Karl Andersson

Anthropologist

An empty walkway in the park Hasenheide in Berlin, Germany, with yellow leaves scattered across the ground.

PhD week 5: 18-24 October 2021

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The PhD continues with seminars, readings, Japanese studies, and walks – my local park has become very autumny. I got up quite early the whole week, which is the best way to accumulate as many hours as possible before lunch.

There is very little space in the schedule that is unaccounted for. The white space is usually preparation for going out, administration between tasks, or even taking a shower – I try to minimise idle and random screentime. The white space on Saturday morning is actually me cleaning the windows for the first time in several years! What a difference it makes.

Also, I worked (especially Saturday night) and spent some time today doing my taxes for Q3 2021.

PhD week 5: 18-24 October 2021.

Readings

  • Hall, Donald E., and Annamarie Jagose, eds. 2012. The Routledge Queer Studies Reader:
    • Introduction.
    • Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick. 1994. ‘Queer and Now’. (In Tendencies.)
    • Judith Butler. 1993. ‘Critically Queer’. (In Bodies that matter.)
    • David Halperin. 2002. ‘How to do the history of male homosexuality’. (In How to do the history of homosexuality.)
    • Sara Ahmed. 2004. ‘Queer Feelings’. (In The Cultural Politics of Emotion.)
  • Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick. 1990. Epistemology of the Closet. Pages 1–35.

The ‘reader’ had a cumbersome introduction. I couldn’t get hold of the whole volume but found some chapters in their original books. Not so relevant, I’m even critical to Halperin’s divisions, and I found Ahmed quite hard to read. Butler was my favourite, especially the part on how speaking creates the subject (her focus is ‘queer’ as a term).

I started reading Sedgwick’s classic Epistemology of the Closet only on Friday and look forward to what it will give me over the next week! Will try to speed up my reading of it though.

Seminars

  • Tuesday: One seminar on reference managers and one on the Latex editor Overleaf, which included a part on reference management that inspired me to blog about it: Choosing a reference manager.
  • Wednesday: Optimise your PhD journey. People are dropping out, we were probably less than half this time. (I sort of expected this.)
  • Thursday and Friday: Two webinars on data management by the UK Data Service. I’m quite familiar with the themes now, having attended two seminars by the library about this, and also having learned about it in the Research Integrity course.

Japanese

Anki, kanji, news, anime, and:

  • Sōmatome N2 reading, from 6-3 to 6-7 = finished that book too!
  • Saitō Tamaki, a couple of pages of close reading and translation.

I finished Macross last weekend and it’s really such a beautiful series! This week I have watched some scattered series:

  • Shaman King (a few episodes up to 10)
  • Made in Abyss (episode 8)
  • Kiitarou Shounen no Youkai Enikki (episode 2)
  • Bubblegum Crisis (episode 3)

Coming up

My second supervision meeting is coming up, although we have not scheduled it yet. I will then report on my readings so far.

My feeling now

I feel good! Finally. Let’s enjoy the upcoming week!

Choosing a reference manager

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I’ve been using Zotero for reference management so far. I like that it is open source. However, I have not used it integrated with a word processor (in my case, Libreoffice or even Apple Pages). I’ve copied my references manually, which (as I’m realising now) means a lot of work, especially if I want to change the reference style, but also when just adding or removing references.

Yesterday I attended a session on reference management, and it turned out that the University of Manchester provides Endnote to all students, and that Endnote is really well integrated into Microsoft Word, which is also provided.

The session convinced me to switch from Zotero + Libreoffice to Endnote + Word.

But then I attended another session the very same afternoon, on how to use the Latex editor Overleaf, which is also provided by the university. I’ve always been curious about Latex, it seems so clean and lightweight. It turned out that Overleaf has reference management integrations for Mendeley and Zotero – but not for Endnote!

So now I think my solution will be Zotero + Overleaf!

I can at least try it for my shorter papers that are coming up, and if it’s working well I can use it for my dissertation.

I think it’s a question of attitude and identity. It empowers me not to have to resort to proprietary software giants. Like Zotero, Latex is open source and so is the whole Overleaf platform, I’m just finding out. So the choice is really simple. And fun: These are the paraphernalia that add good energy to your research!

PhD week 4: 11-17 October 2021

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Mostly reading and seminars this week. I also got two rejections: Of the abstract i submitted for a special issue (admittedly a stretch) and of the article I submitted to a journal in August 2021.

PhD on a distance: Week 4 (11-17 October 2021).

I’ve been a PhD student for one month now, so I recorded a little update of what it’s been like.

Reading

  • Jagose, Annamarie. 1996. Queer Theory: An Introduction. Lots of overlaps with Sullivan 2003, which I read last week, but that’s good, it means the subject is graspable (despite everyone’s insistence on the ungraspability of ‘queer’).
  • Rubin, Gayle S. 1984. ‘Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of the Politics of Sexuality’. A classic essay, and deservedly so: Just wow, what a positive and sound piece of writing!

Seminars

  • Tuesday: The second session about a Data Management Plan, this time Q&A so I asked: When are we supposed to create our DMP? The answer: As soon as possible. It will live with you throughout and after your research project. The library helps in reviewing it.
  • Wednesday: Optimise your PhD journey. Started off from the text ‘Swimming with sharks’.
  • Thursday: Critical analysis. How to read critically. Nothing new but good repetition.
  • Friday: Enhance your public speaking skills using improvisation techniques. Fun and useful!

Japanese

Anki, kanji, news, anime, and:

  • Try N2, chapter 13-1, 13-2 and 14 = finished the book!
  • Sōmatome N2 reading, from 5-2 to 6-2.
  • Saitō Tamaki, a couple of pages of close reading and translation.

I’m at episode 34 of Macross and might finish it tonight – it’s 36 episodes in total. I love it and relate to it on a personal level.

TV

Finished The White Lotus, such a perfect piece of entertainment!

State of mind

It’s fun! I can be sick of the book I’m reading at the end of the day, but next day I’m excited to start the next chapter and learn more. It’s almost like taking classes, but by reading chapters. I think it’s the intensity of the reading that creates that feeling. I wake up by myself at 7 or 8 in the morning. I keep studying eight effective hours per day. I want to keep this going.

PhD week 3: 4-10 October 2021

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This week I read Nikki Sullivan’s book A Critical Introduction to Queer Theory from 2003, and took lots of notes. I liked her style, but it’s funny how quickly queer stuff dates. I mean, debates about whether ‘sadomasochism’ (as it was called at the time) is patriarchal or not … It just feels very long ago. Even so there are certain aspects of it (fantasy vs reality) that have bearing on my own research, and the historical chapters were very useful.

Yesterday I took some time to collect more readings for the upcoming weeks. I couldn’t find a downloadable copy of Routledge Queer Studies Reader, but I could borrow a bad (as in too dark pages) copy at the Internet Archive, and realised that all texts had been published elsewhere – and I could find and download the sources for all relevant chapters. That’s when I realised why it’s called reader: A reader is a collection of texts that have already been published elsewhere. The curation of these texts by an editor is the justification of the reader, along with an introduction.

I keep studying at least 8 hours per day effectively, except on Wednesday, which was a social day that ended with dinner at Paolo Pinkel. But therefore I worked half a day on Saturday too. In general it was a social week: Lunch with H at Life Berlin on Thursday, brunch at O/H’s today, and before that I had AB over for a talk.

Am I reading too slowly? Is one book per week to little? I should probably skip and skim parts that are too detailed and dated. It’s a challenge because it goes against my compulsive personality.

I got a student account (and an email address!) at the University of Stavanger, so I guess that means I was admitted to the three-day course in queer autoethnography that I applied for last week. It will take place in November 2021.

My third week as a PhD student.

Book

  • Sullivan, Nikki. 2003. A Critical Introduction to Queer Theory. New York: New York University Press.

Japanese

Anki, kanji, news, anime, and:

  • Try N2, chapter 11, 12-1 and 12-2.
  • Sōmatome N2 reading, from 3-6 to 5-1.

Episode 27 of Macross was just amazing! Such a closure with love, music, message, and action. I wonder what they will do for the rest of the series.

General feeling

I feel confident. The project feels fathomable. It’s ‘only’ three years; the master’s was two. I’ll create a piece of unique research that builds on existing research. My research proposal and the working title for my project already exist – and that feels like half the work. Now I’ve begun. It feels a bit like having stepped out onto the stage, and once you’re there, it feels much better than the nervous waiting – a year of preparations! Let’s do this.

TV

I’ll admit I also started watching The White Lotus, since I saw it’s by Mike White. Call it a guilty pleasure (guilty since it’s in English and not related to my studies), but I just love contemporary American satire. It’s so well done. Made me think of Woody Allen.

PhD smart protein bar at Südgelände

PhD week 2: 27 September – 3 October 2021

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As planned, I spent most of the week reading, finishing two books. In between the reading sessions I studied Japanese, which is a nice break from the screen. I’m exhausted at the end of each eight-hour workday and fall asleep easily, sleep soundly.

Nice week weather-wise, I’ve tried to be out a lot. Today I passed by the Şehitlik mosque and realised they had the yearly ‘offener Tag’ (‘open day’), so I went inside and they were just starting the afternoon prayer. It was beautiful to see men of different ages, walks of life, and style of clothes praying together. I was moved by it.

Week 2 of the PhD: Yellow is reading, green is Japanese.

Monday

  • Applied for a three-day course on ‘queer autoethnography’ in November 2021. This included writing a bit about my research to explain why I’m a good fit for the course.
  • Emailed about a queer seminar in Hong Kong in December 2021, but it was only open to those who would present.
  • Applied for the ethnographic film festival in Göttingen in 2022 – I have friends there so it would be fun to go there.
  • Ran in the park.

Tuesday

  • Had an unrelated work meeting.

Wednesday

  • Walk and talk with Ale on beautiful Tempelhofer Feld.

Thursday

  • Zoom introduction to the eprog platform of my university.

Friday

  • Had a talk with O over coffee at my place.
  • Ran again!

Saturday

  • Biked with A to Südgelände, an amazing and unique park where I hadn’t been before. He brought a protein bar called ‘PhD smart’.
  • Was invited to a fig with gorgonzola at my friend and neighbour O’s in the evening.

Sunday

  • Submitted an abstract for a special issue of a journal.
  • Registered for the Yucatan conference in November 2021 and paid my fee (44 euro).
  • Visited the Şehitlik mosque.
  • Recorded my impressions of Georges Bataille’s book Eroticism:

Course

  • Research Integrity (last module)

Books

  • Galbraith, P. W. 2021. The Ethics of Affect: Lines and Life in a Tokyo Neighborhood. Stockholm: Stockholm University Press.
    • 4: The Ethics of Affect: Drawing Lines with Bishōjo Game Producers and Players (p. 157–94)
    • 5: Hajikon: Bodily Encounters and Dangerous Games (p. 195–236)
    • 6: Conclusion: A World that’s Ending: Do You Love Me? (p. 237–52)
    • 7: Epilogue (p. 253–56)
    • 8: Appendix: Notes on Perverse Methodology (p. 257–70)
  • Weeks, Jeffrey. 2009. Sexuality. 3rd ed. New York: Routledge.
    • 1: The Languages of Sex
    • 2: The Invention of Sexuality
    • 3: The Meanings of Sexual Difference
    • 4: The Challenge of Diversity
    • 5: Sexuality, Intimacy and Politics
    • 6: Private Pleasures and Public Policies

Japanese

Anki, kanji, news, anime, and:

  • Try N2, chapter 9-1, 9-2, 10-1, 10-2 (except the last test)
  • Sōmatome N2 reading, from 2-5 to 3-5

Life

It became October.

PhD week 1: 20–26 September 2021

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My first week as a PhD student was quite intense! In the mornings I took an online course on research integrity. Except the online events and some school administration, I spent most of the time reading, especially Patrick Galbraith’s new book, which is very fitting for my research.

I had my first meeting with my supervisors. We agreed that I will focus on reading background literature and theory during the first semester and on more subject specific literature during the second. Both will result in some kind of writing, one for the mid-year review in January 2022 (end of the first semester), the second for the end-of-year review in June 2022.

I’ve decided to be diligent in treating this PhD as a full-time job, so I created a spreadsheet where I enter everything I’m doing that is part of the PhD (seminars, reading, learning Japanese, etc), down to the quarter, until it reaches eight hours per day – eight effective hours that is, and damn, I’m working into the late evenings to succeed with that! But it’s good to have this structure. I’m also diligent in eating well and getting exercise every day – usually an hour’s power walk in the nearby park.

PhD week 1 schedule in spreadsheet
My first PhD week schedule as visualised in the spreadsheet.

Monday

The first day of my PhD studies – here we go:

Tuesday

Wednesday

Friday

  • My first supervision meeting! (2h)

Saturday

  • Tandem training (Japanese and German) with K, while we watched the inlines marathon.

Sunday

  • Marathon in the morning – O came over and watched it from my terrace.
  • Voting in the afternoon, together with A. Afterwards we had a walk and tried Victoria Tacos. Tasty but not so much food – you have to order plenty of them.

My thoughts right now

Things have become clearer. The first year of my PhD will basically be about reading, which suits me well, but demands structure, which I created the spreadsheet for. It feels good to have set targets with my supervisors, and to feel that we are thinking the same way about my research and that I have their support.

Course

  • Research Integrity

PhD related

My Manchester News:

Journal article

Books

  • Georges Bataille: Eroticism (part 2).
    • 5: Mysticism and sensuality (p. 221–51)
    • 6: Sanctity, eroticism and solitude (p. 252–64)
    • 7: A preface to “Madame Edwarda” (p. 265–71)
    • Conclusion (p. 273–76)
  • Galbraith, P. W. 2021. The Ethics of Affect: Lines and Life in a Tokyo Neighborhood. Stockholm: Stockholm University Press.
    • Introduction (p. 1–38)
    • 1: Imaginary Sex and Crime in Japan: A Brief History (p. 39–76)
    • 2: Coming of Age in Akihabara: Imaginary Sex in Public (p. 77–116)
    • 3: Moving Images: Affection by Design (p. 117–55)

Japanese

Anki, kanji, news, and:

  • Try N2, chapter 8.

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