read fifty academic articles and five books of varying respectability and reliability and also watched a few operas or plays. this tumblr thing can be so easy

[phantomrose96]

Fucked up how society can be like "okay, go to school" for 12-17 years and then be like "okay enough to that :)". Leads to really dangerous sad fucked up disease called Grad Student. Can progress even more dangerous into PhD Student. Very comorbid with Debt due to Costs Money and Doesn't Make Money. Very scary, these things.

[books-and-studyblr]

I somehow started this chapter with my conclusion and now I’m working backwards and honestly I don’t know how we’re getting here but the conclusion is SICK.

[books-and-studyblr]

I am trying very hard to do a thing this school year where I do no work on the weekends because I have a horrible work/life balance which has only been made worse by job applications, dissertation work, and teaching.

Unfortunately, this means I now spend my weekends staring at my walls and mentally screaming because I'm not being productive enough.

[books-and-studyblr]

I sent in a full draft of my second chapter to my chair this week and can I just say, it feels amazing to be able to say that I’ve written half of the dissertation? Like I think I may actually be on schedule to finish it and graduate on time.

[books-and-studyblr]

We are halfway(ish) through the summer, and I have:

completed one chapter and sent it out for review to my committee

written about half of the next chapter and should have a completed draft done by the end of the month if all goes as planned

started working on job application materials because that’s right around the corner (yikes)

[books-and-studyblr]

The semester has ended and I’m taking a research break because I need to but good lord my brain feels so incredibly guilty for not working.

[books-and-studyblr]

Nothing says “last week of classes” like a killer migraine and a bunch of assignments to grade that are on my laptop.

[darlinguistics]

hey real quick if youre a studyblr or even just a person in academia and 

🌟 are neurodivergent and/or struggle with mental or physical health problems that impede on your academic performance

🌟 are a first gen student or otherwise feel a bit lost navigating this world compared to your peers who might have a bit more uh,, nepo baby energy

🌟 really hate the corrupt and elitist parts of academia but also love your studies and your dreams too much to give up on it

🌟 genuinely want to better the world with your education not just dangle it over people as part of a god complex or use it to help gatekeep knowledge

🌟 just generally kinda feel like academia wasnt really built for you but you are determined to make it so that it is, if not for yourself then for future generations at the very least

interact with this would you? you dont even need to follow if you arent a studyblr or dont want that on your dash, i just feel chronically alone out here sometimes and i could use the reminder that i am definitely not the only person feeling like this and not the only one fighting this fight. if this post only gets one note thats good enough for me lol

[books-and-studyblr]

We are heading into the last week before finals, and when I tell y’all that my motivation for things is shot, I think it’s an understatement.