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Plato’s Arse
Diary of my journey through a Philosophy masters (completed!) and a Victorian Gothic masters.
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Hoo boy the workload for this masters seems a lot bigger than my Philosophy MA, but I think that's because this MA has two live online 90 min seminars (not lectures, seminars that require 3 hrs of prep each) per week. The mode of teaching is very different compared to the OU, where we only had one live online lecture per module and the rest of the time we were entirely left to it. I much prefer that - two compulsory long seminars a week is too much for what's meant to be a flexible degree. I just want to be given the materials and left alone!
#also we have to have cameras on for seminars#which is also unfair because the seminars are in the early evening when I want to be cooking and doing other things at the same time#roughly you're meant to dedicate 8 hrs a week to a part-time MA#6 hrs prep for 2 seminars a week leaves 2 hrs for extra stuff#easily achievable#just gotta get over myself and deal with it!
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CHRIST I just found out that Imperial’s running an online course in the history of magic and the occult beginning in October AND they cover the specific topic of the Victorian occult revival, which is directly relevant to my thesis idea.
#live lectures every weds 7-9pm#could fit it in around my master’s evening tutorials#but the course is also just under £500#but it is for 20 weeks#so 40hrs lecture time#which is not bad really#god’s sake!#do I or do I not
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Okay, well, I got institutional online library access…but my access seems to be a lot more restricted than it was with the OU. Literally can’t get any of the 5 books/articles on my list.
#fucking hell this is bad#how does a uni have such poor online access#how can I not see any Oxford University Press stuff#like c’mon#what are these insane tuition fees going towards
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It’s almost 2pm on a Thursday, so naturally I have zero ability to focus on this article I want to read.
#on Greco-Egyptian collections of alchemical recipes#I swear after lunch my energy just plummets#zero concentration#I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again#my only true working hours are 8-12
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Well I did get accepted for the masters, so I guess we’re starting that at the end of September! Just looking forward to having institutional online library access again tbh…
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Assuming that I'd be accepted onto the masters, I started compiling notes for my dissertation a few weeks ago and currently have about 14k words worth of notes. It was at this point in my Philosophy MA that I paused to take stock and write my proposal, but it seems to be a very different situation this time. I definitely don't feel like I've read enough to flesh out a dissertation, but I don't really know how to proceed...
#I pretty much had a fully fleshed out diss with 14k words for my philosophy ma#but for some reason with this topic I feel like I hardly have anything for a full diss#although I have a solid question for my diss I don't really know what my answer is#or how to explore the topic enough to reach a convincing conclusion#maybe I'm just overthinking it and it's actually okay#but I'm very much not stressed because I won't have to write this diss until summer 2026#lol
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Fuck it, we’re doing another masters. Victorian Gothic, let’s go!
#starts in Sept#second part time online MA here I come#just using up all my savings on masters#no big deal#at least this one might be easier because I already know my dissertation topic#and might already have nearly 14k words of notes on that topic#🌚
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Cannot let go of the idea of doing a part time philosophy PhD while I work. Waiting for sense to prevail, but it’s taking its damn time!
#I think ideally I’d want to do a PhD full time so I focus solely on the research#I don’t think I could do that shit for up to 8 years part time#my attention span has its limits#also costs?#over 2k a year part time#could get a student loan of course#philosophy PhD#also can’t decide between two topics#indecision is the mood of the month
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Started a job mid June, so here we are! Managed to stay in drug discovery as well, who’d have thought.
#still a scientist#might try and stay in this one for five years#match my old job#maybe in five years I’ll have a solid philosophy PhD proposal lol
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Applied for an epidemiologist job, so we’ll see how that goes. The advert said they’re looking for start dates throughout 2024, so there’s that.
Edit: Didn’t make it to interview. Was a long shot, anyway.
#the one job where my unavailability for the first half of 2024 won’t be a problem#gonna throw a chair out the window at the next job advert that says entry level but then requires prior knowledge and experience
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Well I got rejected for the UKHSA job, so back to the drawing board.
Edit: turns out I was the second highest-scoring interviewee and the only reason I didn’t get the job was because I couldn’t start until May. Good sign for if I want to apply for a UKHSA job again.
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Well I got 86% for my diss and a Distinction overall for my MA, which was a VERY nice surprise. Cheers to that!
#I’d calculated that I got 80% overall#but that was an absolute calculation so they must have shifted the grade boundaries#because officially it’s 85% or more for a Distinction#but I’m very happy so well done to me#philosophy
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Well, the biomedical scientist route is a no-go. However, I have an interview for a UKHSA job tomorrow, so we’ll see about that. Won’t be able to start until next May, though…
#the prep I’ve done for this interview#is honestly mad#they should hire me on my prep alone#the good thing about civil service competency interviews#is that you can rehearse a lot of answers#and BOY have I done that
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Gonna feel like a very long wait until we get our result in December. In the meantime I’ve started a Coursera course on epidemiology and have emailed the IBMS asking them to assess my undergrad degree and tell me which (if any) supplementary modules I’d need to become a BMS.
#just keeping my options open#doesn’t hurt to ask#also read some more chapters about magic etc#still trying to think of a potential PhD topic#today came up with:#rationalism magic and the re-enchantment of science in the 20th century#sounds pretty cool to me
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In an usual state of high motivation today. Read pretty much the entirety of Magic: A Very Brief Introduction and then started on The Last Days of Socrates. Read the main intro and the intro to Euthyphro.
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It’s officially deadline day and although I submitted my diss like a week ago I thought I’d celebrate and treat myself to a few new books 👀 Leviathan, Locke’s political writings, and The Last Days of Socrates.
#couldn’t find Locke’s two treatises by themselves#so had to get a collection#only wanted the last days of Socrates for Euthyphro
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Submitted my diss! It’s done, over. Don’t get results until early Dec, so a long wait ahead!
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