#this is how i use the knowledge i gained from researching for my dissertation

[blackmetalbats]

ok i have more than 1 note i can go

if you were to ask me which knights can be interpreted as gay (in the medieval materials, im not considering any readaptation after the 1300s) i would say GALEHAUT!!!

Galehaut is in love with Lancelot. he is canonically in love with him in the Vulgate cycle, and their story is actually very sweet. he is plagued by strange dreams, and the clerics discover that one of the three illnesses has insinuated into his heart: the "sickness of love", which is fatal. he knows he doesnt have too much time left.

when his castle ruins, Galehaut tells Lancelot that he doesnt care too much for it, as long as he's around him. he sticks by his side, and even helps him out in his adulterous love affair with the queen Gueneviere. Galehaut is brefly engaged with the lady of Malehaut, but shortly after he sends her a messanger to say that he releases her from any obligations because he is going to stick with Lancelot in his adventures.

Galehaut's feelings for Lancelot are not defined as sexual, but it's defined as "companionship".

at the end of the second section of the Lancelot du Lac, Galehaut is wounded, in the desperate search of Lancelot (who is thought by everyone to be dead at this point) and his wound gets infected. not being able to find him at the Joyous Guard, Galehaut stops eating and drinking, thinking that Lancelot is dead (he sees his blood there, that the reader knows it was just a nosebleed). he dies of a broken heart.

Lancelot will eventually find his tomb and despair to the point he almost kills himself. but then he carries Galehaut's body to the Joyous Guard and buries him there. many years later, Lancelot will also be buried there, in the same tomb.

here are some resources if you want to read more in depth about queer themes in these medieval narratives, ive just done a superficial exposition because theres so! much! material!

A kiss is just a kiss: Heterosexuality and its consolations in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Reading affective companionship in the prose Lancelot

if you can read french this is another interesting read

Travestities et transexuelles: Ide, Silence, Grisandole, Blanchandine

also

ill also be watching some media around this becuase it is consuming my brain, if you guys are interested i could give my opinions on like cinematic adaptations of this material????

guys. guys. do ya'll want me to talk about king arthur and such,,,, perchance. or tell you which knights were gay. pleaaaasssse

[mit]

A reciprocal relationship with the land in Hawaiʻi

Through community-based research with organizations that work to “hoʻomomona hou i ka ʻāina,” or “restore that which feeds back to abundance,” PhD student Aja Grande has embarked on a healing journey of her own.

Laura Rosado | MIT News correspondent

Aja Grande grew up on the Hawaiian island of Oʻahu, between the Kona and ʻEwa districts, nurtured by her community and the natural environment. Her family has lived in Hawaiʻi for generations; while she is not “Kanaka ʻŌiwi,” of native Hawaiian descent, she is proud to trace her family’s history to the time of the Hawaiian Kingdom in the 19th century. Grande is now a PhD candidate in MIT’s HASTS (History, Anthropology, Science, Technology and Society) program, and part of her dissertation tracks how Hawaiian culture and people’s relationship with the land has evolved throughout time.

“The fondest memories I have are camping on the north shore every summer with my friends,” says Grande. “I loved being in ‘ke kai’ (the sea) and ‘ma uka,’ (inland, in the mountains) with my friends when I was younger. It was just pure fun exploring ‘ʻāina’ like that.” “‘Āina” in the Hawaiian language is often defined as “land,” but is understood to the people of Hawaiʻi as “that which feeds.”

“Now that I’m older,” Grande adds, “I’m connecting the dots and realizing how much knowledge about the complex systems of ‘ahupuaʻa’ [traditional Hawaiian divisions of land that extend from the mountains to the sea], I actually gained through these experiences.”

Grande recently completed a year of fieldwork in Hawaiʻi where she volunteered with land-based, or ‘āina-basedorganizations. In the movement to restore ‘āinato “momona,” or  “fertile and abundant lands,” the land and the people who serve as its stewards are of equal importance.

“I’m looking at how people who are not Kanaka ‘Ōiwi, or native Hawaiian, by descent can participate in this kind of restoration, and what it means for both Kanaka ‘Ōiwi and non-Kanaka ‘Ōiwi to participate in it,” says Grande, who herself descends from immigrants of other island nations. “Some of my ancestors were born and raised in Hawaiʻi before the U.S. subjected Hawaiʻi as a state and territory, meaning that some of them were Hawaiian Kingdom subjects. While, I am not Kanaka ʻŌiwi by lineage, some of my ‘ohana nui (extended family), from these same ancestors, are Kanaka ʻŌiwi. I’m writing about how being Hawaiian, from a Hawaiian sovereignty standpoint, is not just about race and ethnicity. When Hawaiʻi was a sovereign nation, Hawaiian citizenship was never afforded on the basis of race alone. It was also based on your lifelong commitment to ‘āina and the people of Hawaiʻi.”

The project is personal to Grande, who describes both the content and the process of writing it as part of her healing journey. She hopes to lay the groundwork for others who are “hoaʻāina,” or “those who actively care for ʻāina,” in Hawaiʻi, but not Kanaka ʻŌiwi to better articulate their identities and foster a deeper connection with the ʻāina and the “kaiāulu,” or “community,” they love and actively care for.

Returning home

Grande has spent her academic career on the East Coast, first at Brown University, where she received a degree in science, technology, and society, and now at MIT in the HASTS program. She swam competitively through her second year of college, and had earlier represented Hawaiʻi at the 2012 Oceania Games in New Caledonia. Once she stopped swimming, Grande first used her newfound time to travel the world. Tired of this transient lifestyle, she realized she was more interested in exploring her connection to land in a more rooted way.

“Moving around, especially as a college student, it’s very hard to grow things,” says Grande. “People are a lot like plants. You really just need to let plants do their thing in place. We do really well and we thrive when we can be connected to place.”

Grande started by founding the Ethnobotany Society at Brown to explore the relationship people have to plants. With the group she organized nature walks, collaborated with local farms, and connected it to the history she was learning in class.

Still, the East Coast never quite felt like home to Grande. When she started planning for the fieldwork portion of her program, she envisioned spending half the year in New England and half in Hawaiʻi. But she soon realized how important it was for both her research and herself to dedicate everything to Hawai’i.

“When I came back, it just felt so right to be back home,” says Grande. “The feeling in your naʻau — your ‘gut’ — of knowing that you have to contribute to Hawaiʻi is very powerful, and I think a lot of people here understand what that means. It’s kind of like a calling.”

Keep reading.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr!

[yourhealthandfitness-world]

I Designed Programs To Help People Lose Weight. Everything I Thought I Knew Was Wrong.

Presenting my dissertation 10 years ago. If you look closely, the screen shows the title of my talk, which was all about obesity and daily weighing.

Presenting my dissertation 10 years ago. If you look closely, the screen shows the title of my talk, which was all about obesity and daily weighing. (Photo: Photo Courtesy of Dori Steinberg)

Content note: I use the term “obesity” in the title and throughout the piece only for the purpose of describing my career focus before I realized my research was causing harm. This term may seem like neutral medical terminology, but for many, it is stigmatizing.

I was an “obesity” researcher for nearly two decades, and in that time, I helped design and test numerous weight-loss programs. Like other travelers along my career path, I had good intentions from the start. I genuinely believed I was helping people by supporting them to lose weight. But I was wrong.

I struggled with my own weight and body image ever since I was a young child. Growing up just outside New York City in the ’80s and ’90s, a time when diet culture was alive and thriving, I developed core beliefs that something was wrong with my body and that being fat was something to avoid — at all costs.

In my early teens, I attended weight-loss camps with the hope that if I could just shrink my body, things would be better. I lost weight, but it quickly returned. I blamed myself, thinking that if I really wanted to lose weight, I would have to do better. By the time I was 15, I decided to become a dietitian.

I thought more knowledge about nutrition was the key to controlling my own weight and that I could help others along the way. This choice ultimately morphed into a career in research, where I focused on investigating how to “solve” chronic disease with weight loss. But even in my tightly controlled studies, with ample resources and daily support, most of the participants achieved minimal weight loss and gained the weight back once the study ended.

After many attempts to design an effective weight-loss program, I realized that the data from the studies I worked on never succeeded in showing that weight could be modified long-term. And it wasn’t just in my own research — the broader scientific literature showed similar results. In one prominent national study, only 10-20% of study participants maintained weight loss after 1 year, with even lower rates years later.

Story continues

I also realized that identifying weight as the primary indicator of health was problematic. It is impossible to tell someone’s health just by looking at their body size, and being thinner does not necessarily equate to being healthier. The reality is that much of our weight and shape is determined by genetics — just like height. The misguided belief that we can all be in small bodies is not only wrong, it’s harmful and discriminatory.

After much internal reflection, I realized I had an eating disorder, stemming all the way back to my childhood. I also realized that my eating disorder was what drove many of my career decisions and beliefs about weight and health.

After receiving treatment in my late 30s, I saw my career studying “obesity” in a new light: My work was perpetuating harmful practices and stereotypes, and I couldn’t be a part of that anymore. I switched my focus to researching eating disorders, how they present themselves and impact diverse people, and what we can do to treat them more effectively.

Along this journey, I learned a few key things I think are important for organizations, physicians, researchers and the general population to understand.

There are no “good foods” or “bad foods.”

The myth that some foods (e.g., cookies) are “bad” and are to be avoided in favor of “good” foods (e.g., fruits and vegetables) is one of the harmful beliefs that led to my eating disorder in the first place. Dieting or restricting any foods is often a gateway to disordered eating. People need all kinds of foods to live and thrive – even the sugars and fats we’ve been falsely taught to always turn down.

Moreover, this black-and-white thinking ignores the fact that not all people can access the so-called “good” foods. Social determinants such as poverty and food insecurity make it challenging for many to access or afford fresh fruit and vegetables, find time to prepare “balanced” meals three times a day, or even know when their next meal will be. Food insecurity is highly correlated with eating disorders, and the message that some foods are to be avoided to better your health only perpetuates that risk.

Weight is not intrinsically tied to health.

The health care industry has put too large an emphasis on the relationship between weight and health. Rather than investigating other factors for conditions like chronic pain or diabetes, many clinicians will almost instinctively turn first to weight and suggest that weight loss is the answer. This type of weight bias has increased over the past several decades.

Weight bias disproportionately harms people in large bodies, who often avoid seeking health care because of the stigma they experience. Clinicians must prioritize eliminating other, more serious, root causes of symptoms first, instead of centering weight as the primary factor — no matter who they’re treating. They also need to listen to their patients and trust that they know their bodies best instead of refusing to investigate an illness or pain based on the patient’s body size.

It’s never too late to unlearn harmful ideas.

I held my beliefs about weight, food and health for decades — both personally and professionally. It’s easy to think that once you hold a core idea for so long, and even build a career out of it, it can be impossible to change your perspective.

What helped me unlearn these beliefs was the recognition that I was encouraging harmful behaviors that often show up in people with eating disorders. The only difference is that we think these behaviors are helpful for those in large bodies and harmful for those in thin bodies. The truth is, these behaviors are harmful for everyone.

My journey hasn’t been an easy one, but I have gained so much as a result. I gained weight, as my body needed more nourishment. I gained freedom from the oppressive beliefs that my worth is tied to my weight. I gained a new passion for researching eating disorders and using what I learn to help others.

I also gained better mental health, greater connection with my family and friends, and a firm belief that we must dismantle our culture’s harmful ideas about weight and health so our next generation of children can grow up believing their bodies don’t need to be changed in order for them to have value.

[inamemyselficarus]

Elias Bouchard x Reader, A Job Interview

The damp London air pressed down on you, almost feeling weighted by some sense of impending gravitas, as if the course of your entire life was about to change. That, of course, was ridiculous, but you couldn’t help but fidget with the leather strap of your messenger bag as you looked  up at the imposing stone edifice of the building in front of you. The Magnus Institute. Arguably London’s most dubious academic institute, it had been the butt of many jokes among your colleagues at UCL, where you had just completed your DPhil in Neuroscience, adding a hard-won “Dr.” to the front of your name. And yet, you were here to apply for a job. The strangest thing was you weren’t quite sure exactly why.

You had always been fascinated by the brain. Growing up a quiet, bookish child in a small but tight-knit farming town in the US, you’d naturally gravitated to the fringes of any social interactions among your peers. You preferred watching, listening, and learning from the interactions of others than participating in these yourself. When the time came to go to college, you’d gotten a scholarship to a small liberal arts school with a good research program, effortlessly transitioning from watching the decisions your peers made to studying the molecular pathways involved in such decision making. Your undergraduate dissertation had won you a spot as a PhD candidate at University College London, where you had spent the past three years.

As soon as you had reached the UK, something had felt different. It wasn’t something that you could explain or even understand, like something in your bones had shifted. It felt… good though, so you hadn’t worried, hadn’t pressed. You were just grateful that moving halfway around the world hadn’t been as difficult as you’d thought. It was about halfway through your first semester when you’d noticed the pull you’d felt. You had taken to enjoying long walks around the city when you weren’t in class or in the lab. You’d found yourself looking up at the gothic facade of the building you now knew to be the Magnus Institute for the third time before you realized what was happening. No matter what your plan was when you set out, you always seemed to end up at this same building when you weren’t headed anywhere specifically. It was like you were a compass needle being slowly and inexorably pulled toward a lodestone.

You’d asked the other members of your lab what the Magnus Institute was the following day and were somewhat startled by their immediate, scoffing laughter. Besides apparently being the laughingstock London’s academic institutions, they were apparently absurdly picky about who could gain access to their library. You’d tried to put it out of your mind, but found that your feet still thoughtlessly carried you there whenever you tried to explore the city. As you approached your thesis defense and began to think of what you wanted to do next, you didn’t expect the sharp jab of panic that lanced through you at the thought of leaving London. It was a ridiculous thought. You’d come here because the program was excellent and you’d gotten the chance to work underneath some of the brightest minds in your field during your degree, but you’d never intended to stay. Still, before you knew it, you had found yourself looking for possible postdoctoral fellowships in the city. Without quite knowing why, you had also pulled up the website of The Magnus Institute and saw a notice that they were seeking to hire a new head archivist for their collection. Despite the job being far out of your field and feeling somewhat insane for doing so, you brushed a cobweb away from your computer screen and sent your resume. You had never expected to be called for an interview.

Now, your hand hovered hesitantly over the Institute’s ornate doorknob, the gold of the metal contrasting sharply with the deep forest green of the door itself. Why had you come here? You weren’t even remotely qualified for this position. As soon as you’d received the interview invitation you should have called and told them that there had been some mistake. But you hadn’t. And you couldn’t stop yourself from slowly turning the doorknob and entering the elegant foyer of The Magnus Institute. The second you crossed the threshold, you stumbled, suddenly feeling the gaze of a thousand invisible eyes probing every facet of your mind and your soul. Perhaps it should have been disconcerting, but you felt seen and known, and, most damnably, understood. The instinctual, bone-deep reaction raced through every cell in your body. You belonged here.

“Miss L/N?” the voice pulled you out of whatever strange thoughts had so suddenly grabbed you, and you turned to see a plain looking woman in a grey cardigan standing in front of what looked to be a reception desk.

“Yes? I mean, yes, I am Dr. L/N. I’m here for my interview?” You stumbled over the words, still feeling somewhat off balance.

The woman smiled and motioned for you to follow her. “Mr. Bouchard is expecting you, please come this way.” She led you through a maze of corridors, not speaking beyond that first sentence. Finally you came to a stop in front of a dark, cherrywood door with a gold nameplate that read ‘Elias Bouchard, Head of the Magnus Institute.’

As you approached, a deep baritone voice called out from inside the room “Come in.”

The woman gestured you forwards and you tentatively placed a hand on the ornate doorknob, twisting and pushing the door open. You stepped into an office filled with shades of a dark, elegant green and polished wood accents, but your attention was immediately drawn to and captured by the man sitting behind the imposing desk in front of a large bay window. His suit was a sharp grey, just a few shades darker than his piercing pale eyes. His eyes. It was like he was looking into you, through you, almost. Like those eyes could see everything you had ever been. You hadn’t noticed that you’d frozen until he beckoned you forwards with a smirk, gesturing to a chair placed in front of his desk. You moved to sit, setting down your messenger bag and subconsciously straightening your blazer.

“Dr. L/N,” he purred. “How delightful to finally meet you.”

When had your mouth become so dry?

“I-- It’s wonderful to meet you as well, Mr. Bouchard.”

He made a dismissive wave with one well-manicured hand. “Please, call me Elias.”

You paused, brain blinking for a second. “Um, okay, If you call me F/N… Elias.” Your mouth twitched up into an awkward smile as you fidgeted with the cuff of your blazer.

“Y/N.” He leaned forward, lips turning up into a leonine grin. “What brings you to my Institute?”

“I don’t know.” The words were out before you could even think, almost as if they’d been pulled directly from your throat. You flushed. “I mean, I shouldn’t even be here.” You couldn’t stop yourself. Your cheeks burned darker in embarrassment as the words just kept pouring out. It was like everything in you ached to be known by the man sitting in front of you and your head was spinning. “I’m certainly not qualified for this job -- I’ve only ever worked as a waitress or in a lab. It’s way out of my field, and everything I’ve ever been led to know tells me that I shouldn’t take this place seriously. But… it feels like it’s calling me, somehow. Like I belong here, like... I’m a part of this place, and even if I tried to leave I couldn’t. I don’t know what’s happening to me. I just want to know what’s happening to me.” Your voice cracked with emotion on the last words.

Elias’ grin only widened, flint-grey eyes sparking as if to light a fire that would burn down the world as you knew it. He leaned forward, steepling his fingers, and a mental image of a cat caging a small bird between its paws pushed its way to the forefront of your mind.

“What are you afraid of?”

You didn’t want to answer this question. Didn’t want this mysterious stranger to see how weak you were, but the words rose up out of you regardless. “I’m afraid of not knowing the things I need to know. Of failing. Of not being enough.” Tears pricked at the corners of your eyes.

“And what do you desire more than anything?” His voice was deeper now, wrapping around each vowel and consonant like liquid darkness. Your eyes slid shut.

“To be known. I want someone to see me, every thought I’ve ever had, every facet of who I am. I want to be completely understood and still, somehow, wanted.” You’d never voiced these thoughts even to yourself, trying to convince yourself that all you wanted was to be successful as a scientist, to use your knowledge to advance humanity’s understanding. You’d always had trouble getting close to people and didn’t want to confront the slowly growing suspicion that no one would ever truly know you enough to truly love you. That, even if you eventually did find someone who wanted to be close to you, it wouldn’t be real, because they couldn’t really see you.

You sucked in a breath, eyes flying open at the sensation of a hand on your cheek, brushing away the tears you hadn’t noticed falling. Elias loomed over you, pale eyes glinting with something that looked almost like triumph as he gently cradled your face in his palm.

“I think you and I are going to get on splendidly.” 

[insipid-drivel]

Poltergeists: They’re Not Ghosts Or Demons ffs

If anyone here has noticed the kind of content I occasionally crap out into this hellsite, it’s usually a fairly manic mishmash of mini-dissertations on random bullshit I’ve been studying since childhood. In light of the spoopy season upon us, I’m here to tell you from the mouth (read: keyboard) of someone that’s been part of that subset and culture for my entire life that Poltergeists are NOT demons or ghosts! They’re not even considered truly supernatural phenomena by occultists!

First of all, “Demonology” is the study of Western Occultism and doesn’t specifically entail the study of demons, but the general study and interaction with anything “unnatural” that isn’t distinctly “from Heaven”. That’s actually what Necromancy really is - it’s not raising the spirits of the dead or making zombies. It’s raising the spirits of the damned, including demons, to gain knowledge or power you need or desire. There is deeply rooted sexism when it comes to actual, historical/mythological necromancy, because while it was punishable by death for a woman to engage in necromancy, King motherfucking Solomon cracked out his Necromancy skills to make a King of Hell, Asmodeus, build the legendary Temple of Solomon for him.

So, for further notice, if you’re wanting to write a legit necromancy fantasy, it doesn’t have anything to do with zombies! It’s demons. Lots of demons. This is because in various Abrahamic scriptures, another human (magician/sorcerer are the more common masculine prefixes, witch/sorceress are feminine) can’t raise the dead with magic, because only “The Devil” or God is supposed to have that power. Necromancy was associated with “conjuring” (summoning) a demonic entity, usually in the name of learning something like mathematics or astronomy, or learning about the supernatural and afterlife. It wasn’t weird to hire a necromancer as a wealthy aristocrat to have him (yes, him, because lady necromancers were called witches and were executed a lot) summon a demon merely to ask if the spirit of a deceased friend or loved one is at rest.

That’s right. The demons your grandparents shrink in fright at are mostly just hardcore scientists and researchers with attitude issues, and always have been.

So, what about poltergeists? We know plenty of movies inspired by them, including the eponymous “Poltergeist” (1982), but did you know that they have nothing to do with a dead person or a paranormal entity? Poltergeists are considered to be psychokinetic phenomena exhibited by living people that are experiencing tremendous amounts of psychological stress, particularly during the teen years. Ever wonder why most of the good supernatural horror movies feature a teenage girl or young child as the epicenter of the evil and chaos? That would be why. Fuckin’ hormones, man.

We get the term “poltergeist” from the German portmanteau that translates literally in English to, “noisy ghost”. Not evil. Not malicious. Just... wtf?

So, how do identify poltergeist activity? I’ll tell you:

1) Is the activity at all intelligent in design, or does random shit just happen? If there’s no rhyme or reason evident for an event, and the event itself is more weird than terrifying - such as moving objects - that culminate into nothing but, “Well, that was freakish...” it’s probably poltergeist activity.

2) Is it happening at random times, day and night? Probably a poltergeist.

3) Is there any history of a traumatic incident or death in the location of the activity? If not and the activity is still doing what I would dub “weird shit”, then it’s probably a poltergeist.

4) Does the activity refuse to respond to requests or antagonism to start up when you’re investigating directly and then flare up when you’re not paying attention? Again, probably a poltergeist.

Poltergeists in the paranormal science community are gradually being viewed through a much more scientific and legitimate light as greater advances in knowledge of quantum mechanics in our universe are uncovered by physicists, and there are scads of scientific and mythological evidence suggesting that we humans are capable of some pretty intense shit that’s too outside of our realm of acceptability to really embrace. I could go on and on about how various elements of the natural state of the universe we live in contribute to our perception of the universe in surprising and unsurprising ways, but this is not about that.

My point is: “Poltergeist” is more of an uncontrollable superpower compared to possessions and hauntings. They’re basically like Jean Grey from X-Men: horrifically powerful and impossible to control. Unlike Jean Grey, however, it’s been noted that poltergeist activity usually goes into remission as the subject of the poltergeist ages, but that doesn’t always mean that the activity goes away for good. Poltergeists also don’t usually influence power over fire. In Jean Grey’s case, she would be more thought of as possessing a pyrogeist, since she tended to set a lot of shit on fire in the comics and movies. My dad had a pretty active poltergeist until the day he died that took my own training as a Bandrui and making friends with a couple of demons (don’t do it at home; I’m certifiably insane and that’s why we’re friends) to keep from scaring the shit out of me in my bedroom.

[carnegiemuseumnaturalhistory]

An Illuminating Tale of Tracking Turtles

by Amanda K. Martin

*All research was conducted under approved permits from by IACUC, ODNR, and Metroparks. Do not try this at home with local wildlife. Photos by A. Martin unless noted otherwise.

Where do eastern box turtles go? When I started my graduate schooling in Dr. Karen Root’s lab at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, I was quite intrigued by this question. To address it, I conducted a study of box turtle movements in the Oak Openings Region, the distinctive landscape of oak savannas, woodlands, and wet prairies that stretches across seven counties in Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan.

A method called radio telemetry was vital to my work. I walked around under the forest canopy searching for individuals (female or male) and whenever I found one, typically sitting still on the ground, I would pick it up while wearing gloves. In order to track its movements, I attached a radio transmitter onto the carapace (upper shell) using a special type of glue (Fig. 1A). After about a month of searching, I was able to track box turtles at two locations in the Toledo Metroparks system, six individuals in Oak Openings Preserve, and three individuals in Secor Metroparks.

Two to three times a week, I would travel to these local parks and track each turtle using a silver three-pronged antenna and attached receiver. This portable combination detects the signal frequency produced by the transmitter on the tagged turtles, generating a “beeping” sound as it receives the electronic pulse. Guided by “beeps” I could re-find each turtle within an hour (Fig. 1B) depending on how dense the forest understory was. If I walked in the wrong direction, the noise would fade away and become quieter, but as I moved closer to the turtle’s location, the “beeping” sound would get louder and more frequent until I reached the turtle. Sometimes I would walk right past an individual sitting quietly in the leaf litter or under a log as their shell is often highly camouflaged to blend with the sunlit and shadowed patterns of a forest floor. One nice aspect of tracking box turtles with radio telemetry is that they do not run away very quickly, so they are easy to follow!

Fig. 1A (top) and Fig. 1B (bottom): A box turtles with a transmitter (A) tracked by A. Martin using radio telemetry (antenna and receiver; B) in Oak Openings Region, Ohio, USA. Photo by S. Martin (B).

Radio telemetry is an excellent method for re-locating individuals, and provides a snapshot of where the individual is at a given time. With long-term tracking over the active season (mid-March to early November), researchers can better understand movements within a turtle’s home range, the area the animal regularly travels to meet its daily requirements, including food, shelter, and thermoregulation. Home ranges are estimated by drawing an outline around the outermost locations where a turtle was detected throughout the year, and assuming that the individual uses the area inside this boundary (Fig. 2A). Each time a turtle was found, I recorded the GPS coordinates of its location, and could then measure how far the turtle traveled by drawing a straight line between each location point. However, turtles may not always travel in a straight line, but rather follow an indirect route between detection points (Fig. 2B), so this method likely underestimates actual travel distance.

Fig. 2A (top) and Fig. 2B (bottom): Box turtle home range (blue area) with daily movements (each color represents one day of travel) using fluorescent powder (A) and an example of an estimated distance traveled (solid black straight line) and actual distance traveled (dotted black curvier line) between location points (black circles; B).

A research technique involving fluorescent powder can produce a far more accurate picture of daily box turtle movements. Non-toxic fluorescent powder is applied to the turtle’s plastron (underside; Fig. 3A) which then leaves a distinct trail as the turtle travels throughout its environment. At night, with the use of an ultraviolet light (Fig. 3B) these trails can then be illuminated, traced, and mapped. Since box turtles tend to travel near or over the same pathways, and because individual home ranges frequently overlap, multiple powder colors are required for some tracking studies.

I used multiple colors (red, blue, yellow, orange) for different days and individuals. The results of my tracking work using this technique demonstrated that box turtles traveled 32 meters per day, with females traveling slightly less than males, and that 95% of movements were less than 6 meters.

Fig. 3A (top), Fig. 3B (middle), and Fig. 3C (bottom): A freshly painted plastron of a male box turtle (A), A. Martin with a field assistant illuminating the fluorescent powder trail with an ultraviolet light (B, photo by A. Kappler), and A. Martin measuring leaf litter along a box turtle’s pathway (C).

Tracking animals with fluorescent powder is more laborious than radio telemetry but demonstrates fine scale movement patterns not detected by radio telemetry. The frequent use of short movements, for example, is likely related to thermoregulation requirements (the need to move in and out of cool, shady patches), or encounters with multiple obstacles ranging from small to large logs, dense shrubs, and trees. Radio telemetry provides an estimation of home range size, while fluorescent powder tracking provides details on how that home range is utilized. In tandem, these research tools can provide important information on habitat use for local land managers, who can facilitate preservation of these reptiles.

For more information on this project, including data on eastern garter snake movements, check out Chapter 4 of my dissertation.

Amanda K. Martin is a Post-doctoral Researcher in Section of Amphibians and Reptiles. Museum employees are encouraged to blog about their unique experiences and knowledge gained from working at the museum.

[cancerbiophd]

I'm defending my dissertation this summer in biomedical engineering. I'm looking for jobs and postdocs, but I feel unqualified for most of them. Because I had so little funding for my research, I didn't get to learn and use some methods like PCR, Western blot, flow cytometry, etc. except ELISA and Luminex. Most job listings say you're required to have proficiency in methods like these. I would otherwise be qualified, and the research is right up my alley. Am I better off getting a postdoc for further training, or are any of these jobs actually more forgiving about your skills and willing to train you?

Hi anon! Congrats on defending soon and getting that sweet sweet PhD!

My short and sweet answer is: 

Play to your strengths. Don’t let the companies hold all the cards. If you’re an expert on ELISAs and Luminex, then companies seeking candidates with that kind of experience would love you on their team, even if you may not have experience with other skills. 

Apply to as many positions as you can, including the ones where you may not think you qualify 100% for, because a) a candidate checking all the requirements in a job posting is rare and b) in some cases, a company or lab would be more than happy to spend time training you on specific techniques if they think you’re a great fit for the team.

If you feel that expanding your skills as a post-doc would be a good investment for your career, then for sure also apply to them as well. It’s also always helpful and reassuring to have more than one job option in the end too!

The post-school (no matter which level) job search can be a tough and time-consuming journey, so just keep throwing your ball into as many courts as possible. Getting into industry straight out of grad school without a post-doc first is especially hard for some fields, and may require dozens and dozens of applications and interviews over many months. 

Here’s the long and detailed answer:

Firstly, leverage your strengths. Outside of your technical prowess at ELISA and Luminex, these are some of the transferable strengths of hiring a PhD (no matter what field) that can benefit a company, and thus are aspects you can highlight in your cover letter/CV/interviews:

As far as basic knowledge goes, we’re experts in our fields. True, we don’t know everything, but when confronted with something new, just give us a few days, because we’re very good at getting to the nitty gritty bottom of things. 

PhD’s are fast learners, creative problem solvers (especially when given limited resources, like in your situation), and very dedicated to whatever task is on hand. 

And in order to do that, we’re meticulously organized, have great time management skills, and for those of us who have had undergrads in the lab, we have some experience in delegating tasks and managing personnel.

We have great communication skills: both oral (public speaking), and written (manuscripts). 

For those of us who have been successful at receiving financial awards (eg. fellowships, grants, etc), we’re proven ourselves great at marketing our work. 

We can take punches (criticism) and adapt well. 

And we have grit. The fact that we survived walking through hell and back for 4+ years proves our dedication and commitment to hard work. 

Secondly, let’s talk about job postings themselves and how they may not tell the whole story:

Some job postings may highlight the skills and goals that the candidate will become proficient in during the job, especially if it’s directly related to the company’s intellectual property. So it may not be necessary (or realistic) to be skilled in those yet.

The job posting itself may also be very broad and non-specific to the actual position (and is just a boilerplate posting the company likes to use for whatever reason), and thus may not actually include all the nuanced criteria the hiring manager/team is looking for. (I know from experience that Roche does this.)

Lastly, having a candidate right out of grad school who is proficient in every single one of the skills listed on a job posting is unrealistic. And companies know this, but they can still dream about the “perfect 1 in a million candidate” who may magically meet their wish-list. But realistically? That person most likely does not exist. 

Next, here are some scenarios when a team would hire a candidate who does not necessarily have experience in all the listed skills:

The candidate can prove themselves to be a fast and eager learner of those new skills.

The candidate has other desirable skills that the hiring team would value equally (which may or may not be listed in the actual job application, but you can certainly highlight in your cover letter).

The candidate’s personality works well with the rest of the team (sometimes it’s way more important to hire someone who will get along with the current employees than someone who checks all the boxes because protocols can be taught, but personality can not be changed). 

The technical skills that the job requires are not readily available or taught in a grad school setting, especially if it’s really cutting edge and/or part of the company’s intellectual property. 

Bonus: the candidate has network connections within the company/team who can vouch for their talent, work ethic, personality, etc. 

So, in conclusion: If a company is hiring a PhD specifically, the candidate’s transferable skills may be more valuable than their technical skills because techniques can be taught in just a few weeks or months, but those transferable skills take years to perfect. Therefore, as long as you meet the basic criteria (like education and experience level) and have experience in some of the listed technical skills, you should definitely apply. 

Lastly, just to end with a few notes of realism/other misc tips:

Technical experience is still important, especially if the hiring manager is specifically looking for that in a candidate. It may also be the deciding factor between two candidates who are otherwise equal in attributes. Some hiring managers may even put those experiences higher in priority than transferable skills, like if they need someone to hit the ground running when they start.

There is less job applicant competition in smaller companies/start-ups than in big established companies. The more competitive a position, the more “sparkle” the applicant must have, such as a post-doc or multiple publications, or being an internal candidate (someone who already works there), or was referred by the hiring manager/team, etc. So, pretty tough door to crack ajar (though not impossible!)

If it’s important to you to gain more experience in more diverse research techniques, then a post-doc would be the best path to take. I normally think post-docs should not be necessary for industry, but I think in your situation it may be a really great path to take in order to learn more techniques and to see what it’s like working in a well-funded lab (the differences in opportunities and organization can be pretty eye-opening). In addition, one of the downsides of industry is that because a company has its own specific niche in the market, your repertoire of lab techniques may start getting narrower and narrower. 

I recommend working with a recruiter. In exchange for a small % of your eventual salary, they will work with you to find open positions, get your application to the hiring manager, and in some cases will also help coach you in interviews. The easiest and most passive way to get in touch with one is to create a LinkedIn profile and set your status as Looking for Work (or something like that, I forgot what the exact verbage is), and usually a recruiter will personally message you soon after that. 

Wow that answer was way longer than I anticipated! But I always try to dump out as much knowledge as I have because I’m hoping something there will help! Good luck anon, and congrats again on finally seeing that finish line! Please don’t hesitate to reach out again if you have any further questions. 

[sarah-wants-to-write]

Searching My Dreams for a Lifetime; Chapter Two (Criminal Minds)

                “Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm.”                 -Abraham Lincoln

◊

        “She did WHAT?” Rossi asked, surprise written all over his face.

        “Wouldn’t have believed it if I didn’t see it myself,” Derek replied, folding his arms over his chest “just popped it right back in place like it was nothing.”

         “Well it makes sense,” Reid declared, turning to see Shira talking to one of the detectives “people with EDS have problems keeping their joints in place all the time. Makes sense she’d know how to put them back where they need to be without medical help.”

        “What was weirder was how much Hotch knew of her condition,” Emily added, voice quiet “rare enough that it doesn’t seem like something he’d need to know off-hand.”

        “Maybe researching genetic conditions when Hayley was pregnant,” Rossi mused “and it stuck.”

        “Well, no matter how you look at it, Hotch definitely gained her respect with showing he knew about it,” Derek said “starting to look more like you might be right, Rossi.”

~

        Shira was tucked into her own corner of the conference room, where the team was set up to work. Sketching out the crime scene, with the sigils, and the distances, Shira couldn’t figure out what was going on. To the untrained eye, it seemed like a complex ritual layered with meaning. Yet to Shira, who had done her masters dissertation on ancient blood rituals with a focus on the Norse, she was just confused.

        They didn’t mean anything. Not in context. Though the arrangement was definitely familiar.

        Ehwaz, Othala, Ansuz, Gebo.

        “Loyalty, home, communication, gift,” she muttered “nothing to do with…wait…”

        She knew those positions anywhere. How hadn’t she seen it right away?

        Getting up, she made her way to the white board, quickly mapping out the scene with the runes and positions.

        “Make a connection there, doctor?” Rossi asked, watching her “what’s the meaning behind the symbols?”

        “I still can’t figure out the one that’s directly ahead,” Shira replied “but the others I recognize. Looking at them by themselves, their meaning is totally unrelated, but together? It’s one of the interpretations of the runed Helm of Awe.”

        “A Norse symbol that serves like a compass,” Reid added, looking at the board “not much is known about it.”

        “In mythology, it’s also been known as a symbol of protection, for those who cause chaos,” Shira continued “in the Poetic Edda, the dragon Fafnir gave the Helm credit for his seemingly being invincible. 'The Helm of Awe I wore before the sons of men in defense of my treasure; amongst all, I alone was strong, I thought to myself, for I found no power a match for my own'.”

        “So, he’s basing the staging off something that gives power to those who cause chaos,” Hotch mused “he’s declaring himself invincible to our efforts. Getting off on the torture and the lack of progress from the officials.”

        “He likes watching the police squirm,” Shira muttered “hopefully you’ll find a pattern with the victims before the next abduction.”

        “That’s something we needed to speak with you about,” Rossi declared, earning cautious attention from her “all the victims; they’re women in their early thirties, with dark brown hair and blue eyes.”

        “You fit the victimology to the letter,” Hotch added “and with your involvement in the case, that makes you more of a prime target. Needless to say, if you’re leaving the station, it won’t be without one of us or a detective.”

        “You’re telling me this like I didn’t make the connection already,” Shira told them, smiling to reassure, though the glint in her eyes was a bit cheeky “a woman sees six of her near-doppelgangers dead, she connects the dots.”

        “This could also mean that you might be the intended target,” Hotch continued, watching her “if it comes to that, we’ll have to interview you, and ask you to step away from the case.”

        “Then I best do as much as I can, shouldn’t I?” she countered “give you all the help I can. After all, he isn’t gonna wait. Though if my presence hasn’t been made public or obvious, then that might buy some time, or it might make him angry. Either way, he might slip up.”

        Watching the two talk, Rossi was both impressed and amused. Shira didn’t seem at all fazed that she might be a target. More that it seemed like fuel for her work. With her knowledge of profiling, as well, she almost sounded just like Hotch when she was talking. A quiet authority that had people listening whenever she spoke.

        “I’ll bet you’re a favorite among students,” Rossi declared, earning a pleasantly surprised smile from Shira “direct and personable. How quick do your classes fill up?”

        “Don’t even make it to the end of the first day of enrollment,” she replied, straightening up in pride “most students love having a younger teacher, and I like to think that I’m quite good at what I do.”

        Rossi smiled at that, catching a quick glance at Hotch as Shira spoke. The slight smile on the younger agent’s face was a surprise, gone just as quick as it was seen, but Rossi was certain he saw it.

        Already Rossi knew one thing for sure, about those two; Hotch was doomed, in the best way.

~

        It was late, and the team was taking a break for dinner before calling it a night. Still at the police station, in case a call came in, Chinese food and small talk were the order of the night, as a reprieve from the work throughout the day.

        Most of the talk was directed at Shira, the team wanting to get to know their consultant better.

        “One of the youngest professors at the University, huh?” Morgan huffed, smirking a bit “starting to give pretty-boy here a run for his money.”

        “Ah, I couldn’t measure up to the famous Doctor Reid,” Shira laughed “not many people who could! I was lucky to be granted one PHD.”

        “Those committees are vicious,” Reid agreed, laughing “makes staring down an unsub look like nothing, sometimes. Takes guts to stand in front of people and have them question everything about your work. Give yourself credit, Doctor Amell.”

        Shira laughed at that, dipping her head a bit in thanks at the compliment.

        “And how about your personal life?” Emily asked “any pets?”

        “One, a dog, though I definitely want more,” Shira replied “his name’s Michael. He’s a retired MWD.”

        “Adopted a military working dog?” Rossi mused “good on you. They’re loyal and incredibly smart. Malinois?”

        “German Shepard,” she answered “poor thing’s still skittish sometimes, but it makes sense. Most loyal man in my life, being the only one.”

        “No soul mate yet?” Morgan wondered, noticing Hotch starting to watch her more closely “someone as smart and pretty as you should have found him by now.”

        “Been busy,” Shira replied “master’s thesis, doctoral dissertation, books, teaching, and guest lectures. I noticeably value and show my intelligence. Most men are intimidated by that, and even if they aren’t…”

        She trailed off for a moment, sitting up and rolling her shoulder a bit, before it audibly popped. Her smile was sad as she looked to Morgan.

        “Even if they aren’t,” she continued “who would want to be saddled with all this?”

        She gestured to herself, her joints, and shrugged. Looking down as she continued eating, she missed the surprise on most everyone’s face, including Hotch.

        How much had she been through?

~

        It was early morning, and the team was preparing to leave the hotel and go back to the station.  Wanting to get in some quiet time to eat and think, Hotch made his way down to the dining room for some breakfast. Not many people were there, and he knew it wouldn’t be that way for long. Going to the coffee pots and water kettles, Hotch poured himself a mug, as someone came up beside him. Glancing over, he saw the person was in a sling, and was forced to do a double-take when he realized who it was.

        “Doctor Amell?” Hotch felt his eyebrows go into his hairline, seeing her turn to him with a confused look “your arm?”

        “It’s my shoulder, actually,” she replied, smiling sheepishly “won’t stay in easily, and it hurts. Afraid I won’t be doing any hiking today.”

        “Hopefully it won’t come to that,” he mused “I imagine it must hurt quite a bit.”

        “Nothing more than I’m used to,” she promised, reaching with her left hand for a mug “though it sucks that it’s my right, being right-handed and all.”

        Hotch watched as she grabbed the mug, reaching for a hot kettle as she picked out a tea bag. When she had the package open, and bag in the mug, he went and filled her mug for her.

        “Oh, thank you,” Shira declared, smiling, as he finished “my arm definitely couldn’t support that for long.”

        “Least I can do,” he replied “we should eat while we can, before the rest of the team wakes up.”

        The way he said ‘rest of the team’ was something she definitely noticed, yet she didn't get her hopes up. Clearly, he was referring to his relationship with the team, and not her.

        “Are you always up before the rest of them?” She asked “burden of leadership, I imagine, getting ahead of everyone so you can stay on top of your game.”

        “Doesn't help that I don't sleep much,” Hotch replied, taking her mug as they went to a table “hard to sleep in new places.”

        “Yet you're used to it, from how you're handling this,” she mused, smiling “not all professional experience, I think. Kids?”

        “Pity you weren't able to join the Bureau,” he declared, amused “just one. My son, Jack.”

        “You fight for justice and come home to your son,” Shira grinned, sitting and taking her mug with a grateful nod “a family man. Regular Captain America.”

        “Just a man raising his son on his own, trying to make the world safer for him,” Hotch countered, sitting across from her “hardly have time for much superhero work.”

        “Says the one who's basically a superhero,” she teased, smile widening as she saw him smile “your son has a wonderful role model to look up to, with you.”

        “Thank you,” he replied, dipping his head slightly “it’s been tough, especially after his mother passed, but we have a good support network.”

        “I’m sorry to hear she’s gone,” Shira declared, eyebrows knitting together as her heart went out to him “was she your…”

        “No,” Hotch shook his head “but we both didn’t think our marks were the be all, end all. Love is love and can last a lifetime no matter what, or so we thought.”

        “Nothing wrong with that,” she reassured him “I’m sure she’d be happy, when you do find the one.”

        The silence wasn’t as tense as Shira expected, and she was surprised when Hotch straightened up and looked her in the eye.

        “Doctor Amell,” he started “I wanted to apologize for my behavior back at Quantico, and on the plane. You’re here to help us, and I was disrespectful.”

        “Believe it or not, I figured it might have been out of character for you,” she replied, smiling to try and comfort him “though I had chalked it up to how bad this case is. Besides, you came around eventually. In my mind, there’s nothing to forgive, but I know it helps to hear it, so I’ll say it; I forgive you, Agent Hotchner.”

        Shira watched as his eyes softened, and a small smile came back to his face. A soft, vulnerable, almost happy glance that showed more than she was sure any of the team saw on a normal basis.

        “And please,” she continued, smiling as a twinkle came to her eye “you can call me Shira. If you want to, that is.”

        “And you can call me Hotch,” he replied, giving the smallest chuckle “the rest of the team does.”

        “The way you keep saying that,” Shira mused, slightly hesitant “it’s a bit strange…”

        “Because you feel like you’re not part of the team,” Hotch mused “that I’m just referring to their connection to me, but it’s entirely the opposite. It’s temporary and new, but you’re doing just as much work to solve this as we are. We brought you in. You’re just as much a part of the team.”

        The way her heart fluttered made Shira blush, and she smiled for him.

        “That’s sweet of you to say,” she replied “thank you, Hotch. We should probably eat something, before we head into the station. Don’t know about you, but a muffin of any kind sounds great.”

        Hotch smiled, turning to look at the tray that he could see she’d been eyeing. Going over and grabbing two, he brought them back to their table. Shira smiled wider when she saw the flavor that he brought for her.

        “Blueberry?” she asked, immediately taking the top off so she could enjoy it last.

        “Fruit tends to go better with black tea, in my opinion,” he answered, watching her closely “balances it out.”

        “Only someone who enjoys tea could come to that conclusion,” Shira laughed between bites, grinning “blueberry’s one of my favorites.”

~

       When he came down for breakfast, Rossi was distracted by thinking on the case. Yet when he heard familiar voices engaged in conversation, he was jolted to clarity. Looking around, he saw Hotch and Shira tucked into a corner, deep in conversation. The smile on Hotch’s face brought one to Rossi’s, seeing the way that the two were relaxed around each other.

       “Is that Hotch…smiling? And eating?”

       Rossi turned to see Morgan and Reid behind him, both looking equally shocked.

       “This whole case just got more interesting,” Rossi chuckled “but we’ve got work to focus on.”

       As the rest of the team came down, and everyone was able to eat something, they were getting ready to head in before Hotch got a call. Watching as he took it, expression falling, they knew it was bad news.

       “Unsub’s taken another woman,” he told them “let’s get going. We have work to do.”

◊

                “A heart worth loving is one you understand, even in silence.”                 – Shannon L. Alder

∞

[scribblestatic]

As Aizawa promised, he told his class about the bi-centenarian cryptid.

But he hadn’t had to do it alone in the end.

Both hero classes were called into a larger room, where Yagi Toshinori stood as one of the three announcers. And together, Vlad King, Eraserhead, and All Might himself told the prospective hero students of what they knew.

All Might ended up doing most of the talking.

The tall skeleton of a man stood at the podium with the lights shining down on him. His gauntness stood out more then than ever before, and Aizawa was sure the man could feel all 40 students with their gazes set on every divot of his body as the students searched for the hero they had grown up with. Even so, the suited man stood tall, his voice firm and yet kind all the same.

“And so, with you’re current knowledge, I want you to look deep into yourselves. I want you to take the time to really come to understand what it means to be a hero. What becoming a hero in this day and age will mean.” All Might stares out at them, blue gaze gleaming. “It won’t mean the same thing that it meant ten, five, or even one year ago. You will be facing forces brought on by a man even I have still failed to defeat, one who will not care for your age when deciding your fates. You’ve already seen this now, with the attack on the USJ—right now, more so than ever, you have targets on your backs. And so. We at U.A., your teachers, your faculty, everyone. We will all understand if you decide this is not the right path for you. If you so choose to change, we will open your space for the General Education course, or if you so decide to leave the school entirely, Principal Nedzu has given me his word that he will work with the schools in your local districts to find a place for you there. More than for the sake of the world, I want you to look out for yourself right here and right now. Think on it. And by the end of the week, give your decisions to your homeroom teachers.”

The students stare, shaken, unable to even move. Even Bakugou’s a frozen rock, eyes wide. He almost appears to be in shock...

That boy...Aizawa will need to check on him before the day’s over.

When the students do not respond, All Might nods. “For those of you who do decide to stay, we will be training you now more than ever for your safety and the safety of the people you aim to rescue. Our focus will further pinpoint onto your personal faults and current weaknesses so we can help you grow strong. We will not let you flounder on your own—it is our job to guide you, and we will do that.”

Aizawa watches as some of their shoulders droop, some scrunch leaving some of their faces, some laxity loosening their spines. Even in such a situation, All Might is still an expert at his job, and his voice brings ease to them. 

“And in order to gain a better picture of how you can improve, we have come in contact with an expert in the field of Quirk Studies. Her expertise and attention to detail are, as far as our current research details, unparalleled. She’s been contacted and has agreed to work with U.A. staff for the good of your futures if you so choose to continue with us."

Then, much to the surprise of the class, All Might steps from behind the podium and bows to them.

“It has been...of my own shortcomings that all of this has befallen upon your shoulders. And for this, I give you my most humble apologies.” The students couldn’t respond. It took Aizawa clapping his hands together for them to snap out of their daze. “Like he said. End of the week. No one will blame you if you decide to leave. We’ll also be making rounds with your parents by visiting their houses over the week. We’ve already contacted them about the situation, but we also want for you to come to your conclusions. I trust you all can care for your own safety.”

And with that, the meeting adjourned, and Aizawa brought out his best pressed suit to eat crow in front of the parents of all of his students.

To his surprise, all of the parents allow their children to continue attendance if they so wish to. Well, some were much more worried than others. Bakugou’s mother for instance—whom he looks like to almost a startling degree—was more concerned about her son’s strength and making sure he doesn’t force any lag in the class.

“He’s a smart boy with a strong Quirk and a hard-ass head,” she boasted, smacking him on the back of said head when a curse uttered out of his mouth. “If he couldn’t face up against some janky villains in front of him, he’d be useless as hero.”

Endeavor had said something similar.

“Shouto won’t be leaving U.A. It’s his destiny to become a hero, and he will do it from that school. The danger doesn’t matter—if anything, it will only prove his strength to overcome it.”

Then there were parents like Asui’s, who Aizawa and Yagi couldn’t even meet in person.

“Welll...our daughter. She takes care of her siblings. But, well, it’s her dream,” the father of the house said in the Skype call, followed by a deep, throat-expanding croak.

“Right,” her mother said, her call from a different location than her husband’s. “I think it’s best to leave this kind of thing to Tsuyu. She knows what she can handle more than we do. I’m just worried about her.”

“But she’s a tough girl,” the father said. “She can make the decision by herself.”

Or Tokoyami’s.

“I think it’ll be fine if he attends. His quirk use has improved since he started attending that school, after all,” the boy’s bird-faced mother said, the long eyelashes of a Secretary Bird blinking at the two men across from her. “If anything...I’d consider it better quirk therapy than he’d been getting before. If he wants to stay, I’ll have no objections.”

“Indeed,” a human-faced man says beside her, holding one of her hands. His hair is very dark and slicked back, two wisps of a mustache and a goatee on his face. “We’ve always loved our little Fumi-kun, but his quirk can be a bit rowdy. But he’s grown more confident in his control since going to the school. We’d hate to take that away from him.”

Or the Ashidos.

“You all will be looking out for her, right?” Mr. Ashido asks. There’s a well-kept shrine at the back corner of the room with a woman’s face. She looks fairly plain, with glasses that shade her eyes and a salaryman’s smile, but there’s a tint to the grin that hides a wild side. That same woman is in a picture of the Ashido family together, the two doting parents coddling their baby girl, the father’s purple skin and completely white eyes a contrast to his daughter’s pink and black. The man in front of them cries viscous tears. “You’ll be looking out for her...and protecting her...and this...she’s wanted this for so long. I...I won’t take this away from her if she wants this. She’s my baby girl...reminds me so much of her mother...so I know. I know she’d hate it if I took this decision away from her.” He smiles wetly. “She’s a hero at heart.”

In the end, Mr. Ashido knows his daughter well. 

She’s the first out of both classes to say she’ll continue.

Eyes wide, clenched fists shivering as she grins up at Aizawa, she proclaims that she’ll continue the path to becoming a hero.

Bakugou’s a close second, saying he wouldn’t be worth his shit if he backed out because things got a little tough.

But it’s not a little tough, it’s a serious threat to his health, and Aizawa begins to wonder what else Bakugou has gotten from his family.

Todoroki’s a close third. He’s particularly expressionless when he says it.

And one after another, his class progressively continues to state their approval to continue.

Vlad King loses a student, a young girl with a bright future, and a kind but unremarkable smile. Her presence hadn’t been particularly noted and her performance during the Sports Festival was lackluster. All Might’s confession had been the final nail in an already built coffin.

After a quick evaluation of the Sports Festival and current class scores, Shinsou Hitoshi’s family are given a visit and a full run-down.

Shinsou approves of his class acceptance the very next day.

The following Monday, nearly all of the same students are sitting in the meeting room, with the new addition of a purple-haired, baggy-eyed boy in 1-B, his slouch hiding his excitement at finally being in the hero course.

Monday’s meeting is headed by Principal Nedzu instead.

“We’ll give you your new class schedules by the end of the meeting. After all, with the threat you all will face from here on out, more than ever, we need to promote cohesiveness and work ethic! So, while you all will be in classes 1-A and 1-B, your hero classes will be taught at the same time.” Before a blond 1-B boy could start complaining, Aizawa finds himself impressed by the efforts of a orange haired girl in the same class, a quick smack to the back of his head shutting him up before he can start. “Of course, working together won’t be enough just to prepare you all for your futures as heroes. So! I’ve taken the liberty to hire on a new staff member who will be looking over your quirks today.”

The students begin to look at each other, a low murmur rumbling from the crowd.

“The new staff member is an expert in the field of Quirk Studies. Even though she doesn’t yet have a degree in the subject, she’s already written theories that surpass dissertation-levels of attention to detail. From the regimes she’s written for several heroes, they have already seen improvements in their bodily functions and in their quirk efficiency.”

The mumbles increase, but a quick glare from Aizawa silences them, 1-B a little startled, not used to the firm handling.

“Then, I hope you all give a warm welcome to our new staff member!” Principal Nedzu cheers, clapping his paws together.

The students in the crowd start clapping as well, ready to see the new teacher...well, counselor.

The slight clack of little heels from behind the side curtain alerted them of her presence, which began getting Mineta and Kaminari a little hyped up.

The first thing they see is a small red heel. It has a low heel with two criss-crossed straps around the black stocking-covered ankles. A red skirt flutters into view, followed by a long-sleeved button-down with a cute string bow tied under her shirt collar.

The clapping peters off, and four students in particular freeze solid and turn blue with horror.

The girl’s peach gloss gleams in the overhead lights, and greenish-black hair curls loosely down her back and over her shoulders, her eyes covered by her bangs. But they don’t hide the smattering of freckles all over her cheeks. With the click of her feet, she stops beside the podium and smiles happily at the crowd.

“This is Kobayashi Chouko. She looks pretty young, don’t you think? I’m sure many of you are surprised, aren’t you? Of course, a few of you already know her, hahaha!”

The principal’s laugh is pointed, humored but serious, and the four boys feel their stomachs drop into their guts.

“As I was saying, Kobayashi Chouko will be attending the school both as a student and as your new Quirk Counselor. After you all do a few designated exercises today, she will be compiling the information she has with the new stats that you all will be giving her today. Then, one by one, you all will be meeting her in her office for a personal consultation! From then on, we’ll continue your training and improvements based on her studies of your quirks and personalities. Do you have anything you’d like to say, Kobayashi-san?”

“Ah, yes, I do!” Kobayashi claps her hands together with a pretty smile on her face, cheeks flushed. “I really hope I can get along well with you all from here on out! So, please go get in your gym clothes and meet us on Field A! Okay~?”

[mandeath46-blog]

The Globe Of Academic Publishing - Enago Academy.

What Is Academic Journal?

What is Academic Journal? It is a compilation newsworthy and also discussions created by faculty members who are actually teachers, employee as well as lecturers to trainees on the academic occupation of their establishments. These publications were in the beginning launched online and afterwards in printed type with membership needed for every private periodical problem.

Earlier there were just online publications readily available. Having said that, as the demand for these diaries increased, thus carried out the several academic meetings and diaries to which these publications are given. Various forms of the academic meetings are being coordinated from time to time. These conferences are actually being held for different causes, like to carry out brand new study or even study olden ones, administer seminars and talks on several subject matters, etc.

. Such conferences are actually accepted various purposes like to hand out aims for absolute best documents, to discover analysts as well as lecturers for crucial projects, to explain as well as make think about changing or even producing brand new educational program as well as teachers' instruction, and so on. As a result different meetings are being actually managed every year and at regular periods. These conferences are actually primarily worried about upgrading the existing educational program of a company, specifying new one. Nevertheless, there are some meetings that concentrate on grading as well as awarding students for their informative efficiency and also post-graduation work.

The conferences have various themes like "Discovering Knowledge and also Mindsets" to "Professions as well as Their Perks and Negative aspects" to "Utilizing Online Sermons and also Displays" to "Advertising And Marketing of Investigation Work" to "Arts and Liberal arts" to "Examining Approach". They also adhere to different layouts for conferences like workshops, workshops, visitor talks, editorials, dissertations, ventures and so on

. get more info of the informative seminars are created for the much younger creation of college students. Much older students who are retired or even functioning in educational institutions have some leisure time which they may use for composing their academic journals. These write-ups are commonly in the form of daily record access.

However, once they resign or even leave behind the organizations, after that their leisure time is limited to their remarried loved ones or even good friends. However when the writer determines to compose again, he or she begins seeking an appropriate subject matter. This moment he or she will certainly compose a whole entire short article. The short article receives posted in a separate journal alongside the other conference write-ups.

There are lots of academic journals offered which satisfy various subject matters such as Journal of Kid's Literature, Journal of Social Issues, Journal of Medieval Research Studies, Journal of the United States Historical Association, British History, Assessment of African Researches, etc. A common academic journal would be pretty short as well as would certainly contain about three to four many thousand terms.

In a nutshell, what is an academic journal? It is a selection of notes and also discussions made by professor who are actually teachers, employee and lecturers to trainees on the academic career of their institutions. These journals were actually initially released on the internet and afterwards in imprinted kind along with membership needed for each individual periodical problem.

What is a Journal?

Academic journals are an usual function in academic literature. While academic journals do not typically have study results, rather they usually tend to be the 1st resource of news concerning the current accomplishments as well as obstacles that an academic community is actually facing. These publications have actually ended up being an integral aspect of a researcher's lifestyle and also, even more importantly, allow a scientist to carry on releasing academic end results. This brings in academic diaries the main publication site for many researchers, along with an expanding amount of academic companies and even specific scholastics making every effort to publish their do work in these diaries, without the motivation of authorities companies or cashing bodies.

What is actually considered an academic journal? Commonly speaking, academic diaries are those that are posted by professional academic organizations. For example, the American Journal of Human Biology is actually one such publication. Though this publication was founded by human the field of biology professionals, it is likewise commonly described as the "very first journal for the biological sciences." This journal is actually primarily utilized through expert biologists however a few other specialties, such as the molecular the field of biology neighborhood, may also publish their findings in this journal.

How to find an academic journal? Finding an academic journal is certainly not as hard as it seems. All you require to carry out is to seek out your specific willpower on the internet, for example, biology journals as well as public libraries will usually publish a list of publications in this particular style. As an alternative, go through your library or bookshop and seek journals connected to your particular self-control. A crucial point to keep in mind is actually that journals from different techniques and academic disciplines carry out not necessarily possess the same material so you should regularly make certain that you are comfortable along with the subjects of the journal just before providing it.

Exactly how Perform I Receive My Academic Newspaper Published?

The fantastic feature of writing a newspaper or manual is that you could be completely sure that it is going to be read, as well as the tips you communicate will be actually gotten and also take into terms. Regrettably, just how perform I get my academic newspaper published? As well as in the case of created works, how perform I locate a publisher to become able to create this feasible? Certainly not simply that, however what carries out a publisher actually carry out, and exactly how can they assist? You will locate that finding an expert publisher is actually not difficult, although the work demanded coming from a publisher may be time-consuming.

Firstly, you have to think about the form of report you desire to create, whether it is actually a research, thesis recap, theses, treatises, treatises and also theses, as well as some of the formalities require to become addressed just before you may expect your editor to contact you to become capable to modify your job. Naturally, there are bunches of people that operate online in the course of what they carry out, and they take care of academic writing along with other written jobs. This means that they are going to manage to manage the research study associated with your papers, and they will have the moment to commit to this. Also, this type of individual are going to possess a ton of knowledge and are going to recognize how to take care of these situations. Regarding how do I get my academic newspaper released? this is the initial step.

Along with numerous business around that belong to academic paper creating, you might want to think about these concepts, to stay away from any sort of confusion. A great idea will be actually to search for the responses on Google.com and also other search engines as well as observe what you may locate, and if the knowledge you gain is not nearly enough at that point contact your nearby office of an academic composing firm. That is actually just how do I get my academic newspaper released, it goes without saying.

[ucl-llm]

Writing your LLM Dissertation

If you are planning on undertaking a LLM, you be expected to write a dissertation. This blogpost outlines my dissertation experience and details for prospective LLM students what you might expect as part of the process of preparing for your dissertation.

What is expected of you?

Essentially, your dissertation should aspire to be like a journal article. This means your arguments must be of high quality, and (in order to secure a high grade) include original thought.

Time-frame and dissertation lectures

The LLM runs from September-September. Your exams and coursework will typically come to an end in May/June, and your dissertation will likely be due in late August- September. Throughout the year you will have to attend several lectures that have been specifically formulated to help you  to prepare for your dissertation. These lectures will help you to plan, research, write and proof-read for your dissertation.

Personally, I did not find these lectures incredibly useful since, at least from my perspective, good academic writing takes practice and is really only something you can achieve on your own. Of course, however, if you are an international student, the lectures may be more useful, since they may inform you of formatting expectations that only exist in UK based universities. For example, I was not surprised when informed in one of the lectures that OSCOLA (Oxford Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities) was the preferred style of referencing at UCL; indeed, I had been accustomed to using OSCOLA throughout the entirety of my undergraduate studies. However, as an international student, these formalities may be new, and as such the dissertation lectures may prove very useful.

Supervisor allocation and meetings

You will have to submit a working title to your law faculty. The faculty will subsequently allocate to you a supervisor who will likely be an expert in your chosen field of research.You will then have multiple opportunities to meet with your supervisor to discuss your work. Your supervisor will be there to proof read sections of your work and to offer guidance.

Notably, at least at UCL, late June marked the end of the period in which LLM students were able to communicate with their supervisor. This may or may not be a rule depending on where you undertake your LLM. The rationale behind this is simply that term time will have finished in june, and thus supervisors are likely to be on leave. However, depending on your supervisor, some contact may still be possible. Whilst at UCL there was fairly strong enforcement of the no contract rule with regards to face to face meetings, many students (including myself) were nonetheless able to email their supervisors with concerns regarding their dissertation.

The colloquia

Undeniably, the prospect of being cut off from communicating with one’s supervisor is terrifying. I had not begun working on my dissertation until my exams had ended in June. This did not leave me much time to consult with my supervisor on my dissertation. However, UCL does support students in the June-Sep period. In mid July, students were required to attend a ‘colloquia’. The colloquia is essentially a forum in which you present your dissertation plans to a small group of other students on the LLM and to an academic. The presentations were not formal. In this sense, we were not required to create a powerpoint presentation, but merely had to discuss our plans and research. Notably, the professor supervising will unlikely be your supervisor, and will not necessarily be an expert in your field of research. Nonetheless, they are there to provide you with guidance and will challenge you to explain your ideas coherently.

Initially, the thought of having to undertake the colloquia was terrifying. However, my experience was overall very positive. When I entered the tutorial room, I could tell that all of us participating students were equally as terrified as each other, which, in a strange sort of way, put me at ease. Admittedly, the professor was intense in his scrutiny of my dissertation title and asked several questions about the content of my work. Whilst the professor could not offer guidance on the content of my work, being that he was a professor of jurisprudence and not healthcare law; I was nonetheless provided with very useful guidance on how to structure my work.

It is also worth noting that the colloquia gives you a sense of confidence, which is something one might not expect from the process. As I previously explained, my supervising professor had no knowledge of health care law. Moreover, the students I was presenting in front of were writing their dissertations on other fields of law. In this sense, by sharing my expertise with others, I gained a sense of confidence in my academic abilities.

PhD mentor allocation

After the colloquia is over, from July-September, LLM students at UCL were all allocated PhD mentors. PhD mentors are there to help you with the formatting of your work, but will not be able to provide guidance on the content of your work. In this sense, they will unlikely have knowledge on your chosen research area, but will be experienced in academic writing, and will therefore help you to structure your dissertation to a high standard.

[buri-art]

If you don't mind me asking, how come you're able to live and work in Japan (and China?)? Where did it al begin? I'm just really curious! Thanks!

I don’t mind, thanks for asking! Turns out I’ve been doing some advising on this topic lately. (Scroll to the bottom for specific advice!)It all began with Digimon…

I’ve always had a history of moving from one obsession to another, starting back with Barney the Dinosaur. Then when I was 11-years-old I found myself very curious about that weird Japanese show on Fox Kids, which looked so different from the Western cartoons I was so fond of. What I caught of it kept me surprised–my stereotypes about it were wrong, the characters and their situations were complicated, and plot had depth? What was this and why did it make me care so much??Well, once I decided I was hooked, I was hooked. Obsessed overnight. I needed to know everything there was to know about it, including the country it came from. Guess I better learn Japanese, I thought. 

That thought didn’t go away. I generally got obsessed with anime and Japanese culture, anything I could get my weeby little hands on. Wanting to know everything about Japan led to curiosity about China too, because if you’re going to stretch far back in the origins of Japanese culture, eventually you’re going to get interested in the big collection of nations and time periods known as Ancient China. (Stuff like Fushigi Yuugi and the anime rendition of Condor Hero sure helped drive that interest.)I stayed obsessed with Japan all through my teen years (and started Japanese study in earnest when I was 16) and I chose a college where I could start studying Chinese. It seemed like the natural progression in my studies by that point, but I guess other people thought it was surprising. Or they called me a traitor. (I can tell you now that lots and lots of people wind up studying both.)

Anyway, I went in to college with a pretty wide knowledge of East Asia, but studying it from all sorts of angles, getting good advising in school from nerdy professors, and studying abroad certainly made my understanding more nuanced. Going to a small school where it was easy to stick out also helped me get a good handful of work-study experiences and special attention for my particular passions. (It helps that a couple teachers were enamored with traditional Chinese culture, another loved Heian aesthetics, another wrote a dissertation about the production of shoujo manga, and another loved to give students free food. Now those are my people.)What most people find surprising was that even though I had a heavier course load in Asian studies, my major was Economics. I was concerned about finding work with only nerdy Asian studies, and I felt like I needed to save the world by working at an NGO and sacrificing my personal happiness for the sake of the poor and underprivileged. (I still feel like that, but thankfully there are more ways to support NGOs than only by working in them.) In my research topics I usually had a special focus on developing nations in Asia, and I made sure to get a good understanding of the whole region, not just, like, Edo period gay samurai fanfiction (yeah, that was totally a thing).Well, anyway, I never worked at an NGO. I went to grad school to keep working on my Chinese while keeping up independent Japanese study  (including the JLPT), then I worked for the one international company in my hometown doing stuff for their Asian side of business. It was cool if you had any interest in engineering, but I didn’t. I like culture. The weeb shit, as it’s known. All according to keikaku, I became a Coordinator for International Relations on the JET Program (it’s not all English teachers!), and had the time of my life in Matsue (my love for that place is seeeeerious). That’s when I took my wide knowledge of Japan and started getting deeper knowledge, by doing anything and everything, especially practicing naginata, tea ceremony, and competitive kimono dressing. (I like to say I broke the weeb scale a long time ago.) Even among CIRs, who all speak Japanese fairly fluently, I guess I was noteworthy for my nerdy knowledge of obscure pieces of local culture, and my enthusiasm for sharing it. That’s just me being my obsessive self, folks. But yeah, lots of JET Program participants are obsessive and eager to go out and experience things. Aaaahhh, my people. After that, I felt I needed more experience in China, so I got a teaching job (which is relatively easy to do, if you’re a native English speaker). Due to my work schedule and living in Shanghai as opposed to like, Wuyishan or even Hangzhou, I didn’t devote as much as to cultural classes as I originally planned on, but I did practice tea and martial arts throughout my time there, and I continued to work on my Mandarin and gaining obscure cultural knowledge, but especially gaining experience melding with society there. Although it was more overwhelming, I do feel much more competent with my Chinese skills now, and I still love a lot of the culture and have so much more traveling I want to do there. I can still nerd out so hard for so much there.Moving back to Japan felt like a very natural course of things. I know a lot of people who have been happy to be Japan-nerds from a distance, or do the JET Program for a while and then just go back to visit, but at least for now, I don’t see myself happy with only visiting. I have personality flaws, like being very inflexible, that make me work very well in a rigid society like Japan. I’m too used to good convenience stores to live happily without them. I enjoy speaking Japanese all the time instead of taking occasional opportunities. Also, my niche skill set is kind of useless in my part of the US. I did try to find work here, really. That being said, having niche skills means that when I’m useful, I’m super useful. Job searching from outside of Japan was a lot more challenging than applying for the JET Program (which any JET applicant can tell you is not a simple process, but once you’re in, you really appreciate how much they handle for you in matters of moving abroad). It was really, really nerve-wracking to turn down two very good corporate job offers in favor of a somewhat new hotel chain. I really wanted to enter the tourism industry because this feels like the only place (outside of academia) where I can use all my obsessive studies of mainstream and obscure but especially traditional culture, and where my gushing about how much I love stuff is actually useful. Plus, it’ll make use of all three of my languages, not just one or two at a time. I hope this will work out for at least the next few years, if not forever. I also hope that if I live in the US in the future to be closer to family*, then I’ll have enough industry experience to work in hotels here or start a tour company targeted at Asian clients. (*Family is the primary reason I still consider long-term life in America, and it’s a big one, and worrying about them is the hardest part about living abroad. Excessive humidity in a lot of Asia is another reason I might choose to live in the Western US.)But like, now my hobbies are my job. While it won’t be the bulk of it, wearing kimono and performing tea ceremonies is no longer something that makes me cool and special and unexpectedly useful, it’s going to be what I need to be professionally competent in (eeeeeeep). This is the kind of stuff that obsessive teenage Buri would have swooned to know, but also totally expected. Career-Buri is a little more level-headed about it and also very grateful to have these opportunities. So anyway, advice!!—If you think you want to do anything in China or Japan, START STUDYING THE LANGUAGES NOW. Yes, I know they’re difficult. No, there’s no perfect program. Whatever you’re going to use, just do it consistently. Fluency is not actually required for a lot of jobs, but hot damn, some language skills will help. (For reference, I passed N1 of the JLPT before starting JET, and passed HSK5 while I was in grad school. I studied for HSK6 while I was in China and would have had a 50/50 chance of passing, but chose not to because it’s not actually that useful for the price I’d pay for it.)–To get a work visa in either country, 99 times out of a 100, you’re going to need a Bachelor’s degree. Your major is not usually as important as simple proof of graduation. Many places will care about your grades, though, so try to keep them up. –Teaching is still the easiest way to get there. There’s a wealth of programs to recruit you, but I suggest trying to steer clear of places that only provide a stipend instead of a salary, or small dispatch companies with questionable reputations. The JET Program is probably the best way to teach in Japan because of the level of support you get, but I’ve known people who had good experiences on the larger dispatch companies like Altia or Interac as well. For more direct hires, there are English tutoring companies (like English First (EF) or Coco Juku) where you might have students of all ages, as well as companies that focus on very small children (where you’ll basically be a glorified preschool teacher). On that note, many kindergartens and other for-profit education companies (like what I did in China) will hire directly, but your experience can vary widely. Finally, you can also look into international schools, but your teaching credentials will be much more important. Any background in teaching, or TESOL certification, will be a boon to your application (and at some places, your paycheck). –All of these places will want to see that you are a dependable, flexible person. Getting experience abroad, being able to speak frankly about challenges you’ve dealt with, and showing a willingness to go anywhere and do whatever is needed will look really good on your interviews. I say this a JET Program interviewer; the people who displayed the most patience and maturity were the people we felt best about giving a high score to. Those are the people we like to send out into the communities. –As we like to say in the JET Program, every situation is different (ESID for short). That applies to every teaching situation you might yourself in abroad.–You don’t have to be a teacher (after all, I only did JET because of the CIR position, I loved it!!). But you’re going to have to be really competent in whatever else it is you’re doing. Headhunters, such as at Pasona Global (which has branches in many Asian countries), are really, really good to work with, but they are most likely to hook you up with corporate jobs in big cities. If that’s what you want, awesome. (I wound up finding my hotel through a Japanese job searching site specifically for tourism related work. Other industry-specific fields may have their own job hunting sites, possibly in English, possibly not.) Language competency will be a lot more important if you take this route. –If at all possible, STUDY ABROAD!!! Many people will get the experience they want doing this instead of dealing with the frustrations of working and residing abroad. It’s a good way to see how much you love it and decide if the frustrations are worth it. Plus, it really helps your job applications. –Even if you can’t work abroad due to your personal situation, PLEASE TRY TO TRAVEL THERE!!!! When you’re interested in another culture or a foreign language, it means so, sooooo much to be there, even if it’s temporary. I don’t just say this as someone who has chosen tourism as my calling (though I am more than happy to give travel advice), I say this as a passionate nerd. I feel you. I get you. You need this. –Back to studies and stuff though, if you’re going to major in some form of area studies or foreign language, it is difficult to get jobs with that alone. Consider double-majoring in something that will play into that, or which will open other career options. Money is kind of important, especially if you’re going to have to pay for flights across the Pacific. 

–That being said, study what you care about too. You know how oddly useful my elective class about Non-Western Theater has been!?!? And if something in anime catches your attention, for goodness sake, you’re on THE INTERNET. If you liked Jubei-chan, go study samurai, if you like Fruits Basket, go learn to make onigiri, if you like Mob Psycho 100, then go—well—um—go work out, being physically healthy is also important!!

Well, anyway, that’s long enough. Good luck to all you nerds out there!! KEN TANAKA LOVES YOU and all that good stuff!! 

[garp19-sophialea-blog]

Proposal - First draft

For my dissertation I wanted to look into one of my favourite artists Frida Kahlo. I find her paintings beautiful to look at with a lot of depth and emotion behind them. When you look through her collection of work, you can see her life story being told, and your able to walk through the events and moments she experienced. Not only is she an incredible artist who painted portraits and images inspired by her personal life, but she was also someone who suffered greatly yet continued to carry on an fight for what she believed in. From the age of 6 she was diagnosed with polio, resulting in one of her legs being noticeably smaller than the other. If this was not enough of an impact on her life, she later was involved in a tragic bus accident, which changed her life forever. After breaking many bones throughout her body, and having a metal pole impale her in the abdomen, she was left bed bound for nine months and would find herself to be in and out of hospitals for the rest of her life. When deciding on a subject with in the umbrella of Frida Kahlos life, I had the option to look into her life story and talk about the influences shes had on people, or to talk about the unusual relationship she had with her husband Diego Rivera, however I wanted to do something different as I feel this has been done many times before. Instead I wanted to look at the reasons why Frida Kahlo is so famous today, and recognised by people not even interested in art. When people see her face, they generally recognise her as Frida Kahlo, something other artists such as Pablo Picasso or Georgia O’Keeffe do not have the privilege of. However whilst undergoing research on these facts, I noticed that even though people recognised and could name the woman with the monobrow, they didn’t necessarily know who she was and why she was famous. You will find Kahlos image on anything from t shirts and bags, to bars of soap and shot glasses. She had the reputation of being a feminist icon that people should look up to, yet they know nothing of her or her life story. Since discovering this I would like to investigate why Frida Kahlo has become famous for reasons other than the artwork she produced, and whether she is known for the strong woman she was or just a face to make money out of. I think this would be an interest to others as it may unveil issues we have in society that aren’t being addressed, due to the ignorance of consumers. By reading my final essay you will learn more about Frida Kahlo as person rather than her simply being a monobrow on a t shirt sold in Primark.

I have began my research by reading Haydn Herrera’s 500 page biography on Frida Kahlos life. The book follows very detailed events that occur from her childhood, all the way through to her death at the age of 47. It contains many photographs and paintings done by the artist, as well as diery entries and letters she wrote through her lifetime. By reading this book, I hope to gain a greater knowledge of what her life was like, giving me more confidence to talk about her in my final essay knowing I have all the facts. Any key quotes or interesting events I find within the book, I log down on my Tumblr account, so that I have easy access back to them when writing out my final essay. As well as reading the book, I have watched the film ‘Frida’ staring Salma Hayek that is in fact based off Herrera’s book. By watching the film as well as reading the book, I hope to gain a new insight into what her life was like, having actual visuals of Mexico back in the 1900’s. By watching the character of Frida acted out by Salma Hayek, you can create a greater understanding for the pain and emotion she dealt with in her life, whether it was through the pain of the bus accident, or the pain of her husband constantly cheating on her with other woman.

When browsing through the internet, I came across a page called ‘Frida Kahlo is not your symbol’. I found this an intreging title, as it wasn’t simply a ‘fan page’ that I had so often come across when researching the artist. On the site I found a list of issues and arguments that have been raised due to people putting Fridas face on anytings and everything in a feat to make money. It talks about how this would not only go against everything Frida Kahlo stood for, but it often wasn’t even portraying her correct appearance. An example of this would be when social media platform snapchat, created a filter for the Mexican artist back in 2017. However when looking at the filter and the changes it made to a persons appearance, it was noticed that it would in fact create a paler complexion to that of the Mexican artist. People investigated further by placing the filter over the original Frida Kahlo self portraits, and the results confirmed that it did in fact lighten the skin tone of the original image. Discovering this sparked outrage to the public and those with different skin tones. But this was not the last time this would occur. A year later in march 2018, the popular doll company ‘Barbie’ released a Frida Kahlo doll as part of their inspiring women series. When reading an article written by ‘The Independent’ aside from the copywrite issues raised by the family, the doll itself has very few properties that made Frida Kahlo the woman she was. The doll once again has a very pale complexion, as well as being extremely skinny, something barbie has been pulled up on many times before. However the doll does not have a monobrow, one of Frida’s most noticeable features, nor does it show any evidence of the fact that she was disabled due to the bus accident, or the fact that she eventually lost one of her legs to gangrene later on in life. Leaving these features out and making it seem that she was a completely abled white woman, takes away all the things that made Frida Kahlo the woman she was. An ironic quote I found on the ‘Frida Kahlo is not your symbol’ website, was that she claimed she hated white people, the USA and capitalism, saying ‘ I don’t like the gringos at all. They’re very boring and they’ve all got faces like unbaked rolls’. Having been a woman that had these views, you would think she would be condemned, but rather she was embraced by white feminists, only reimagined as a ghostly version of herself, free of any radicality and hardship.

This ignorance to who Frida Kahlo was taken even further when British Prime Minister, Teresa May, wore a chunky Frida Kahlo bracelet during one of her speeches. Whilst May is a representative of the conservative party, it seems ridiculous that she would wear a bracelet representing a woman who was a fervent communist and actually had an affaire with Leon Trotsky, a soviet politician. People may argue that May simply wore the bracelet for aesthetic reasons, but that just proves how ignorant people have people on the views Kahlo had and fought for.

During a recent trip to London, I was able to document just how popular Frida Kahlo merchandise is. When travelling round gift shops, clothes shops or just walking down the road, you could find her face everywhere. You could buy Frida Kahlo mirrors, bags, soap, shot glasses, glasses cases, fairy lights… A factor I did pick up on however was the fact that they were all the same image of her.

You never see a painting of her ‘broken column’ or the ‘what I see in the water’, which I feel are beautiful pieces. The only reason I can think of for these pieces never being shown in the public eye or on items being sold in shops, is due to the fact that it shows deeper layers to her, not just the fact that she was a beautiful woman. The broken column does have partial nudity which I could understand some designers not wanting to feature if they target younger audiences, however this is not a factor in all of her artwork so why do people insist on using the same image of her.

So a key concepts that I will be looking at for the final essay is whether or not Frida Kahlo has simply become a face used to sell products and occasionally represent feminism. Has she become a hallow shell that the public eye no longer recognises for her artwork and life story. Do people no longer know her belief or what she stood for, and now simply see her as a pretty face with a monobrow on a tote bag. I feel like this has unfortunately become the case, as we are living in a society were we only care about making money. As well as this I want to see if there is a reason that in many products created around the Frida Kahlo brand, that some of her key features have been left out, such as in the snapchat filter or Barbie doll. I will be interested if this is a common factor that happens to other women and men of colour, or if it has simply happened to her, and if so why? To continue researching down this question I would need to understand some more background information on Mexico in this time period. What the Mexican revolution was all about and why Frida had the views she did. When alive she would always wear very traditional Mexican dresses, rather than anything influenced by European clothing. I need to fill in the gaps of her reasoning behind this. Her farther was originally from Germany, so what exactly was it about Europe and the USA that she so much hated. By filling in these gaps I would have a better insight of the history and beliefs she stood for, and then get greater understanding on the outrage some people have toward what so many companies are doing with the Frida Kahlo brand.

I would also be interested in researching and finding out more about the Frida Kahlo exhibition that recently took place in London. I was unfortunately unable to get tickets on the event, however I think I could find some interesting points from the exhibition, and to get feedback from anyone who went to the event. To find this out I would need to do some more research online and find articles written in review of the show. As well as this, I could possibly email people that went or were involved in production of the show, and get there opinion, not only on the exhibition, but on some other issues previously raised in my research. To carry this out I would need to create a consent form in order to prevent any issues possibly raised in the future, should the person I interviewed decided they no longer wanted to be a part of the research.

Over the summer I shall continue to read Frida’s biography by Herrera, as well as carrying out online research. As well as this I will be researching Mexican history in the 1900’s to gain greater knowledge on Frida’s beliefs and understand on a greater scale why the Frida Kahlo of today would outrage Frida if she were alive to see it today. I think I need to have a greater understanding on communism and the politics in general around this time, as some of the gaps in my knowledge on the subjects may become an issue when I am later writing my essay. Finally I will try and investigate further into the barbie doll of Frida Kahlo and the issues that revolved around it. I would like to see what exactly happened with the copywrite laws that resulted in the doll being removed from shop shelves, and why the doll didn’t have any of Frida’s attributes in the first place.

[doodledialogue]

Interview series - What after B.Arch? #12

Interviewee: Ar. Lolia Mary Post-graduation: Masters in Environmental Planning | School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi, India

What prompted you to take up this particular program? 

I felt the need to focus on larger scales and broader perspectives of development, to understand the dynamics of how and why we have different types of built landscapes across various regions. By the 4th year in my undergraduate study, I was gravitating towards learning more about natural systems and environmentally sustainable designs. Master’s in Environmental Planning was the most appropriate course, which fit my inclination and interest w.r.t scale and natural systems.

When did you take up master’s?

I got into Master’s course immediately after Bachelor’s.

My advice is simple: if you have a clear inclination towards further studies and have examined why you need to pursue a master’s course and a preferred subject, I don’t think you should stop yourself from immediately joining a course. But if you are inclined to practising Architecture in the long run and do not feel the need to further your studies immediately then you might want to get into practice. This will buy yourself more time to think through.

When did you start with the application process considering the time for application, scholarship/bursary deadlines etc.?

I started enquiring and doing my research on the application process, subjects/courses, colleges etc. around the beginning of the 5th year of the course. Of course, towards the last semester in Architecture, it was more intense.

One should start researching, reviewing courses and colleges at least a year before (if not a year and a half). This will give you more options and enough time to weigh your options. If planning on taking up courses outside of India, then one might want to give oneself at least 15 months’ time so as to not miss courses starting at different times of the year.

What preparation did you do before starting master’s? I did some background study on environmental planning and prepared for moving to a new city. The school did not hold any pre-master’s programs/induction week/courses. I spoke to alumni and professors of the program.

Did you have to give any entrance tests? How did you plan for them?

SPA’s admission procedure at that time (2010) had two stages of candidate evaluation;

Stage 1) Detailed application form submission (Statement of Purpose, Portfolio-CV, and application form, Scorecards in Architecture and Scorecard of GATE exam)

Stage 2) Short-listed candidates are called in for a short written test and an Interview thereafter

Based on the results of these stages of review, the final list of successful candidates is put up.

It is ideal if you also qualify and secure a good rank in GATE; this will increase your points at the admission ranking and also help secure GATE scholarship.

How long was your program?

It was a two-year course. Courses began in July 2010 and ended in April 2012. Post-program opportunities were not available.

Did you have post-masters plans in mind when you took up masters? Or did you go with the flow?

My intent was to work in planning and environmental sector wherein I gain experience while working in all types of organizations (research-based organizations, government based, NGO, corporate etc.). I had given myself the flexibility for seeking job opportunities with an open mind initially, so it was easier to go with the flow. My idea was that I need to experience each type of organization to better understand how the sector itself functions.

How was the experience at the school?

It was quite rewarding given the exposure received especially to be able to hear and learn from pioneers, decision makers and change makers of planning and development in India. There is no stopping on how much one can learn because it is up to the individual to take initiative.

Even though at times chaotic with multiple perspective and reasonings, this chaos opens one’s horizon of knowledge and gives you the grounding required to understand planning and development in a developing nation like ours which is much complex unlike developed nations. This is my take.

How was the teaching at your school?

The teaching was heavily anchored on in-depth research (within the constraint of time), brainstorming, discussions, group work and field work. This is important so as to learn; how to agree to disagree, resolve conflicts and evolve balanced recommendations considering multiple aspects. This skill is fundamental while practising the profession of planning as it is multi-sectoral in its nature of practice on ground.

Classes were a standard 9.00am-5.00pm, five days a week with occasional special classes during Saturdays. Yes, there was quality time for extracurricular activities.

Tell us more about the mentors.

All the faculty in Department of Environmental Planning were very approachable (they still are) and one could approach them at their department rooms freely and they were accessible except when they were occupied with prior appointments.

I’d like to especially remember and thank Prof. Aseesh Maitra, Prof. Meenakshi Dhote, my thesis guides Ar. Anita Tikoo and Asst. Prof. Neha Tripati Goel for their wisdom, inspiration, patience and endurance.

Were you involved in research projects/competitions while studying?

Partly, through our studio and department projects.

Could you tell us in brief what your thesis/dissertation/final project was about?

It was on developing a model framework to evaluate landscape for its functional capacity to perform ecosystem services.

What kind of dialogue did you have with your professors?

I had the best thesis guides I could ask for. Ar. Anita Tikoo and Asst. Prof. Neha Tripathi Goel were exactly who, I and my topic needed. They always asked the right questions and also encouraged and stirred me to ask the right questions. They were open to hearing my thoughts and provide excellent critique was truly involved as my thesis guides. I think asking the right questions and encouraging us to ask questions pushes one to seek answers ourselves and thus expand the scope of learning.

How was the structure of your meetings with the guides?

We had a structure and a tentative schedule with targets applicable to all students. But over and above both my thesis guides were available for discussions whenever I required, to review with them. We had discussions before the scheduled submission and presentation of the work.

Did you encounter any challenges while doing your thesis?

I cannot remember any negative challenge. Thesis is about taking up a challenging research-based topic which you try and engage with in-depth for the given time. And a good thesis topic shouldn’t and cannot end with the final submission or jury presentation because it would have a further scope of examination and enquiry.

Could you please tell us about the thesis assessment system?

We had intermittent presentation and grading through the various stages of the thesis semester. It concluded with a final jury presentation (external and internal jurors) and submission of the report.

How did you manage the finances?

Fully funded by my kind and loving parents as I hadn’t received any scholarship.

Could you tell us about your accommodation?

Stayed in the campus hostel. The hostel building was right at the campus and barely took 5 minutes to walk to the department.

Did you travel while/after studying?

Yes. As much as I could.

Through Architecture and Environmental Planning course, I travelled to Jaisalmer, Jaipur, Udaipur, Junagadh, Kutch, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Puri, Bhubaneswar, Varanasi, Sarnath, Nainital, New Delhi, Agra, Fatehpur Sikri, Bhopal, Batindha, Puducherry; with the intent of experiencing the city and architecture, some were part of the studio projects/thesis and some places were purely leisure. 

Are there any notable incidents/ anecdotes from post-grad studies that you wish to share?

I can’t think of any one incident. I often tell people it was so much fun learning and going to the classes especially because we were a small group of 12 students (12-15 seats in M.EP course) and luckily we synced and worked very well together through consensus and disagreements. Of course, all the campus extracurricular activities and travelling was awesome, thanks to a lot of friends from my B.Arch times who were also studying various Master’s courses.

How much one learns and grows is up to the individual. Professors and guidance can only show you the options and directions available and it’s entirely up to you to choose the path of your interest/capacity. And for that self-reflection is important.

How do you think doing a master’s degree helped you?

Unlike many other courses which are focused on individual students and individual projects; planning requires persistent and successful collaboration across sectors and specialized professionals. Apart from the learning of the subject and the way it was taught, one of the important takeaway was, the first-hand experience of the strength of collaboration which enabled a smooth transition into the profession, especially in the initial years.

The university met my expectations to a great extent. The information about the course on the website reflected reality.

Did the city/country you studied in play a major role during your postgraduate study? 

Yes. At least for Planning course, it ensured a sound foundation of the context (social, political, economic and environmental) that I would be working in for the next 7 years.

Could you please tell us about your current work and future plans?

I am currently working remotely as a consultant for a project and another programme run by an NGO. I am quite adaptive in nature, so my future plans are also very dynamic. My area of interest is applied research and hence I am open to any good platform that enables it.

What message would you like to give to students/professionals planning their post-graduate studies?

Well, whichever course one chooses, ensure that you know why you want to take up the course (for whatever reason be it professional, ideological, or simply self-growth). Do your research on the various options that you have w.r.t courses, universities and locations worldwide.

About the interviewee…

Lolia Mary is an Architect and Environmental Planner and has been working in the sector for the past 7 years. She completed her Postgraduate course (Master’s in Environmental Planning) from the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi.

She has worked with an NGO, with a research-based practising organization as well as with a government agency over the past seven years. She recently moved to Germany and continues to work remotely as a consultant to a few organizations in India.

[superlinguo]

Linguistics jobs -  Interview with two Communications Professionals

Back in January I made one small tweet, asking if there was anyone who was interested in sharing their experiences as part of the Linguistics Jobs interview series I’ve been running for the last few years. I got such a positive response that we’ve now got an exciting schedule for the rest of the year. Both Madeleine (/mædəleɪn/) and Adam trained in linguistics and have gone on to have Communications roles; Madeleine is a Communications Assistant at a hospital in the UK (and tweets as @captainmaddiech), and Adam is Communications Officer at Australia’s biggest supercomputer (and tweets as @ATHuttnerKoros). To show that even similar jobs can have different perspectives, Adam and Madeleine kindly agreed to participate in the first double-headliner interview in the series.

What did you study at university?

Madeleine: My degree was English, which at my uni meant mostly literature, but also linguistics, creative writing and American studies. So I studied lots of books and wrote stories and learnt some American history, and I also took phonetics, sociolinguistics and ethnography. My dissertation was a study of non-standard language use on Tumblr.

Adam: I studied a Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science at university, majoring in Science Communication and Linguistics. I started my science degree doing Physics, but realised after about 3 semesters that explaining the science was more interesting than discovering it! My linguistics courses covered a bit of everything, from phonetics through to cross-cultural communication and lexicography. Following on from my interest in communication and public-facing uses of language, sociolinguistics was probably my favourite topic.

What is your job?

Madeleine: The job title is communications assistant (web). There are four of us in the web team, and we look after all the hospital's websites and social media accounts. Day-to-day, I write content for the websites, put up events and news items on the intranet and respond to comments and emails we receive. I'm also involved in planning social media campaigns and events like our yearly open day.

Adam: My job title is Communications Officer at the National Computational Infrastructure (NCI). NCI is Australia’s biggest research supercomputer, used by researchers around the country for research from pure astronomy to human genomics, materials design and weather modelling. My role covers a wide range of communication activities to do with sharing what happens at NCI with the wider world. I produce mostly written content, from regular research highlights to our Annual Report and social media. The research stories are based on interviews with scientists and users of the supercomputing facility. I also help run tours of the facility for visiting student groups, and organise training sessions for our new users.

How does your linguistics training help you in your job?

Madeleine: I think linguistics (especially sociolinguistics) does help in my job. An awareness of the social and cultural contexts of the language you're using is really important when you're talking to the public about healthcare (or anything, actually). Something I'd like to look into is how we can make it easier for speakers of languages other than English to access NHS healthcare.

Adam: My linguistics training, at the very least, makes me interested in a wider range of stories than people with a more standard science background. For example, although there aren’t many linguistics research projects running on the supercomputer, I did manage to fit one in based off an interview with Professor Jane Simpson (ANU). The other things I gain from having studied linguistics is an openness to the idea of different ways of communicating: different methods and uses of language can reach people in different ways. It’s also for this reason that I think linguistics is an interesting combination with science communication studies. Not only is the research that takes place in linguistics fascinating and applicable to a lot of people, the insights into how different people and cultures use language in different ways are a real-life example of how it is sensible communication practice to play around with the way you tell stories.

Do you gave any advice do you wish someone had given to you about linguistics/careers/university?

Madeleine: Sometimes we think that skills you use in linguistics at uni are only useful if you're doing a language study or writing an essay, but that isn't true - the skills you learn at uni are really transferable. Things like research and working with data will look good on almost any job application.

Adam: Linguistics is such a broad field that it can be applied to a lot of different kinds of careers and work. But unless you are going into academia with your linguistics, I think it makes most sense to pair it with something else (sociology, law, science, computer science…) and then pursue careers in the intersecting space. My impression is that that’s where most of the opportunities are. Studying linguistics for the sake of it is great too, the question is finding somewhere you can put those skills and knowledge to use.

Previously:

Interview with a university course coordinator

Interview with a think tank researcher

Interview with a Museum Curator

Interview with a Communications Consultant

Interview with a Linguistic Project Manager at a Language Tech Company

Check out the Linguist Jobs tag for even more interviews  

[cancerbiophd]

how did you go about finding a lab, PI and a grad school? I’m kind of confused by the process. I’ve been told it doesn’t matter what the lab/degree is as long as it corresponds to what you want to do research in.. other times I’ve been told to select a mentor not a project? And I honestly am so confused I don’t even know how to properly begin and my undergrad advisor was of little help.

Hello!

I definitely understand. The process IS pretty overwhelming. Hopefully I can help. 

A disclaimer first: this advice may only be applicable for life science PhD programs in the United States (as that’s what I’m most familiar with). If you’re applying for another program or degree, in another country, some of my advice may not apply because they may have different processes. 

My process went like this: apply for and interview at grad school program -> get accepted to that university and program -> rotate through 3 different labs -> choose the lab/PI that worked best for me. (Some countries the process is reversed--you apply to the lab, then after you get accepted to the lab, you gain acceptance into the university). 

My advice on narrowing down what grad schools to apply to

Advice on choosing a lab

Potential questions to ask your potential PI to see if the lab is right for you

Guide on PhD lab rotations

As for your specific questions/statements:

I’ve been told it doesn’t matter what the lab/degree is as long as it corresponds to what you want to do research in

The answer is kind of multi-faceted and long-winded and very “it depends”. 

Your lab/degree/program dictates your research, and your research project may shape the networks you interact with in the field, and your networks may influence what post-grad opportunities are offered to you (eg. a post-doc or industry position). This is especially true for those wanting to go into academia, where everything you do as a whole matters more. 

However, you can also create networks that open up other doors outside of your immediate field. For example, an alumnus from my program got a job as an editor at the journal Cell after graduating--not because of her research per se, obviously, but because she was able to publish a ton of papers (on her research) and was really familiar with the whole process of scientific writing/editing/publishing/etc, and thus gained a lot of network connections in the publishing field. 

Another case: my lab mate is currently doing a post-doc in a pretty different subject than what his grad project (and degree) is in. He has a PhD in Nutritional Sciences, his PhD project was on drug metabolism, but his post-doc now is on cancer biomarker detection. 

That being said, in some cases, your degree (ie. PhD) is sometimes more important than your dissertation project. But in other cases, your degree is also the first thing employers see and thus make their first impressions on. So if I, a Cancer Biologist, tried to apply for a job at a Physics-heavy company, they may pass over me for an actual Physicist. My Nutritional Scientist buddy had kind of a hard time when applying to cancer research companies, despite his stellar knowledge on cancer biology (coming from a cancer biology lab), because all HR saw were the two words by his PhD. 

So ya, long answer is: yes, no, sometimes, it depends. 

other times I’ve been told to select a mentor not a project?

This part is absolutely true. Your project does not matter one bit if your mentor creates a toxic environment for you that makes you want to quit grad school. I think I say this in one of those links up there but your grad school project is just a way for you to gain the tools necessary for your next career step--an advanced degree, research techniques, soft skills, published papers, etc. My dissertation project studied whole organs, my friend’s dissertation project was on a single organelle in a cell--but we’re both now working at the same team at a very clinically-focused cancer research company that hired us not for dissertation projects but because of our PhDs in Cancer Biology. 

And the fact that we both finished grad school with our mental health intact is a testament to choosing good PIs who fostered supportive lab environments. No matter how cool a project is, it’s not worth the sacrifice of your health. And grad school is a looooong time; some PhDs can take upwards of 6+ years. That’s a good chunk of time that can have lasting effects on the rest of your life. 

In conclusion, to quickly summarize what I just said here, and in those links above:

Choose a field/program you’re passionate about (at least passionate enough to be willing to make it a career for the rest of your life)

Choose a grad school that makes you feel at home and has all the resources you need (eg. financial aid)

Choose a mentor and lab that supports you as a person

Choose a project that excites you and that you can grow from

And the rest will slowly fall into place :)

I hope that helps get you started. Let me know if you have any other questions! My private messaging is also open if you’d like a more 1-on-1 chat!