What the Folk!

Having hijacked a thread in the media and press section to discuss history, postgrad study, and other academicy stuff, it seems best to open a thread here to continue the discussion...things have veered way off topic!

If you're studying for something, would like to go back to uni, don't want to leave...I have no idea how to fisnish this.

I might go to bed (even though I don't have work in the morning)

My name is biscuit and I'm an academic. I handed in my MA thesis in History almost three weeks ago. Every day is a struggle not to bore people with obscure references and creative analyses of every day situations. I'm slowly learning to live life outside of uni, but it's hard to stay clean when all my friends are still inside... Thank you for letting me share....








No, seriously. I can't leave uni. What do people do on the outside? I was a mess when I finished the thesis but the pain is forgotten now, and there is so much more to learn and figure out. If I can't get a decent job in a museum I am definitely looking into doing a PhD

My background is a BA in English and History, and then the MA in History.

My name is ZWP (the whole thing's a bit long, and not even my real name), and I want to go back to uni to do a PhD - I finished my History MA 6 years ago (except for writing up, which took a bit longer), and really miss it. Seriously - the effort not to over analyse situations and exhort people to think, think about it is a nightmare.

I can vouch for the mundanity of the outside world. Not a single day goes by when I have even a flicker of interest in my current work - such is my level of apathy that I recently sacked off the fast track career thing....

I need, need, need to get back, even though it will mean giving up a decent salary (maybe I could be a part time model to supplement my income, although part time shop worker mayve more likely). Currently I am trying to get some basic proficiency in Russian, and re-learn German to make it easier. I've just enrolled in a part time Russian class starting next week, and am reading my MA and cringing badly...some of if may work as a proposal...
Thanks for reading, if you made it this far!

Good luck Biscuit! Hope you find a job you are passionate about. I have a BS and an MA in Russian Language and Literature. Then I felt backed into a corner as far as a career went, and ended up getting a Juris Doctor. Felt like I was in school forever. So, now I do legal stuff, although my legal field is very humanitarian (I protect the rights of immigrants), so thankfully I love it (but am having trouble paying back all those school loans.) That's always the downside, but I am a big believer in doing something you love. Better to get paid less doing something you love, than getting rich doing something you don't care about.

What was your thesis on?

Zebra....do what you love....do what you love.....do what you love.... It's not worth it to spend 8 hours per day doing something you loathe. I've noticed lately that part of the secret of happiness is dedicating your life to what you care about, and cutting down your wants in order to make that realistically happen. (That said I've made some financial mistakes, but I don't regret having a career in something I care about.)

I just have to say that I am impressed that you are learning Russian to be able to do research. That's dedication! I'm thinking about re-learning my German too. I was quite good at it once upon a time, and as a historian I really should be able to read German literature. Right now I can understand it when spoken to, but that's about it

Ich habe es ganz vergessen! (If the grammar is wrong there it just goes to show what I'm talking about )

Corrine: Great to hear that you have a job you love. I also like that you took a second education when the first one didn't get you where you wanted to go:) I hope I get to do something I love as well. I thought I wanted to become a teacher, but decided half way through the programme that it was not for me. I haven't regretted that decision for a minute! Last autumn I started working at a museum and I absolutely love it! It is only a placement , so I won't be able to stay longer than until October though But I've already learned a lot, gotten to know great people and not least discovered that working at a museum really suits me:)

My thesis, 'Imagined Pasts: Viking Life According to Two Living History Programmes in England and Norway', is an exploratory study of how animation/role play is used to teach Viking Age history to children. It is quite museum-y, which is sort of why I feel the need to do some proper historical research now, to prove that I have the skills. Most of the research for the thesis was done using ethnological methods like participant observation and informal interviews. Real historians apparently go to the archives and read a lot... I went to York and dressed up as a Viking

That sounds interesting. Is Viking history your specialty? I got my masters in Russian thinking I wanted to be a professor, but by the time I finished I didn't think I wanted to go that route, plus I wasn't a native speaker and I knew that would hold me back. I liked studying Russian though, and had a really hard time in law school, because it was so different from my other studies (just not as interesting!). I actually thought of quitting law school several times, but I took an internship at a non-profit agency and realized that I could use my brain to make the lives of immigrants in the U.S. so much better. (The FOTC characters could have used my help at the end of the second season.) Also, when I lived in California I spoke Russian every day to clients, so I never felt like I wasted my education. I don't speak Russian so often now, but every now and then I use it for work. Plus, I use it when my mother-in-law visits, etc. Ich habe auch Deutsch gelernt. Aber ich habe alles vergessen. (Don't even know if I wrote that right. Keeping up with the German is always hard.)

I'm not sure if I would call Viking history my speciality but it is true that I prefer medieval history to other periods. And when you're from Scandinavia the Vikings are hard to avoid
You must have been very dedicated to go through with studies you found less interesting. I could never have done that. And it must feel really good to have sort of a calling. The only callings I got at uni was from my friends wanting to cut class and hang out at the campus café

Sprechen Sie mehrere Sprache als deutsch und russisch? Ich bin impressed... There, I've lost it. My German is pretty bad, partly because it is so easy to construct mock German words from Norwegian words (and then I forget whether they're fake or not after a while) and partly because I suck at grammar.

Believe me, it was hard to stick with law school. I actually got quite depressed. One of the things that kept me going was the fact that if I quit, I would still owe money for the student loans AND not have the degree. So, I finished, and the summer before my last year I found what I wanted to do with it. My parents are still a bit upset that I chose a field of law that isn't very lucrative. Unfortunately, it seems with law that the more meaningful the specialty the less money you make. The attorneys who seem to make the most money are just helping rich people get richer, whereas those who protect the most vulnerable people in the society make the least. It's really quite ironic I think, but it is the unfortunate reality. It is nice to feel good about what I do, so that makes it worth it, and I like to think that I am doing my part to make the U.S. a better place.

By the way, answer this mystery for me, why is it that all Scandinavians seem to speak English perfectly? Do you learn it really young? I used to work at an office that made appointments for guests of the U.S. government in Boston, and people from the Scandinavian countries never ever required an interpreter. I always thought that was so impressive!

Corrine: I have only respect for people who choose to follow their heart and not the buck! You seem like a great person:)

Yes, all Scandinavians learn English from an early age. When I was at school it was compulsory from the 4th grade, now they start in 1st grade. The real difference from many other countries though, is that none of the American and English shows on tv are dubbed into the Scandinavian languages. We use subtitles, and in that way we are always exposed to the English language. I've had lots of English speaking exchange student friends who find learning Norwegian very hard because everyone just keeps speaking English to them

Corrine, I am totally with you on dedicating your life to what you love and find interesting...thought alot about that when I was off sick wih my leg (6 weeks off -found the Conchords, relaxed, read- good times!).

Also, total respect for doing a field of law that means something - the amount of money we pay our lawyers never fails to astonish me.

Maybe you should have been introduced as a character to stop them being deported? Or maybe you could be in season 3, if that happens?

Biscuit - your thesis sounds really interesting. I expect you're referring to the Jorvik museum?

I'm not sure how the language learning will go - I also have a terrible habit of making up words that 'sound right', but I do that in English too!

Glad to hear I'm not the only one who make up words

I did my research at the Living History Department at Murton Park, just outside York. I was planning on using Jorvik but they didn't use role play to the extent I needed for my study. I was a bit disappointed at Jorvik to be honest. There is this travelling back in time thing that just feels too much like a Disney ride The regular exhibition was really good though!

I didn't go to Jorvik until I was 22 - think the ride's more for the kids, really.
Making up words is fun - some of them ahve come into regular use with my friends and family. Personal favourites are 'Fagarette' and 'bevoir' - so nearly Franch for drink, but not quite.

One of the best museums I've been to was in New York - can't remember the exact name, but it was a museum of the garment manufacturing industry - great shop as well. Actually, Melbourne Immigration museum also had a good shop - mix of books and other stuff...

I love all sorts of museums, but I often travel with my hubby who's not into museums the way I am. The Museum of Science in Stockholm is really good. I love seeking out old churches and castles when we go road tripping in Europe. Two years ago we drove all the way to Florence and saw all the sights, il Duomo, Michelangelo's David and the pieta, and on the way back the leaning tower of Pisa and Scloss Neuschwanstein (the model for the Disney castle). Germany is just a treasure-trove of castles and medieval villages!

Yeah, same here. He's just no that into them! We went to Florence, Pisa and Naples 2 summers ago (have some lovely photos...).

I'd love to see more of Germany (and 'proper' Northern Europe)...have only been to Berlin.

Day off today - time for some German (after I've procrastinated a bit)