Saturday, October 16, 2010
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Win.
Okay, so everything's worked out, so far as I know. I have my ID card, I'm officially in the system, now it's just a matter of timing my visa application when the time comes around so I'm not without my passport while I have to travel or something. But as far as the university is concerned, I'm registered.
Whew.
This means that I took out lots of books from the library today with my newly activated card! From all sorts of different subjects too--I'm reading up on the English working class and the evolution of the Gothic and Victorian urbanism to start looking for some avenues of approach for research. From there I'll do my literature survey this weekend. It is going to be busy times, but will totally happen.
Anyway, I'm glad my run-in with bureaucracy has ended for the time being. Now I can do actual work instead of paperwork.
Whew.
This means that I took out lots of books from the library today with my newly activated card! From all sorts of different subjects too--I'm reading up on the English working class and the evolution of the Gothic and Victorian urbanism to start looking for some avenues of approach for research. From there I'll do my literature survey this weekend. It is going to be busy times, but will totally happen.
Anyway, I'm glad my run-in with bureaucracy has ended for the time being. Now I can do actual work instead of paperwork.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
ARGH.
So that whole thing about being registered by today? FAIL.
Apparently (and I'm not the only one with this problem, so...) departments are giving people matriculation concessions like the one I have when that actually doesn't help with getting me registered on time, because my visa isn't under the right institution. I have to be able to get a proper visa from Durham to actually get my ID and such. So the immigration advisors have to call the English department and be all, "WTF?" and then the English department, I guess, has to take a leap of faith and give me an unconditional offer if I'm going to enroll for this term. In conclusion, ARGH.
Like the dude at immigration said, I'm glad I'm not the only one in this situation, but seriously, dammit.
This is what happens when academic departments don't communicate with administration.
So with any luck the English department likes me enough to trust in my ability to not fail my MA and properly deserve my admission to their PhD program. Because if they don't...well, I'm sort of screwed. And/or I'm back to starting in January, or having to leave, or begging Leeds to just get my effing paperwork done faster before I'm, I don't know, rejected from life.
I'm not actually freaking out as much as this post portrays, though perhaps I should be. But dammit, I'm proud of my dissertation even as I begin to find more and more flaws in it, so Leeds should give me my degree, and Durham should man up and give me a proper offer. Or something.
In any case, this leaves me without an ID card, which leaves me unable to access the library. So I'll be mooching off of my flatmates until further notice. Because I really do need to read, like, twenty books this weekend. Yes.
Apparently (and I'm not the only one with this problem, so...) departments are giving people matriculation concessions like the one I have when that actually doesn't help with getting me registered on time, because my visa isn't under the right institution. I have to be able to get a proper visa from Durham to actually get my ID and such. So the immigration advisors have to call the English department and be all, "WTF?" and then the English department, I guess, has to take a leap of faith and give me an unconditional offer if I'm going to enroll for this term. In conclusion, ARGH.
Like the dude at immigration said, I'm glad I'm not the only one in this situation, but seriously, dammit.
This is what happens when academic departments don't communicate with administration.
So with any luck the English department likes me enough to trust in my ability to not fail my MA and properly deserve my admission to their PhD program. Because if they don't...well, I'm sort of screwed. And/or I'm back to starting in January, or having to leave, or begging Leeds to just get my effing paperwork done faster before I'm, I don't know, rejected from life.
I'm not actually freaking out as much as this post portrays, though perhaps I should be. But dammit, I'm proud of my dissertation even as I begin to find more and more flaws in it, so Leeds should give me my degree, and Durham should man up and give me a proper offer. Or something.
In any case, this leaves me without an ID card, which leaves me unable to access the library. So I'll be mooching off of my flatmates until further notice. Because I really do need to read, like, twenty books this weekend. Yes.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
No Longer in Stasis
Fairly self-explanatory. Things have mostly started up. I had various induction-type things on Monday and Tuesday, which were frankly exhausting and not particularly illuminating--the usual jargon of "This is a great school!", "You're the cream of the crop!", then followed, of course, by "But get ready to work your ass off!"
It was a little better than that, and there was some useful information sprinkled in, but that was the general feeling. I had a bet going with an archaeology student as to how many times the international community was going to be referred to as "vibrant". Ah, corporate-speak.
Anyway.
I am almost registered. I should hopefully be completely there by tomorrow. Durham is rather old school with its insistence on lots of real paperwork in addition to online paperwork, so it's a bit more annoying than Leeds' process, but the end is in sight, which means that soon I will actually be able to take books out of the library.
It's a good thing too, because I am plunging straight into research. I had my first meeting with my supervisor, which went really well. He seems both reasonable and personable, and we were able to hash out some of the beginnings of what I'm doing with little fuss. He's apparently quite interested in intellectual history and cultural context, which suits me just fine, considering my topic.
My topic, as it happens, is morphing in new and interesting ways. I think I'm going to start by making a case for studying nonfiction within the framework of the Gothic, which I started doing a bit with my MA dissertation, but didn't really get to address fully. It's an unusual approach, perhaps a new one, but I think it could be really useful, not just for me but for other people looking at political readings of Gothic literature--what are the consequences of reversing the feed, as it were? Is it even possible? I suspect that it is, and I hope I can prove it. The topic can perhaps become the one which I'll address in my first official writing sample, which is due in May. From there I can start examining nonfiction on the Industrial Revolution from a Gothic perspective, and see where it takes me.
So yeah, that's about it. I'm meeting some cool people from all over the place, and getting to know the area a bit more. And writing 3000 words or so in the next week. Hey!
It was a little better than that, and there was some useful information sprinkled in, but that was the general feeling. I had a bet going with an archaeology student as to how many times the international community was going to be referred to as "vibrant". Ah, corporate-speak.
Anyway.
I am almost registered. I should hopefully be completely there by tomorrow. Durham is rather old school with its insistence on lots of real paperwork in addition to online paperwork, so it's a bit more annoying than Leeds' process, but the end is in sight, which means that soon I will actually be able to take books out of the library.
It's a good thing too, because I am plunging straight into research. I had my first meeting with my supervisor, which went really well. He seems both reasonable and personable, and we were able to hash out some of the beginnings of what I'm doing with little fuss. He's apparently quite interested in intellectual history and cultural context, which suits me just fine, considering my topic.
My topic, as it happens, is morphing in new and interesting ways. I think I'm going to start by making a case for studying nonfiction within the framework of the Gothic, which I started doing a bit with my MA dissertation, but didn't really get to address fully. It's an unusual approach, perhaps a new one, but I think it could be really useful, not just for me but for other people looking at political readings of Gothic literature--what are the consequences of reversing the feed, as it were? Is it even possible? I suspect that it is, and I hope I can prove it. The topic can perhaps become the one which I'll address in my first official writing sample, which is due in May. From there I can start examining nonfiction on the Industrial Revolution from a Gothic perspective, and see where it takes me.
So yeah, that's about it. I'm meeting some cool people from all over the place, and getting to know the area a bit more. And writing 3000 words or so in the next week. Hey!
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