Une sombre universitaire tonkinoise

Dark, Grey and Light Academia, but inspired by Vietnamese intellectuals through the ages and Vietnamese social sciences in general. An attempt to personalize and de-Eurocentrify the aesthetic and lifestyle. May veer towards the 'foreign student' area, and contain content pertaining to cultures other than Vietnamese.

[portraitofglue]

Classic novels from POC authors

The Analects, Confucius- a collection of his quotes, documented by his pupils shortly after his death. 

Theologus Autodidactus, Ibn Al-Nafis- one of the first Arabic novels and considered an early example of sci-fi and a coming of age story

Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, Pu Songling- a collection of classical Chinese stories

The Heart of Hyacinth, Onoto Watanna- coming of age story about a Eurasian child raised by white parents

Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe

The Woman in the Dunes, Kōbō Abe- themes of myths and suspense wrapped into an existential novel

The Prophet, Kahlil Gibran- collection of poetic essays

Twelve Years a Slave, Solomon Northup- memoir of a black man sold into slavery in America

Contending Forces, Pauline Hopkins- focuses on African American families in American society, post Civil War

Iola Leroy, Frances Harper- one of the first novels published by an African-American woman

One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez

On Love and Barley, Bashō Matsuo-

The Home and the World, Rabindranath Tagore- a love story mixed in with a political awakening

American Indian Stories, Zitkala-Sa-legends and tales from the authors life based on her childhood and the community

A Dark Night’s Passing, Naoya Shiga- a young mans trial through disturbing experiences

Cane, Jean Toomer- fiction based of black life in Harlem

Where There’s Love, There’s Hate, Silvina Ocampo and Adolfo Casares

[shadesofacademia]

DA Procrastination

- Avoiding doing homework by doing homework from other subjects. You tell yourself that knowledge is knowledge; at least this other work is getting done.

-  Avoiding doing homework by going into a rabbit hoke about another absolutely random subject. You tell yourself that this is actually an enriching activity; after all, you are expanding your horizons.

-  Avoiding doing homework by re-reading your favorite books for the 105849th time. Bonus if you add even more annotations.

(and yes, the repetition is intentional - let the eye-bleeding begin)

-  Avoiding doing homework by making coffee or tea. You tell yourself that the caffeine will boost your productivity when it kicks in.

-  Avoiding doing homework by going to tutor a friend. You tell yourself that the best way to learn, is to teach.

-  Avoiding doing homework by taking a stroll in a nearby park. You tell yourself you are ‘getting into the mood’. 

-  Avoiding doing homework by cleaning all your fountain pens/sharpening your quill pen. Bonus if you do ink swatches and paper tests too. You tell yourself that you must take care of your tools so that they last in the long term.

-  Avoiding doing homework by polishing all the leather things  you own - shoes, satchel, journal cover, you name it! You repeat what you told yourself above.

- Avoiding doing homework by re-organizing all past homework. You tell yourself you needed to review anyways.

[isabelladjanis]

The Handmaiden (2016) dir. Park-Chan Wook

[shadesofacademia]

How has no-one in the Dark Academia community talked about Bungou Stray Dogs? To over-simplify, it is a manga and an anime about a supernatural detective agency. The author came up with the idea whilst imagining what if her favorite poets and authors had supernatural powers. The characters are named after those poets and authors. And did I mention the a e s t h e t i c s of this anime? Victorian England-inspired clothing with a magic system that includes both Eastern and Western spirituality??? It’s such a good example of a DA art piece urgghh. (picture from Senpai Knows)

[shadesofacademia]

Alternative Dark/Light/Grey Academia room decor

- Calligraphy scrolls with ancient proverbs on them; you get a new one every year at Lunar New Years’. 

- Little clay urns with beaks, meant to have been crude oil lamps. Or are crude oil lamps. Did you make them yourself? Maybe.

- Batik sheets and Persian rugs; pillows filled with kapok.

- Old rattan chairs with green cushions, or ‘director’s’ chairs.

- A replica of the bust of Nefertiti, or a mini Venus of Willendorf.

- Fossil specimens scattered all over, as paperweights on in mason jars. 

- A pencil basket made from old newspapers that you recycled.

- A bunch of corks from different liquors from different events/occasions, hung on a beaded string nailed to the wall’ your version of a pennant/fairy lights. 

- A wall tapestry, made from a traditional textile: Japanese indigo, Ghanaian kente...

- A copper water bottle

- Little tins of ‘home remedies’ : candied ginger for coughs and stomach aches, fennel seeds to freshen breath...

[thegentlenomad]

Am I the only one that wishes aesthetics and academia was also filled with poise dainty dark skins and beautiful Afro 4c styled hair or perhaps moonlid eyes or melanated Asian skin idk I feel as if it’s always filled with the skinny Caucasian girl all the time and I suppose there’s nothing wrong with that in essence I just wish there was more inclusivity so that we can feel represented and it can also be relatable to POC people as well .... just a thought.

[shadesofacademia]

y e s

[shadesofacademia]

Would I do a PhD on this? Maybe ;). 

[of-foolish-and-wise]

IN THIS HOUSE WE celebrate black women sculptors because Dark Academia has a slight Michelangelo fetish and sometimes it’s good to mix things up. 
Left to Right: 
Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller & Elizabeth Catlett, Selma Burke & Simone Leigh, Edmonia Lewis & Augusta Savage

[rottenfigfruit]

dark academia critics

dark academia is like one of my favourite aesthetics however there are certain things/issues that bother me about this whole aesthetic

1. where is the diversity?

have you ever come across any dark academia posts that included any people of color. everywhere I go, all I see is elite white kids. I would die to see japanese/korean/indian /pakistani/ african/ middle eastern dark academia students often wearing their ethnic attires and embracing their cultures.

2. eat the rich

I know the whole theme about dark academia is ivy league/ rich elite students but imagine middle class dark academia srudents who are not necessarily clad in expensive attires rather wearing clothes bought from the thrift stores studying on scholarships, who own second hand books and antique/vintage items from some local flee markets or thrift stores.

3. fuck that Greek philosophy

not that I hate Greek philosophy but all dark academia posts do talk about is western art/architechture/ mythologies / history and philosophy etc. I would love to read and discuss persian poetry and history , south asian mythologies, japanese/Arabic/korean calligraphy, Muslim world's art and architecture.

4. what's up with that nerd shit.

why are dark academia students always protrayed as nerds, reserve, quiet, hates to have a social life, perfectionist who can't afford to get any grades lower than As etc like even the best students have their ups and downs, what matters is the passion and the will to do better. It's okay to have a life outside books, to have romantic dates, to prank, to hangout with yout friends, to skip classes, to be unorganized...its more realistic.

[shadesofacademia]

p r e a c h