Roll Right

I lost a lot of respect for Beck after reading What is Globalization? and his various essays on cosmopolitanism. His risk society stuff is interesting though.

Look for the BAT bus. Its runs from Bangor to Orono.

Man, you guys make the town seem horrible . I think its a fun place to chill. The pace of life is slow and the people are pretty cool. You should be able to rent a house for cheap, or an apartment for even less. And by cheap I mean $600-800.

Why don't you use a smart phone? A droid RAZR mini or something will be much more compact and light weight.

I see a lot of folks here are not interested in owning texts. I can't agree with this position, and my own position may seem elitist, but I think its a valid position. I'm probably only speaking to PhD students who want to pursue a career in the university, but i think it is extremely important to keep the books you're using in your graduate research. I think this is especially important for folks who are in the humanities and social sciences. I realize books are expensive, but it pays to have these texts on hand. You'll need to keep coming back to these texts for insight and inspiration. You'll always get more from these texts as well, because your interpretation of them will change as you advance through your career. You cannot settle for a 3 paragraph abstract, a book review, or a short term reading based on a library loan to really assimilate the knowledge from these texts. I think you really need to live in these texts to master their arguments and insights. Also, I think Google books is a poor resource for graduate students engaged in research. It really promotes a fragmented reading of books. You can simply look up the term you're interested in reading about walk away from a book with a snippet about that term. But what have you missed? What do the preceding pages say about that term which wasn't in capsulated in the snippet you found? How have you imstrumentalized and distorted someone else's work for your own purposes? I have many of the classical sociological texts on my shelves, I've read them in depth and continue to read them as I move through my studies. And I continue to buy contemporary texts which take the classics as foundational to their arguments because I believe it is important to see how the knowledge of my field has progressed. I think building a library like this is important. Its the toolshed of the academic.

2010 jeep compass. We bought it used, its awesome. Plenty of space and decent gas mileage. Its also really comfortable. No problems to speak of yet, and we have a full maintenance plan in case problems do arise. I don't get to drive it much because my fiance uses it for work. I ride my bike to campus or take the metro instead. About a polar vortex causing pot holes-it happens all the the in Maine where I grew up. Extreme cold freezes the ground, and you get huge lumps under the road called "frost heaves". These lumps push up against the tar and cause it flex and fragment. When spring thaw comes these heaves disappear and the road flattens back out, but it crumbles while doing so. Pot holes are left over.

If you've found the "perfect" partner, then you should be able to attend graduate school and have a relationship at the same time. A relationship that is worthwhile should not require you to give up on your dreams, aspirations, etc.

I have a big beard and mustache. Today I wore a grey baseball hat, an army green "Punisher" shirt (as in Punisher the comic book), and khakis suitable for manual labor. I work in a computer lab as a graduate researcher, where I crunch numbers for a research institute. I'm definitely not an example of professionalism, but I get away with it because my superiors like my work and rely on me to a great extent. I guess I'm trying to say that you can dress as you like, but if you dress casually you need to demonstrate that your work is solid.

I think you should go and enjoy yourself. You're not going to miss anything spectacular or groundbreaking. The first two weeks of my program were merely course introductions and opening remarks, etc. Just make sure you tell your professors that you'll be out of town for a family function, and make sure you do your assignments while away.

I made the mistake of ordering a messenger bag with a built in laptop charger. The idea is great, but the weight of a messenger bag on, with a laptop and a few books it in, really messes up your shoulder after continual commutes to campus. A backpack is definitely the way to go. I don't think a "laptop" bag is necessarily the way to go, though. I have a backpack for hiking that I use, it distributes the weight evenly on my shoulders and back, and it can carry a laptop, headphones, books, paperwork, etc., with ease. I use the hiking backpack because I walk a lot during my commute, though. If you don't walk a ton then perhaps its a silly idea.

Im on a Tool kick, which started today. I'm also continuing a classic Metallica kick, which will probably end soon. Slayer is always on standby. Rage Against the Machine is always on standby. Maybe I'll revisit Nevermore in the coming weeks... I need some new thrash metal for my collection.

Thanks for those suggests. I actually just started reading a non SciFi classic though-the grapes of wrath.

Yes you're right, the thread has been hijacked...let's bring it back to its original topic!

I have to say, VictoryDance, that I'm surprised you're so keen on celebrating the dominant narrative of capitalist meritocracy and individualism. I think everyone here would agree that you probably worked very hard to achieve your current position as a graduate student. Yet to claim that anyone can achieve a similar position if they "play their cards right" is pure hogwash. You ought to consider the ways in which your position in society has allowed you to realize your particular wants and needs. Maybe you believe that you've done so by comparing yourself to others who have "created social barriers" for themselves. Yet this merely plays into your self-congratualotry narrative by positioning yourself above others who have families, or above others who went to college directly after high school, or above others who bought into the "rat race" of life. Such posturing doesn't explain anything. Instead, it blames individuals for their own plight. But you don't judge, you just point out how others have made the wrong decisions while you've made the right ones. You must be a huge proponent of rational choice theory. Also, I don't know what country VictoryDance is studying in, but in the United States there is a processes of neoliberal reform sweeping across the academic landscape. This process has attempted to increase the profit rate of Universities by offsetting operating costs on individual students. One aspect of this process is reducing or eliminating graduate student tuition waivers and graduate student stipends. Overall, this process of neoliberalization has done wonders for the salaries of University administrators, but it has mired graduate students in debt. So that is another reason why it is not merely a question of "playing your cards right". Often times, the University system doesn't give a shit about your cards. Its usually more interested in extracting profits from you.

I'm going to graduate school because I want to contribute to the critique of capitalism in the current global era. That may sound silly, but its the main reason. I'm also interested in religion under capitalism, with a particular interest in religious experiences. I would not have the opportunity to work on these things outside of the university. I am also avoiding the corporate world by attending graduate school, although universities are beginning behaving as corporations..

Do a google scholar search.

Well, you could certainly write a thesis about any of those fields. That's not the question you should be pondering, though. If I were you, I would sit down and think about a research problem which expresses a contradiction within one or all of those fields. In other words, don't fret about the topic of your thesis. Fret about the research question that your thesis will articulate and explore.

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on the strong GRE score.

X-files was great. Fringe was really cool too. I never really followed Lost. I wish there were more shows like the X Files. Maybe I'll just watch them again.

I'm binge watch Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and trying to get into Burn Notice. So far its not my speed. I'm looking for another good sci fi show to watch...already have watched most on Netflix...

I don't understand the motivation to forge material or buy material in order to complete a degree. The degree is useless if the individual holding it lacks the relevant skills and expertise. Seems like a sure bet for failure in future endeavours. How does this seem sensible to anyone?

Anyone with a PlayStation network ID is welcome to add me to your friends list: jtuttle2.

Do you plan to pick up Destiny in Sept?

I wanted to share an opportunity with all of you. The graduate students (including myself) at George Mason sociology put on a conference every year. This conference is focused on public sociology and seeks to engage a multitude of academic disciplines and publics in discussion and debates over contemporary social problems. We usually have between 75 and 100 participants, and the presentations and discussions are quite good. This year, we are discussing the problem of environmental justice and climate change. There are many other sub-topics which fall under this broad issue, however. Sub-topics include: Environmental Racism, Sexism, & Classism Political Ecology (or Economy) & Climate Change Human Landscapes & Consumption Cities & the Sharing Economy Weather Events and Disaster Recovery Immigration, Security, & Risk Sustainable Development & Environmental Activism Indigenous Social Movements & Nature Rights Public Sociology, Pedagogy, and Practice And more… I invite any graduate students who do research in these areas to submit a paper to our conference. Here is the flier which advertises the conference and provides more information regarding submissions: http://gmupublicsoci.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/2014-cfp-pub-soc-conference-jb4-1.pdf Also, the GMU Public Sociology Association is working with the International Network of Scholar Activists (INoSA) and the New Faculty Majority (NFM) to plan and host a Public Movement Assembly (PMA) which will focus on the issue of precarious labor in the academy. At this meeting we plan to address issues such as the exploitation of graduate student labor, adjunct faculty labor, tenure and non-tenure faculty labor, and non-faculty labor. We will also be discussing the neoliberalization of the university in relation to this, and efforts will be made to develop a way to confront this process of neoliberalization. This event is tentatively scheduled for the evening before the 2014 GMU Public Sociology Graduate Conference. It will likely take place in Arlington, VA. I'll update this thread with more information when I am able to. If any of you wish to be involved in this PMA, or know of graduate student and faculty groups who are making similar efforts, please let me know via private message so we can talk more. Thanks for your time.

Here is some info I posted in a different thread: I have mixed feelings about the GMU campus and NOVA (Northern VA). I'll talk about NOVA first and then GMU. Based on my personal experiences, NOVA is a suburban sprawl that is expensive to live in and difficult to get around in. It is populated by a great deal of wealthy folks who own townhouses that go for $500,000 or more. You'll see many of these townhouses as you drive or walk around the old city/university area. In sharp contrast to that, there are many neighborhoods that are underdeveloped and decaying, but you'll have to travel outside of the old city and university area to see those. Many of them are located on the outskirts of the city. This makes the search for affordable housing near the university a difficult one. I would start that search ASAP. When I began looking for housing, I started in June and was able to get a place secured by early August. It may help to use the GMU student forums to find roommates to mitigate the high cost of living. I grew up in a rural setting, so the hustle and bustle of the NOVA area is not really my speed. I find the traffic to be a nuisance, and the organization of the Fairfax area is difficult to navigate and negotiate for pedestrians and those who take public transportation. If you own a car you'll be fine. Unfortunately, many of those who walk, cycle, or take public transport are economically disadvantaged and forced to live on the outskirts of the city. This intensifies the disadvantage because travel time, distance, and transportation schedules complicate the trek to work or school. I live about a two miles outside of Fairfax city and my fiance uses our car to commute to and from work. I use a bicycle to get to campus, or I take a George Mason University shuttle which stops near my house. Either way, my trip can take anywhere between 25 and 45 minutes, and I only live a total of 7 miles from the campus. Its about 10 minutes by car. I've come to enjoy my commute though. I'm either reading or listening to music on the bus, and if I'm cycling I enjoy the excersize. Thats one way to deal with the inconvenience of not having a car. There are also fairly reliable bus systems. The City University Ecosaver (CUE) bus system is pretty good, and its free to GMU students. It can get you around Fairfax City, but it will not travel outside of the city limits. The Fairfax Connector is the bus system which takes you to locations that are outside of Fairfax City but within Fairfax County. It is not free to students, though, and I've never used it. I mentioned the GMU shuttle buses: they circulate between shopping centers, the prince william campus, and the Fairfax/Vienna metro station. I happen to live near a shopping center that is serviced by a GMU shuttle, which makes life easier for me. They are fairly slow, however, and the drivers often skip stops. I've been left stranded a few times. I'll say that the entire NOVA area is beautiful. Its well maintained and is very green and lush in the spring and summer months. The temperature can get very hot, though, and the "concrete island" effect really intesifies that heat. The fall months are extremely colorful and characterized by mild temperatures. During the winter, it tends to become pretty grey and dirty, but that is typical of suburban winter life. The people in the NOVA area aren't too pleasant, and there really isn't a community to speak of. One professor told me that Fairfax is really just a working location -- people don't "live" here. They typically split their time between Fairfax (when they work) and some other town outside of NOVA on the weekends. For that reason it can seem pretty isolated here. Even the graduate students in my program (sociology PhD) are dispersed throughout the area -- some living in Fairfax, some in Arlington, some in Alexandria, some in Maryland. There was even one person who commuted from Fredricksburg for a while, which is over an hour away with I-95 traffic. There is a lot to do around the Fairfax area. Tons of parks (and dog parks if you have doggies) and tons of walking/bike paths that span miles. There are a ton of things to do for free in the DC area too (museums, festivals, etc). If you have money, there are even more things to do (five star restaraunts, plays, musicals, concerts, theme parks, etc). The bar scene is ok, but you have to frequent a particular place to really start to enjoy it. If you like local dive bars, check out Fat Tuesdays. Its a New Orleans themed bar. I've had a beer or two in there on many occassions. For anyone who wants to make friends and meet people, I welcome you to join the group of students who usually go out and have a drink on the night of orientation at GMU. Get in touch with me here or through a private message and we can network. The GMU Fairfax campus is beautiful, though. Not quite as nice as my undergraduate (UMaine Orono), but they do a lot to keep the GMU campus looking neat and clean. The student body is pretty cool, too. Everyone is friendly, and the professors are pretty nice (at least in my department). The administration is becoming a bloated organ, though. Funding for graduate students is slowly being syphoned into other projects (probably beautification projects). My tuition waiver (and a colleague's) was almost sucked up into the dean's coffers, even though it was based on money that was donated by a private interest for the purposes of funding student research. Luckily a professor went to bat for us and ensured that we would be funded into the fall at least. Spring funding is still up in the air. At least my coursework is done.... The library system is awesome. I usually find whatever books I need at the Fenwick Library on campus. If I can't find it there, I can order it from another library. They have access to books at George Washington, American University, Catholic University, etc. And, the online subscriptions to academic journals is quite good. I've never had trouble accessing whatever literature I am looking for. Finding a space to work in the library is hard though. The tables on the first floor are usually occupied by 9 am, and the seating on the upper floors fills up fast too. The Johnson Center also has a library and workspace in it, but its so damn loud in there. Its basically the central student hub - with food, IT services, a library, the bookstore, etc. I can't get a bit of work done in that building and I hate having to walk through it. Too many people....but I'm introverted anyway. They have a bar on campus too, which serves beer and wine. I loved having a beer after class. Now that I'm done with coursework I'll have to find other excuses to stop in there. The gyms are awesome, too. One is a basketball/weight and aerobic training center. The other is an auqatic/weights/aerobic center. They can get pretty busy but I've never had trouble finding machines or weights to use. They also offer classes on martial arts and physical fitness routines. I've never taken these classes but I'm considering a martial arts course.