A Typical Friday?

(Originally posted 8 March 2013)

Life as a PhD student can be unpredictable. Of course there’s a certain amount of reading and note-taking that forms the basis of daily life, but not having to go to class and a distinct lack of deadlines (except for that big one looming in the distance) means that I can structure my research time around whatever events I want to attend.

Last Friday is a great example of just how diverse a day in the life of a PhD student can be. It began with my first trip into LSE for their ‘Branching Out’ Literature Festival and a talk by leading historian Professor David Abulafia based on his book The Great Sea: A human history of the Mediterranean. Professor Abulafia presented a history of the Mediterranean from 22000BC to 2010 that focuses on the sea itself: naval conflicts, trade, and migration. “I like people getting on ships” he joked. I particularly appreciated Professor Abulafia’s dedication to bringing history to a popular audience:

“Historians should try to reach a wider audience.There is too much pressure from the REF (the dreaded measure of research output) to publish monographs for half a dozen people”.

After a free lunch from the Hari Krishnas outside LSE (top tip for students on a budget), I headed to Chancery Lane to spend several hours power-reading (like power-walking) in the Maughan Library café – I find it easier to concentrate there than in the main body of the library where everyone is stressing. Just when I was craving chocolate but determined not to move until I finished my book, a very kind gentlemen who works in the café gave me a free Kit Kat on his way out to “reward me for studying so hard”. Made my day!

Book finished, it was back to LSE for The Art of Parodies, where biographer, critic and novelist D.J. Taylor, political cartoonist Martin Rowson and author Ewan Morrison had a passionate debate about what parodies are, whether they matter, and how we should judge them. I particularly enjoyed Ewan’s presentation about how parody has become obsolete in a “world of domestic parodists”, featuring some terrible YouTube clips. You can read all about it on my personal blog.

Amused and enlightened, I ran back to King’s Student Union for the Brazilian Dance Carnival Marathon where members and friends of King’s Brazilian and Portuguese Society danced for 8 hours through the night to raise money for the ABC Trust.

Picture from the Brazilian and Portuguese Society.

From learning about the Mediterranean to dancing the Macarena – just a normal day in PhD life!