I think I'm a bit of a know-it-all. But a lot of the time people say they don't understand why something works the way it does and I just take an educated guess at it. I think the important thing is that educated guesses are presented in the proper way of educated guesses. In fact, when talking conversationally, I do like to leave everything quite open-ended and not try to proclaim that what I'm saying is "the truth".

The worst part, though, of being a know-it-all is in a long slow death (LSD) seminar where no-one talks or answers any questions. I don't want to spend 1-2 hours talking and I do keep my trap shut for long periods, but the pain of the silence gets to me - someone answer FFS!

I have, in some uncharitable moments, got that feeling from Literature and History people are just making things up. These uncharitable moments have come around quite often recently as I've been struggling with methodology and my theoretical framework (which involves making myself competent in whole areas of politics I've never covered before) whereas my first year friends in English and History are just getting on with it without having to devote much time to the issues (it seems, and has been partially confirmed.)

I dunno. I understand historical research, but I'm not sure what literature research involves. It would be nice if someone could tell me a bit about it, because I think, at times when my lit friend talks about how lucky I am in the resources devoted to Politics (which ain't much, tbh), close to saying something a bit shitty about literature "research". :$

Well done, DrTheAce!

Dare I say it......what now?

Do women define nice shoes by their level of comfort...or by their capacity to keep your feet snug in numerous weather conditions (I'm currently wearing water-tight walking shoes designed for snowy conditions)?

If not, it could explain why I'm single.

Go to Leicester as there's no chance of feeling homesick and we have the better sports teams of the four. Or, if you go to Loughborough, it's not far to get to Leicester. Plus the Midlands is cheaper than the South, and Exeter is a pain to get to.

Hmm, I'm not sure cheese based conversations are the best way forward on a date. I normally save cheese comments as ice-breaker chat-up lines. :$ "I'm like Edam. Red and waxy on the outside, bland on the inside. Want to get freaky?" Works 60% of the time, everytime.

I agree with TheAce, work hard on finding somewhere a little bit special to go to and don't just take one person's advice on finding that special place/s. Also, think about possible follow-on places (usually a bar/pub) that, should the mood be right, you can mention.

The best I've got is cut the title/name out of Endnote, paste into word then press shift + f3, get the desired caps (by cycling through the shift f3 options) and then paste back into Endnote.

In my search for funding I got accepted to 5 or 6 PhD programs without having to interview for them. I ended up going for the one that did interview me - seemed like they actually cared.

I had a similar experience to JinKim, although slightly more informal. It kinda went: I turned up, we talked about what my research would be on, we talked about the personality attributes required for a PhD, they tried to sell the University to me and then, two hours later, I left. Got the train back home and, in the intervening period, they'd sent me an acceptance e-mail. I did dress up (no suit, just shirt and trousers), I didn't want to gamble on informality.

My experience probably isn't very helpful, but there is one useful question I asked (probably lifted from this forum) - what's the success rate of PhD's in this department - how many finish?

Teek: I don't think that its fair that you're suggesting that there's happiness for people going down the academic route. I think we all need to accept that it's either academic achievement or a fufilling life.


On another note, I met my main sup today and had an awesome meeting. I think I not only have tied down the theoretical framework (which, for me, is the main problem) but also communicated my ideas to her (she's not the most receptive of people.....things tend to get interpreted in the ways that she has studied, not in the ways that I'm describing.) I think that I now have a viable research project, rather than a good policy perspective.

On yet another note, I just got back from a fresher's birthday party. First years are young and can't drink, but can be entertaining.

Just a quick question from someone who has looked at far too much philosophy in his life: does absence exist, or is it non-existence? If it's non-existence, a gap or absence doesn't look like anything - it is somethign you are able to think of that has yet to be done.

As a bi- (or multi?) lingual scholar with a PhD from a British university the world is your oyster (an interesting phrase, since oysters have to be jimmied open.) The only exception to this is Britain, which is in a shit heap of trouble in its higher education sector and is generally a depressing place for recent graduates of whatever level. Anyhows, good luck
(up)

Hehe, I've never had tuna from a tin, so I can't give you a comparison (I try to avoid processed foods, not very successfully it must be said, but I've never got into the habit of tinned tuna.) I do like tuna steaks though.

Hmmm, lunch and no cold food is a toughie....unless you have access to a microwave? Or a thermos food flask! Soups, stews (with some bread for dipping?) and things like that can be kept in them. So you could make something for dinner, have a bit left over then warm it up and shove it in a flask in the morning (up).

Hmm, I want one now. Apparently it's also possible to cook (very very slowly) in them.

Sneaks, google image tuna steaks. That'll answer your question.

I'm currently on a bit of a back-to-basics meat cookery kick. No sauces, no complexity, just seasoning and a sizzle. Yum. Also started cooking Thai, which is very healthy and pretty basic if you get a ready-made spice paste.

Out of interest, how easy is easy? Are we talking Delia cheats recipes (which includes a recipe for mushroom risotto that involves buying a risotto then adding mushrooms) or Delia prior to her sell-out offence-against-god crap book?

Just a thought, omelette's are quick, healthy, versatile and, if you can get someone to teach you the basics (it's harder learning it from a book), easy.

Hello,
I've been agonising over my subject matter for a while now and repeatedly formulating and reformulating my thesis proposal/design. I don't have a problem with saying something new or making an original contribution (that part is the easy part), I have a problem with my plan of approach. I recently submitted another draft of my proposal to my sup and having laid out what I've been thinking, and while it would be brilliant to write it and it would be a barnstorming idea, I've realised its massive and would require about two chapters that would have very few references to anyone else's work (because no-one's done much on the areas.) So, I started asking myself - do I want to write something brilliant, or do I want a PhD?

However, last night I was thinking and I may have come up with a way to make a much tighter argument that expresses some of my ideas by focusing solely on the policies of a recent American administration (I'm doing the politics of oil, bet you can't guess which administration.) The problem that I've run up against is that it would be relentlessly slating the policies (from a unique perspective) and would be very very critical. I was wondering, is anyone else doing something like this? Can a PhD amount to a condemnation of something?

Thanks for listening/reading(sprout)