#the academic institution of it all

[thelostboys87]

the 'i want to do my masters in writing so i can teach writing at university level' to 'i'm starting to believe creative writing should not be a degree that you can get at all' pipeline

#not in a shaming individuals who have or plan to get writing degrees way. i mean im still considering it #like from an academisation of writing pov.... #i dont think a writing degree should have the weight that it does with the barriers it creates #the thing is my dream job/state of existence is things that would only be possible to keep me afloat #if i did writing postgrad and go the right connections at the right time #but i dont like anything that turns writing into an institution and creates barriers for access #i dont think writers esp vulnerable writers should be taught that to get certain levels of access they need #to put themselves through a system that is so sexist misogynistic homophobic transphobic racist ableist bigoted etc #and that's if they can even GET in the programs in the first place #i got offers for my dream MA two years in a row and the only thing that stopped me was costs #and now if i apply again i wont be able to use my writing teachers as references because they have to have taught me in the last two years #SO WHO TF DO I USE!!!! #i think there needs to be more cultivation in spaces that study and share writing theory and create workshop and connections without #the academic institution of it all #idk im starting to be like what will a writing MFA give me except connections and access #also i was wondering why im slower at writing short fiction than i was last year BITCH!! YOU WERE IN A CREATIVE WRITING CLASS #you literally HAD to write stories so you might as well submit them! #the only reason i have a pushcart nom and a writing grant is bc of the stories i had to write for that class

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

the fact that shakespeare was a playwright is sometimes so funny to me. just the concept of the "greatest writer of the English language" being a random 450-year-old entertainer, a 16th cent pop cultural sensation (thanks in large part to puns & dirty jokes & verbiage & a long-running appeal to commoners). and his work was made to be watched not read, but in the classroom teachers just hand us his scripts and say "that's literature"

just...imagine it's 2450 A.D. and English Lit students are regularly going into 100k debt writing postdoc theses on The Simpsons screenplays. the original animation hasn't even been preserved, it's literally just scripts and the occasional SDH subtitles.txt. they've been republished more times than the Bible

#due to the Great Data Decay academics write viciously argumentative articles on which episodes aired in what order #at conferences professors have known to engage in physically violent altercations whilst debating the air date number of household viewers #90% of the couch gags have been lost and there is a billion dollar trade in counterfeit “lost copies” #serious note: i'll be honest i always assumed it was english imperialism that made shakespeare so inescapable in the 19th/20th cent #like his writing should have become obscure at the same level of his contemporaries #but british imperialists needed an ENGLISH LANGUAGE (and BRITISH) writer to venerate #and shakespeare wrote so many damn things that there was a humongous body of work just sitting there waiting to be culturally exploited... #i know it didn't happen like this but i imagine a English Parliament House Committee Member For The Education Of The Masses or something #cartoonishly stumbling over a dusty cobwebbed crate labelled the Complete Works of Shakespeare #and going 'Eureka! this shall make excellent propoganda for fabricating a national identity in a time of great social unrest. #it will be a cornerstone of our elitist educational institutions for centuries to come! long live our decaying empire!' #'what good fortune that this used to be accessible and entertaining to mainstream illiterate audience members... #..but now we can strip that away and make it a difficult & alienating foundation of a Classical Education! just like the latin language :)' #anyway maybe there's no such thing as the 'greatest writer of x language' in ANY language? #maybe there are just different styles and yes levels of expertise and skill but also a high degree of subjectivity #and variance in the way that we as individuals and members of different cultures/time periods experience any work of media #and that's okay! and should be acknowledged!!! and allow us to give ourselves permission to broaden our horizons #and explore the stories of marginalized/underappreciated creators #instead of worshiping the List of Top 10 Best (aka Most Famous) Whatevers Of All Time/A Certain Time Period #anyways things are famous for a reason and that reason has little to do with innate “value” #and much more to do with how it plays into the interests of powerful institutions motivated to influence our shared cultural narratives #so i'm not saying 'stop teaching shakespeare'. but like...maybe classrooms should stop using it as busy work that (by accident or designs) #happens to alienate a large number of students who could otherwise be engaging critically with works that feel more relevant to their world #(by merit of not being 4 centuries old or lacking necessary historical context or requiring untaught translation skills) #and yeah...MAYBE our educational institutions could spend less time/money on shakespeare critical analysis and more on... #...any of thousands of underfunded areas of literary research i literally (pun!) don't know where to begin #oh and p.s. the modern publishing world is in shambles and it would be neat if schoolwork could include modern works? #beautiful complicated socially relevant works of literature are published every year. it's not just the 'classics' that have value #and actually modern publications are probably an easier way for students to learn the basics. since lesson plans don't have to include the #important historical/cultural context many teens need for 20+ year old media (which is older than their entire lived experience fyi)

[fishareglorious]

windsong's emotional support fish that gives her words of affirmation every time she puts herself down about her job

source image:

#reverse 1999 #windsong #vila #fish doodles #technically this too is also a #r1999 shitpost #like the entire time vila and everyone from rayashki keeps telling her her job is cool and useful and she is so flabbergasted by it #windsong: ah.. the study of leylines isn't even recognized by most if not all academic institutions... i don't think i'll be of much help.. #vila: nuh uh #windsong:

[layraket]

Creatures Gang as random videos pt 2!

spent time recollecting a lot of videos to put together with this AU while im working on it, still have others for a 3rd part! if you sent me some videos that'll go well together with some of the creatures i will love you forever tho /p

Sorry Fairy Rulie lovers i couldn't really find where to put my special boy :( he will appear more often in the things that im working on tho!

part 1

#linked universe #linkeduniverse #linked universe memes #Creatures Gang #im not tagging them all #i dont know when i'll post all the other things #the institute is giving me lots of troubles not only academics lol #videos

[megumi-fm]

okay so I will be back to posting properly soon but first this is my loudest reminder to myself that CONSISTENCY DOES WORK GUESS WHO GOT A 10/10 GPA THIS SEMESTER

#meg.txt #all thanks to the motivation i got here and consistently keeping track of all my todos and making kutti progress everyday #this semester was also easier than most. #but yeah its been quite an academic year. got an editorial published. got 10gpa. got internship at the best science Institute in the countr #all this while making sure i took out enough time to consider my health and adhd as well. #baby meg would be so proud. everything im doing is for her <3

[maythearo]

College of Belas Artes using AI designs in advertisement for their courses, hm interesting, eat acid please

#shut up may #entire art world mutually understands this tech is not being used as a tool but to exploit and leave artists jobless #so yeah anyway one of the biggest academic institutions for art in Brazil uses it for their own promo anyway #bcs god forbid they hire any of the artists they graduate to make important social media advertisement right /s #the advertisement that announces open matriculations for the year therefore first inpressions of their institution as a whole #they graduate their students bcs they're paying for classes but offering job opportunities is suddenly not their responsibility anymore ig #whoever the fuck is the head of these decisions is so utterly out of touch with the art market like how do you still have a job #idk if I expect any uproar because this is Brazil after all and it's cultural how much we undermine art in general 🧍i hate it here #hope all ai bros go to hell this is not an exaggeration

[the-magpie-archives]

#Very curious... Please elaborate on your choice in the tags if you care to. #I personally would never leave. Access to those resources in an academic environment along with otherworldly knowledge? #Ideal employment opportunity. #But probably the murder and stuff is offputting to some people. #Also ik technically you couldn't leave at all during most of S5 but you could for like... The first two episodes? #tma #the magnus archives #the magnus institute #jonathan sims #the archivist #tma polls

[femme-cottagewhore]

It’s so crazy colleges are like “We want active students who care about politics!” “We want people who organize their community by starting clubs in high school!” “Our favorite essays are about experiences with marginalization!” And then get mad when they have politically active community organizer students with a nuanced understanding of marginalization

#I promised myself I wouldn’t so discourse #but I go to a school where this is like. So Very True #and I think it’s probably true at all the academically rigorous private universities #Like if schools don’t want people to be active and caring and thoughtful #change the admission process #I just hate private institutions #wish I was at a public university #hypocrisy #protest

[indigosfindings]

always thinking about a video i saw years ago arguing that professional film critics are More Correct than the layperson because they're More Objective, and the example given was that a Professional might remark on things like contrast/affinity. the intended takeaway was that critics base their observations on Objective And Quantifiable Facts, unlike puerile commoners (whose opinions have nothing to do with the contents of the movie)

and like. there are a lot of things one could say about this, but what i keep thinking of is the sheer flimsiness of the argument. remarking on contrast is in fact not a qualitative observation! noting whether a shot is high-contrast says literally nothing about your opinion on it!! as soon as you tack on "...and that's a good thing," you're making a subjective statement! what function is served by claiming that certain opinions are ~Objective~, other than defending the idea of a Superior Intelligent Elite that the Uneducated Masses should look to for The Correct Opinions like a dog begging for table scraps

#the funniest part is that the video was by a self-professed anarchist #like yes let's defend the current academic institution as the sole vector of legitimate learning #and bifurcate all analysis into 'educated = objective = superior' vs 'uneducated = subjective = inferior' #this is an anarchist opinion.

[alicemation-1]

Guys i started a new job and i was interviewed by like the head of the institute and he asked me what i was most afraid of like wth😭😭😭

#womp womp #His eyes looked right into my soul too #like i answered and everything but in all honesty i have no clue why #i was so truthful he looked at me so weirdly after #anyway now im a researcher in an academic institute whoooo #also my boss is such a dick and he needs to take a nap #tma #elias bouchard

[999-roses]

unpacking 'sinophone' and its sinophobic roots

so. it never occurred to me to just type "sino diaspora" into google before.

and google is like "oi!! you meant sinophone yeah? here's wikipedia on sinophone" and here's like the other top results

I'm squinting. What the hell do you academics have against diaspora using the term diaspora?? I click.

inb4 this whole rant: I have no qualms with using sinophone as a language-family-use descriptor (like sinophone media), but coming from academia or as an academic field unto itself. but. the literature about wanting to use it as a demographics thing & separate it from "chineseness". just. looook if anyone knows that they're no longer like this let me know. with what im seeing, im having a bad faith moment

so... this is the academic that's hard pushed the term for sinophone.

"crit on orientalism might be complicit for allowing Chinese intellectuals to call themselves victim under an 'unreflective' nationalism" & "but the flipside may be a new imperialism" yeah?? any more unsubstantiated claims???

What a joke!! Clearly only takes authority about Chinese history from western sources, like literally has the uncritical echo of "X country doesn't deserve territorial integrity" that literally fueled western imperialism, and not just of China. Treaty of Nanjing 1842 ringing no bells? Sigh. National sovereignty is the barest basis against overt imperialism where someone just comes over and declares where you live their colony!!! ... is this a test in how far can you stretch the definition of imperialism or colonization? lmfao, China invests in poverty-relieving measures like building houses and improving infrastructure out in Tibet, Guizhou, Xinjiang, and you have the audacity to call that colonizing?!? 我真无言了。

different article by the same person:

laughable to think that the Chinese state even bothers to think I exist, let alone talk to me about my diaspora status. (I was born in the US)

also, people are really out there saying 'diaspora has an end date' huh

here it is. here is the 'scholar' conflating American or western imperialism with things Big Bad Scary Red China does.

Clearly mixing up concepts of tributary system with colonialism, and acting like historically (other than Yuan era under Genghis) that ancient China/Chinese culture was expansionist, going around trying to conquer peoples and set up colonies. Admiral Zheng He would spit on you.

Comparing the spread of culture and language in Ancient China to the colonization and subjugation that the French/Belgium did in Africa, or the British Empire, or the Spanish and Portuguese in Latin America, is so blatantly dishonest. The indigenous people of Tibet, Inner Mongolia, and Xinjiang still speak their own languages and use their own scripts, and yes, they learn them in schools alongside the national language... which is Chinese!!! Yes the Hanyu writing system was adopted and adapted by many neighboring cultures in ancient times, but you literally don't examine WHY? The fluidity in its system: frequently non-Han peoples invented characters to suit their language, like there's even some Canto-specific characters that are in use today. Another reason that Chinese writing system was so popular was because two Sinitic language speakers who do not speak the same language could communicate through the same script. Yeah, Ancient Chinese scholars and dignitaries often had an insufferable elite-ness and superiority complex, but describing their attitude as subjugating and forcing other people to adopt their system? What a wildly malicious mischaracterisation!

just... mask off, gringo butt-licker.

Please. where is the "Chinese containment" policy? The white papers reaffirming what the international community agrees, what Taiwan historically agrees (tho Taiwan held that it was the true capital/head of all of China), that Taiwan is part of China?? I know this article was written back in 2010s but are you seriously comparing American weapons deals and boots on the ground with Chinese military exercises in Chinese territory that haven't harmed a single civilian? "critical" my ass!

gotta love the title of this one. yeah, I know it, I've seen it before. the Chinese or feminist binary, pick a side /s

but hey in this piece she admits she's ignorant and unobjective and out of her league sometimes?

edit: found this:

yeah that about seals it for me. anti"diaspora" sinophobe

#sino diaspora #diaspora #逆向种族分子 #long post #chen yells at clouds. more at 10 #sinophobia #sorry. personal rabbit hole. and taking things personally #we're committing ad hominem crimes today folks #sure chinese->lunar new year. im fine w that. but can you fucks stop trying to take away chineseness away from people who still ID as??? #this person is literally doing the western empire's work of laying ground for sinophobia #can't tell if this academic is a grifter or actually serious lmfao #as if american chinese diaspora don't call americans 老美 and call ourselves 老中. i mean yes i call myself 老美 when in china but hello?? #you cloak your 'expertise' in the lingua & clothes & rituals of western academics. just shake your colonized ass for white people more #reading this drivel makes me want to go into asian american studies & grab this and shake it around like a ragdoll. #but im reminded that western institutions and definitely academics unquestionably cite western sources w/o hesitation #but give anything coming out of China even just academics not anything gov related with skepticism. so it's probably a no-fly #yeah sure im a 'sinophone' but im also diaspora so fuck you. 你忘了你祖先你的族梗。你这个逆子找白人拜金去了。就你这样做榜样？让海外华裔立起来？丢死人。跟你的英文大白菜出卖同类吧 #fuck you for saying that diaspora's connection to their heritage & culture are currently being severed& should be severed & studied as such #like literally uncritical of how exactly that happens. why so many diaspora have internalized racism driving them to scrub themselves of #their asianness heck even chineseness. try to scrub it all away but you still got an asian face. so fuck you #didn't look into 'asian american studies' much before but if it's a lot like this... well. 🤨 #like this academic is so disconnected from our shared histories AHSIJIJDSIAJDAAAHAAHGGHGGG #+ my poasts #imperial core circus

[opens-up-4-nobody]

hypothetical struggle between Christianity and paganism in bbc merlin? 👀 one that's very neurodivergent? 👀 do tell

Okay, so Athurian times take place in the early dark ages. Which was probably a weird time for religion in Britain. Because the Roman occupation had just come to an end, leaving behind the structure of catholicism at least with those in positions of power. But religious beliefs were still in the process of blending together with the local practices and other religions, leading to some odd gnostic beliefs. Obviously, bbc merlin doesn't talk about Christianity within Camelot but I think we can assume the catholic church would have a position at the round table. Presumably, Arthur would grow up instructed in catholic belief, go to mass, and have bishops or whatever advising him. He would rule by Devine right, sanctioned by the pope and magic would be characterized as demonic. And that somehow raises the stakes for me, imaging magical merlin within the walls of a very catholic Camelot.

I just have this image of merlin in the back of a cathedral as Arthur attends mass. Kneeling in this beautiful building, head bowed low as the congregation sings praise to a foreign God in a foreign tongue. A God that would apparently have merlin tied to a stake and burned alive. And merlin choking out his empty prayers, echoing in the verbal praise under the isolation of his nonbelief and magical association. Full of fear and venom.

The hypothetical struggle I imagine is one of catholic enforcement pushed by Arthur's religious advisors and Arthur's morality. Because Arthur is a good person and slaughtering a people on the basis religion is insane. So, what does it mean for Arthur if he stops listening to his advisors and starts accepting magic? He has to contend with a spiritual struggle, not just the secular issues presented in the show. And I would looooooove to watch that. The bending of Arthur's beliefs into something more flexible and less rigidly Christian according to the church of the time

#my knowledge on this topic in terms of historical accuracy is blurry so im im wrong: pls for the love of god correct me #but idk if arthur was catholic the entire structure of his idea of the universe would have to change if he started accepting magic #and i think that would be a super interesting transition. where would he land? would he shift to being a more gnostic style Christian? #lose his faith? idk id probably make him like my dad who thinks hell is a human construct and that all are welcom in the kingdom of heaven #and that people should just be kind to eachother. very les mis to love another person is to see the face of god #bc i loooove that idea. i find it fascinating. idk i just think religion is interesting #bc its like how ppl fundamentally understand the universe to work and that is so wild. like i can understand why it was so important in ye #oldy times lol. idk im just a bit fixated on it atm. like its the type of obsession thst feels too big for my head so its straining at the #seams. its also weird bc since its religion my brain is doing that awful thing where its questioning my interest in the topic like r u #questioning ur lack of faith? and im like bro no this is academic interest leave me alone. bc im prone to intrusive thoughts and obsessive #behavior. so thsts fun. but its not too unmanageable rn. so its interesting #idk i probably sound unhinged. lmao i headcanon ✨️ catholic!arthur ✨️ and his fall from grace in the eyes of the church rip #ay religion in not necessarily bad but human institutions are usually fucked #merlin rambling #unrelated

[lith-myathar]

.

#i joke about it and all but like. i cannot emphasize enough what an impact it had on me to be uhhhhhb #micro-institutionalized in the way that i was for the first 14 years if my life #and i am honestly going to count the time i soent in ''elementary'' school bc it wasn't a normal school. it was a charter school #that began as a parent organized alternative and swiftly devolved into an authoritarian nightmare #a bunch of people who were simply not ready to educate children let alone ''problem'' children #of which there were MANY because that school got all the kids who had been turned out of public school for behavioral issues #there were hardline rules about literally everything. normal childhood behavior was pathologized and punished and as a kid #you had no way to understand WHY #and so many of your peers were having problems because ofc those ''problem'' kids were typically severely traumatized #or were actively being abused #so even if it wasn't happening TO you you were being exposed to it in a hundred little ways every day #so i was confused and miserable all the time AND was struggling academically bc i had undiagnosed adhd #(or possibly just trauma?? i honestly neither know nor care which came first at this point) #so my mom pulled me and my brother out. him at 11 and me at 6 and said ''i'll just do it myself'' and #raised us in a way that wasn't religious but resembled evangelical or lds stuff #i couldn't watch commercial tv or listen to popular music bc my parents didn't want me exposed to what they considered inappropriate #and while i still had extracurriculars i was always the odd one out bc i had no exposure to pop culture or normal socialization #for my age group #it resulted in me always feeling alone and like i didn't belong. and since most of my social life was my parents and their friends #that was the perfect soup for adultification #i was fine with adults. put me with my peers and i was a mess #it made the transition to high school incredibly difficult but i DID make it #but that was only 4 years still in an institution. everything began to unravel once i tried to move into anything resembling ''real life'' #and then my dad's suicide which was a major trauma in early adulthood which only made my mom's grip on us tighten #i did get to START life until 26. not really. and it's just been a game of catch up for the last 5 years #and im so *angry* at the unfairness of it all. at the time and experience and milestones that were taken from me. at how i blamed myself #for it for so many years and the problems i developed because of it all. dissociation and substance abuse and suicidality #the fear that still has a death grip on me #the courage required to just exist #it's *exhausting*

[doctorweebmd]

in other news tomorrow is match #3 for me and I suicide ranked only my home program. So.

#the match system is so dystopian if you think about it for more than 1 second #you interview at programs all over the country. you make your list of where to go. they make their list. #then a giant algorithm sorts people into their highest ranked program that also wants them back #so if you’re bound to a certain geographic area #you better hope it’s an undesirable place to live a non-academic program or that you’re the most stellar applicant #for residency I desperately wanted to leave my home state and matched at my 2nd choice but interviewed at 12 programs #for fellowship number one I interviewed at 10 places and matched my first choice #now with fellowship number two I interviewed at 4 places and only ranked one #we call that suicide ranking because it’s an all your eggs in one basket situation #either you get it or you don’t have a job. #it’s not a big deal for me really because I would otherwise just enter the workforce #but it’s actually late to look for work starting next academic year #essentially if I don’t match it’s going to be a scramble to find something #yikes. I know it will be fine. I’m a good candidate. I’ve been at this institution for 5 years #but I’m still super anxious

[unopenablebox]

full disclosure that i may be receiving a patagonia fleece with the label of the biotech company i work for on it tomorrow. i assume that as soon as i put it on i will experience a full-body permanent werewolf transformation into a tech bro and be sent out to roam kendall square, hunting for organic grain bowls and venture capital

#ok i don't work for a biotech company per se #like. i am an academic. im just an academic who is technically rented out to a nonprofit immediately adjacent to the academic institution #and who only does work for that institution. even though technically the ~self-funding nonprofit~ like. owns it? #man i don't actually know how this works huh #but that's beside the point. #the point is that i need to do due diligence disclosure that tomorrow i will be a guy who has a patagonia with my employer's logo on it. #and i need us all to be ready to take whatever actions we see fit #box opener #doctor worm

[cowboyslikedean]

just saw someone say “try tiktok” as a good place to research economics and like. girl please don’t i will GIVE you my jstor log in im begging you. i’ll summarise any article u like. please.

#not all jstor articles are written in terrible illegible academic prose i promise #it’s just so much easier to vet the authors and their institutions and get an idea of the biases behind the info ur getting #lucys ramblings #there IS good info on tiktok but u have to know where to look it’s not exactly a foolproof plan to just stick a term in the search bar #and just start watching hoping to find something credible