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"Can't you hear me, S.O.S.?": TLG's PhD study blog!

New blog can be found here: https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7614702

26 year old ethnomusicology student (University of London) researching ABBA fandom, seeks TSR peeps to act as cheerleaders as she battles her way through PhD studies. Apply for cheerleading position(s) by following/posting on this thread :biggrin:

A bit about my PhD topic

A bit about my specific PhD project: I am doing an ethnographic study of ABBA fandom in the 21st century :awesome:

(Ethnographic means that there's a practical element to the research, like going to fan meet-ups/conventions and interviewing people, etc, rather than just theorising ABBA based on my own guesswork/conclusions.)

I chose to do this partly because I am an ABBA fan myself, but also because I think ABBA are an interesting case study, since they continue to be part of mainstream culture despite having never reformed. (They have actually turned down $1 billion USD in the past to reform :headfire:

) I figured there must be some interesting things to say about them!

I have been doing participant-observation fieldwork with the UK branch of the Official International ABBA Fan Club, and have interviewed an ABBA biographer, as well as the curator/director of the ABBA Museum in Stockholm. I've also been keeping tabs on Facebook groups revolving around ABBA. So a lot of my work involves hanging round on Facebook. Such a tough life I lead :emo:

A bit about me/some housekeeping rules

A few bits of contextual info about me/my PhD, for those who don't know me that well:

1. I suffer from schizoaffective disorder and am registered as mentally disabled. This inevitably shapes how my PhD journey goes a lot

2. Ethnomusicology is (put crudely) the social anthropological study of music. It is the study of "music IN culture" and "music AS culture" (Alan Merriam). Traditionally it referred to so-called 'world musics' but now it encompasses everything

3. My undergraduate degree is in music from Woosta College, University of Oxford. My MA degree is in music (ethnomusicology pathway) from Goldsmiths, University of London. Had a **** time at Oxford for many reasons which I will not discuss here, but which again shape the way I approach my PhD. Goldsmiths was much better. I am currently at a different college of the University of London (would prefer not to name it here).

4. If you are one of these people who like to put two and two together and find my uni website page/academia.edu - please DO NOT refer to me on here by my full first name, or my full name (first name/surname). I prefer to keep a degree of anonymity on here

If you wanna call me something, you may call me Shan or TLG.

Posted from TSR Mobile

(edited 3 months ago)

Reply 4980

5hyl33n

Volunteer Section Leader, Clearing and Applications Advisor

21

Original post

by The_Lonely_Goatherd

Very nice! Are you getting it framed?

Reply 4981

Muttley79

20

Shame about the date!

I was expecting something a bit more fancy for a PhD ...

Reply 4982

The_Lonely_Goatherd

OP

20

I was also hoping for something a bit more fancy, haha :colondollar:

The date is correct, as that it the date my PhD was awarded :yes:

Some of my friends have been telling me to get a nice gold frame for it. Alongside the certificate was a sheet of paper about University of London crest frames, which is tempting :beard:

I haven't dared check the prices yet though! :hide:

Reply 4983

5hyl33n

Volunteer Section Leader, Clearing and Applications Advisor

21

Original post

by The_Lonely_Goatherd

Some of my friends have been telling me to get a nice gold frame for it. Alongside the certificate was a sheet of paper about University of London crest frames, which is tempting :beard:

I haven't dared check the prices yet though! :hide:

It'll definitely help make it look more fancy!

Reply 4984

Muttley79

20

Original post

by The_Lonely_Goatherd

I was also hoping for something a bit more fancy, haha :colondollar:

The date is correct, as that it the date my PhD was awarded :yes:

Some of my friends have been telling me to get a nice gold frame for it. Alongside the certificate was a sheet of paper about University of London crest frames, which is tempting :beard:

I haven't dared check the prices yet though! :hide:

I'm surprised they chose to meet on April Fool's Day!

Reply 4985

The_Lonely_Goatherd

OP

20

Original post

by Muttley79

I'm surprised they chose to meet on April Fool's Day!

My understanding is that there are no meetings to approve PhDs at my uni: the Director of Postgraduate Education (DPE, or DoPE :tongue:

) for my School (in my case, the School of Performing and Digital Arts) is asked via email to approve PhD awards as they come in. Then awards are made on the 1st day of the month following the approval.

It was quite fun telling everyone on the day I got my award that it was not an April Fool's joke haha :colondollar:

(edited 3 months ago)

Reply 4986

The_Lonely_Goatherd

OP

20

I just found out (by looking at the sheet of paper that came with my certificate) that I can order a 'brass certificate' version of my PhD certificate. Tempting, tempting :beard:

I have ordered my graduation photos. The one of just me (as opposed to me with my family) is coming in a big frame, with two windows: one with my photo and then a blank window with space for my certificate :ahee:

I've got a feeling my dad is gonna complain about the family photo I ordered, but meh :colone:

Reply 4987

The_Lonely_Goatherd

OP

20

@04MR17 : could you lock/close this thread when you get a chance, please? Many thanks :h:

Reply 4988

Euapp

21

Original post

by The_Lonely_Goatherd

New blog is up! https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7614702
I will be asking for this thread to be locked, but do migrate over to the new thread if you wish! I will try and tag some people in it to get their initial attention (won't be tagging you all every post, dw!) :gah:

"Thank for all your generous love and thanks for all the fun!" - 'When All Is Said And Done' (ABBA)

PRSOM!!

Reply 4989

The_Lonely_Goatherd

OP

20

Original post

by Euapp

PRSOM!!

Argh, you're PRSOM too :sad:

Reply 4990

The_Lonely_Goatherd

OP

20

New blog is up! https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7614702

I will be asking for this thread to be locked, but do migrate over to the new thread if you wish! I will try and tag some people in it to get their initial attention (won't be tagging you all every post, dw!) :gah:

"Thank for all your generous love and thanks for all the fun!" - 'When All Is Said And Done' (ABBA)

"Can't you hear me, S.O.S.?": TLG's PhD study blog!

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