Jump to content

qkhitai

Members
  • Posts

    57
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by qkhitai

  1. Moved to my new city to start my degree. Had a house lined up for a while, but landlord is taking forever to get things sorted. Burning a massive hole in my wallet extending my stay at a hotel, which is really eating into funds I just don't have. Was hoping to have moved in by now.
  2. Someone I know tweeted about a course on Futurelearn.com, which seems to be a website where anyone can go and study a short class online for free (or pay and get a certificate upon completion). The courses are - as far as I can tell - taught by professors at decent universities, which piqued my interest. I actually signed up for the course, because it does look quite interesting and actually somewhat relevant to what I research. Aside from asking whether anyone has any experience with this site, my question is: as a grad student, would putting something like this on a CV look tacky? I've seen people in my field put down similar things (brief classes or courses) in their own CVs, in sections such as 'Other Study', 'Extra-curricular Activities', 'Professional Activities', but I can't remember the last time I saw an online course - and not one free and open to the public. Any thoughts?
  3. Indeed, I have my own I was always particularly jealous of Stephen Owen's, it's really classy. However I still often see people, grad students and professors sometimes, publish under a phonetic transliteration; so someone called Elizabeth Lloyd, to take a name at random, could publish as 伊丽莎白・劳埃德 (Yi Li Sha Bai・Lao Ai De). My question about which one to use was somewhat rhetorical (although thank you for the reply), but I am actually a bit unsure about the etiquette surrounding publishing under a 'fake' or 'unofficial name', such as the examples you give - which I'm sure also applies to people like Chou Li who publish under the name Jack. As far as I'm aware nobody vets these names beforehand and I'm not sure there are any legal procedures to go through. Do journals and publishers just accept whatever 'unofficial' name you give them? Could Elizabeth Lloyd turn around and say she was called Luo Aili 罗艾丽 or something, and then everyone would accept it? Does Chou Li just call himself Jack and that's the name he can publish under? I don't know, I find the dynamics of 'fake names' in academia really interesting; I've yet to publish under mine. I assume it would be fine, but there is still something unnerving about it. (I'm also not too sure what the link is between Keight and Ji 吉?)
  4. I use the shortened 'nickname' version of my full given name (like Dave instead of David*), followed by my last name. Although my name is really common, everyone else seems to be in the sciences, so fingers crossed it won't confuse anyone in my field. *Not actually my name. Eh, I don't see that very often in my field. I can't recall anyone who puts their English name in parentheses; it's much more common to see it placed before their given native name, such as Victor Cunrui Xiong. It's also interesting when Western scholars publish in foreign languages such as Chinese or Japanese, which opens up a different can of worms: do you use the phonetic transliteration of your English name (David becomes Dawei 大伟 for example in Chinese), or do you use an 'unofficial' name that you've chosen yourself? I think there's typically a bit more shame attached to the former, because it always sounds foreign and inauthentic, but I guess that's a somewhat different conversation.
  5. I guess I'm somewhere between themes and theory: I look at acculturation and identity construction in China from the angle of literature. But within that general framework it's easy to tap into other histories, for example I'm preparing a conference paper at the moment that is more event based. I think source and event kind of histories provide interesting opportunities for 'micro-projects' that can help to answer the broader questions I want to tackle with my research. I'm quite interdisciplinary though, and do a lot of comp lit work, so specific source work (poems, books, etc) in particularly comes naturally; I see it as more of a means to an end however.
  6. What did folks do when they had multiple proofs of funds? For example, I have savings as well as my TA offer. It says I should upload 'as many documents as possible', but the system only lets you upload one. Should I merge things into one pdf?
  7. Maybe others with more experience with the application cycle will know more, but mid June seems quite late to still be sorting applications out. I'm going through my own visa processes now as a fellow international grad and it seems like I'm looking at nearly a month minimum to get it sorted out. I'd feel more comfortable with a bit of a bigger cushion though, in case anything goes wrong, so sorting out a visa is probably something you need to do asap (let alone finding accommodation and booking flights etc). I'd probably lean towards cutting your losses with McMaster if I were you and coming to UoA (not biased!). The more you wait, the more stressful your summer will be and the more risks you run. Yeah I'm off to do East Asian Studies, should be fun!
  8. I'm off to UoA myself, albeit in a different program. Can't offer much advice as I haven't arrived yet, but there aren't many of us around here, so it's nice to see someone considering it. What's the deal with your UoA admission? How long do you have to accept the offer? Or have you accepted it and you're considering rescinding it if you get a McMaster admission? Also, have you gotten in touch with McMaster to ask what the delay is - or if they can clarify the situation?
  9. Check the specific journals they were published in, many journals host articles for free online on their relevant websites. Also a lot of people throw up their own articles on places like academia.edu, so worth searching there too. Feel free to ask your professor if you can't find something he wants you to read, chances are he has pdf copies of his own anyway. Everyone I've met in my field certainly seems to at any rate.
  10. I had a process of bashing different things together to see what stuck. For example, I might read a book and go 'oh, x theme is really cool', then read another book and think 'wow, y setting is really up my street', then I'll look at putting x theme and y setting together. Then I just kept going further down the rabbit hole, as it were, dissecting x theme and y setting and getting more specific until I found what I really enjoyed researching. So it started out for me by broadly mashing together literature and history, but then going forward and looking at specific kinds of literature, different periods of history etc, and repeating that same process of throwing interesting combinations together until I found something really cool. So yeah, there is definitely a lot of trial and error, and I agree that stumbling across that one thing that nobody has really studied before can really define your interests.
  11. There's also been an 'official' silence with my new department and I've not really heard anything since I accepted my offer. I speak to my advisor-to-be regularly enough, but our chats are relatively informal. I've received no information from the school or department administration or anything. I don't even know when I have to arrive there for orientation yet. So yeah, it seems like this is quite normal.
  12. When narrowing your field, I think the best thing you can do is just keep reading and writing, as others have said. I started my BA broadly interested in early medieval China (c.200-c.600 AD). As I read more, I began to discover that I really enjoyed tackling themes such as ethnicity and identity, which led me down a path towards a specific dynasty that had a proliferation of related issues. I could probably give a breadcrumb trail list of different books and articles that helped to get me where I am now, research interest wise - in terms of what inspired me or grabbed me and made me go 'yeah, I want to do this kind of stuff'. Everything you read, good or bad, helpful or useless, contributes to shaping your interests; you can cross things off the list, focus in on specific themes, discover things you'd never thought about before. Unless you go and make that effort, you'll never find out what you're truly passionate about.
  13. I lived in mainland China and taught sporadically part time. Happy to answer any questions. Cost of living is probably the cheapest out of the East Asian countries, but it's generally harder to get by without speaking the native language. I think that depends on the person. I know people who went from nothing to HSK 4 in less than a year.
  14. I agree you should definitely go into your studies with an open mind and would add that you don't want to necessarily pigeonhole yourself into one thing or another so early. That being said, you obviously have your research interests and a broad area you want to work in. If my supervisor turned around and said I would be doing research totally unrelated to what I applied to do and completely divorced from my interests, I would certainly feel not only incredulous, but also quite angry. But it doesn't sound like your case is that extreme. Like fuzzy I have no idea what goes on in your field, and I also don't know what you signed up for as it were, but from what you've said it does sound like there is some crossover between what you want to do and what your advisor is proposing? Are you still doing remote sensing(?) and using other tools that you can carry over to another area (intertidal) in the future? Will you get valuable methodological/practical/whatever experience from wetlands work that relates to other areas you are interested in? For example, I have to do some work in areas outside my own field of interest from my own MA (I do medieval history, but I'll be taking classes in modern lit and ethnic theory), but from this study I'll pick up a new set of tools with which I can go back and use in my actual area. Is yours a similar kind of case?
  15. I generally schedule research days or blocks of time, where I can alternate between reading, writing and editing depending on my mood or what stage of the project I'm at. I'm very much someone who writes on the fly and I've never been one for meticulous planning. Having a more fluid approach works well for me, as I tend to write a lot in short bursts, rather than a little bit every day. Being able to more freely swap between all the various things I need to do tends to keep me on top of my projects and maximises my available time. Cool to see another Nano writer! I failed a few times, but finally got a win in 2015. Keep at it!
  16. It certainly sounds relevant and there are plenty of similar conferences in my own field I'd jump at the chance to go to. But there will be more conferences in the future, and if you miss one then you'll assuredly get the chance to go to another somewhere down the line. Also consider how important or rewarding attending any conference will be, and weigh it against your other priorities. I had to pull out of attending a conference recently, which was a shame, but I just had too much other stuff on my plate. I doubt anyone will fund plane fare from NA to Europe for you (although I'd love to be shown wrong), but you may get enough to cover fees and a hotel. If it's in 2018 you have some time to save some funds for yourself if you really want to go I suppose. Not sure what people feel about (partially) funding their own conferences, but it's something I might consider if the price was right.
  17. I imagine that's going to vary on where you go and what conferences you wish to attend. If you're in the UK and you want to attend a conference in France, it probably wouldn't be any more expensive than going to one in the UK. For the US and North America though, I imagine it's a stickier situation and I doubt it's a case of 'oftens'. I know the conference funding I get at my Canadian institution wouldn't stretch to a trip abroad, but maybe it's something that can be supplemented.
  18. Demonstrating language aptitude for my research area; I was near enough flat-out told this was a key strength of my application. Not relevant for everyone, but certainly essential for many folks in humanities or area studies.
  19. I have a week before my UG dissertation deadline and I just discovered 30 relevant theses/articles on my topic hidden away in my downloads folder. I downloaded them ages ago and then promptly forgot about them. Some of them are certainly useful, others maybe not so, but I still have to go through and see what's what. But with the deadline approaching, I'm sure I'll have to compromise in places to get everything in on time, even if a few sources remain unread. I'll just have to read them afterwards and learn a lesson from not organising my research properly.
  20. Well it doesn't sound like you're doing much wrong then. I was going to say your coursemates don't sound like very nice people if no one them wanted to go for a birthday meal, but if you only told them on the day then that is kind of short notice I suppose. It still sounds like something is off though if they're that friendly but you're the only one ever stopping to talk to them. Provided it's not a one-on-one 'date-like' scenario, their having boyfriends is irrelevant - although at this age and stage of life, I'd like to think people weren't so jealous/worried that a man and woman can't be platonic friends. I am sorry to hear things aren't going well - it doesn't sound like you're at fault for any of this. A part of me wants to say just cut your losses, because why should you keep putting effort into hanging out with them when they give you nothing in return. But on the other hand, I've also had coursemates who I was never close to - when I was in a similar situation to you -, yet they eventually became my best friends. Friendships can often blossom in the strangest and rarest of ways, without either person ever thinking they would be friends with the other. So maybe compromise, pull your foot off the gas for a bit and see who else is around. Keep putting yourself out there and getting into new situations where you can meet new people. I don't know if it helps, but if you speak a another language then that's an easy way to meet people - native speakers or otherwise. You can always try mobile apps or social websites as well - I've met quite a few friends that way over the past few years.
  21. Tuition plus $10,000? Does that mean proof you can pay the tuition and then that you will receive/have $10,000 on top of that? My funding (TAship) covers my tuition, but doesn't stretch to $10,000 after that. The above linked site (cheers @TakeruK) says 'In other words, a single student entering a four-year degree program with an annual tuition fee of $15,000 must demonstrate funds of $15,000 to satisfy the requirements'. Not sure where this extra $10,000 is coming from. Thanks for starting this thread. I really should look into this and sort out my own permit soon...
  22. I just started jogging recently; the first time I've properly exercised in ten years. I'm having a great time and it's been really rewarding, but doing a morning run tends to leave me pretty exhausted and unmotivated to get my work done afterwards, which isn't ideal. I usually work best in the evening and I enjoy morning runs, so I don't want to swap my schedule around. I'm thinking of just prioritising my work for now and getting a bit fitter over the summer when there aren't so many deadlines.
  23. I can sympathise with being the only male in a group of females, that's happened to me before multiple times and it can be really tough. Because I smoke I managed to make friends with other smokers in those groups, but I wouldn't recommend tobacco use as a healthy way of making friends... But it also sounds like you need to take more initiative. Just waiting around for people to invite you to things isn't really your 'best effort' is it? Go and plan some nights out or a study session and invite people. Maybe a new bar or restaurant opened up in town that you want to check out, or there's a concert or a film on somewhere. If you just keep hanging around alone and not trying to get involved, it will only reinforce the image you might have as a loner in their eyes. Speaking from experience, if someone is always off doing their own thing, others can tend to assume that their life is going fine and that they have friends of their own, or that they just like being alone - when in fact the reality is quite the opposite. But if you don't speak up, they won't ever know. It doesn't sound as if your coursemates don't like you if you still talk to them regularly (and presumably pleasantly), so maybe that's the trap you've fallen into. If you do invite them to things and make more of an effort, but they still don't want to hang out with you, then them's the breaks sadly and they won't be good friends for you. You can also try and do more extracurricular stuff with folks outside your course with similar interests, provided you have time. Go and try new things, go to events or locales even if you're alone and try to strike up conversations. I've met plenty of people when I've gone out alone to a concert or a bar, you just need to put some effort in, instead of waiting for everyone to flock to you. It doesn't seem like you have a problem talking to strangers and meeting new people though, so maybe you can put yourself in more of these situations.
  24. Anyone have any news? Been quiet here lately. Any last minute acceptances?
  25. qkhitai

    Fields?

    American History R_Escobar (20th century, American Indian), crazedandinfused (antebellum, intellectual), hopin'-n-prayin' (southern, religious), stevemcn (transnational), Simple Twist of Fate (early American), zb642 (20th century, labor/working-class culture), BCEmory08 (19th-20th century Catholicism, labor), irvinchiva10 (20th century, immigration/immigration reform) natsteel (early American political culture and intellectual history) unforth (19th century US political and military history, US Civil War) hbeels (colonial, early national, 19th century, transappalachain west, historical memory of these eras/areas) thedig13 (20th century U.S.; built environment, modern consumer culture, race, and immigration) Weepsie (North American Mapping, Exploration and Trade, Anti-Communism/Socialism in Interwar period, bit of a mixed bag) lafayette (19th c. [with a dash of 20th], urban, intellectual) vtstevie (Revolutionary/Early Republic New England, infrastructure/economic) macmc (Feminist, gender, and LGBT history) HistThrift (early America, indigenous history) junotwest (19/20th century African-American, Cultural/Intellectual, Gender & Sexuality) calhoun&caffeine (19th cen. Southern [political]) tampopo ramen (19th-20th century capitalism/business) BookishVixen (late 18th-early 20th ce maritime communities, cultural, gender & sexuality) hardtack&coffee (19th Century American Social & Military History, American Civil War) spellbanisher (economic and cultural history of the gilded age, progressive era, and the 1920s) ThisGreatFolly (intellectual, religious, political violence, rhetoric) European History Kelkel (Modern Germany, political), goldielocks (Britain), SapperDaddy (Eastern and Central Europe), kotov (Modern Romania, Holocaust, labor), RevolutionBlues (Modern Western Europe/France labor and leftist politics), theregalrenegade (18th/19th cent British Empire/environment), jrah822 (19th century Britain; emphasis on colonial relationship to India), grlu0701 (Intellectual & cultural history,fin de siecle Germany and Italy), naturalog (modern European [mostly German] intellectual and cultural/sexuality and gender/political radicalism), runaway (Eastern/Central, memorialization & visual culture), Sequi001 (Modern France, gender and sexuality, colonialism/imperialism) Abetheh (19th/early 20th century Germany and France, religious politics vs secularization) NeutralKate (Modern Russia, modern European economic history) Crackerjacktiming (Modern Germany, gender and sexuality) GloFish (USSR, Stalinism, Soviet-American Relations) jamc8383 (19th/20th century France, interwar culture, relationship between body, mind & place) Heimat Historian (19th/20th century Germany, migration, settler colonialism) AshleyJuneBug (Early Modern France and Britain, gender and sexuality) maelia8 (19th/early 20th century Germany, imperialism and colonialism, travel, exploration) BookishVixen (Victorian and Edwardian English imperialism/gender & sexiality) episkey (19th/20th century France, gender and sexuality, Holocaust) AngesRadieux (18th/early 19th century France, cultural history, music) ManifestMidwest (modern France, colonialism & imperialism, Pacific worlds) African History Oseirus (precolonial/early colonial West Africa), Singwaya18 (20th century East Africa), Safferz (20th century Horn/Northeast Africa), The People's Scholar (Spanish colonialim in Africa- i.e. middle/West Africa) Jogatoronto (Psychiatry in early colonial West Africa) ronwill06 (Social and political radical movements) Heimat Historian (German settlements in Southern Africa) thekatieladybird (Post-independence conflict and social histories in Central Africa) Latin American History BH-history, The People's Scholar (18th-19th century Colombia) StrangeLight (20th century Central America) Heimat Historian (German settlements in Southern cone and Mexico) Mujereslibres (German informal colonization of Peru, Brazil, and Chile) AP East Asian History alleykat (Modern China) getitlow (Modern China: Republican, Women, Gender and Sexuality) kyjin (Pre-Modern Japan) aec09g (Modern Japan) pudewen (Late Imperial China) kdavid (Modern China; focus on the Republican period) Minion.banana (late imperial China, Islam, intellectual networks) qkhitai (Medieval China and Central Asia, literature and ethnicity) Near/Middle Eastern History uhohlemonster, (modern Israel, Iran, Palestine) oswic (modern Egypt, gender) Conmel (modern pan-Islamic thought/networks) Baloch (Oman) Atlantic World sandyvanb crazedandinfused Global/World History cooperstreet (Cold War) melissarose8585 Heimat Historian (German settlements throughout world) Jewish History uhohlemonster, (modern Israel) hopin'-n-'prayin, kotov (Holocaust), naturalog (sometimes modern European/Holocaust), runaway (memorialization & visual culture), ticklemepink (20th c. Germany/U.S) awells27 (Late Antiquity: Roman Empire/Palestine/Byzantine) Science/Technology/Environment shaxmaty1848 (Cold War) StrangeLight (environmental history, ecological distribution conflicts) sukipower (20th c. forensic science & anthropology, 19th c. science and medicine) Neist (19th/20th c. biological sciences) seh0517 (scientific illustration, ancient egyptian science & medicine, astronomy, mortuary science) Social annieca (Cold War and Post-Cold War East and Central Europe) BookishVixen (Spheres of influence, Progressive Era reforms affecting immigration) Classical and Medieval Hogs of War (Monastic Studies and Conflicts in Authority) telkanuru (high Medieval intellectual and social history, Cistercian studies) AbbeyRoad (Monastic History, Gender, Cistercians) Kirialax ("Dark Age" Byzantium; the Komnenoi) Cultural StrangeLight (gender, race, ethnicity, and religion) hbeels (race/ethnicity, religious, masculinity/feminimity, print/literature) crazedandinfused (race, nationalism, performance, rhetoric) alleykat (religion, race/ethnicity, cultural relativism) Heimat Historian (German culture in transnational context) nhhistorynut (20th century US, African American, race/racism, Black nationalism) Canadian History truthfinder (New France, religious) South Asia pakhistorian (Pakistan/Bangladesh,cultural, social, political, women, public history, digital history)
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use