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

So supervisor was keen on me doing that conference but not that particular paper In any case, I've fallen off the PhD bandwagon again (in terms of my mental health), so not really up for writing abstracts atm

Oh no, so sorry to hear that.Your health must come first now, I hope you get better soon again!

^^ 'You'll be dancing once again and the pain will end'

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

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 (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 ) 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



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

Hi Shan,
I have no musicality or interest in music, but I am applying to study at PhD Level and have mental health issues and feel a sense of kinship which prompts me to cheer in your corner.
So, imagine a middle aged woman, who, whilst non-musical, would know a surprising percentage of ABBA lyrics having been raised in the 70's, no make-up, having been an active feminist in the 80's, and with the ability to shout loudly and wave a placard. So you have a noisy, nasty woman in your corner, making enough hoo-hah for 10. Wishing you well,
LizzieO

Bookmarking this if I haven't already

the above sounds like a good idea, I always find it easier when my mental health is bad to try to do stuff over the course of several days to spread it out, be in a supportive environment w friends or to just try to eliminate distractions (blocksite is my saviour).

You can do this! I'm crossing my fingers for you to have a really good and productive time with your friends in the library

Met with my supervisor yesterday. It was actually quite a productive meeting! She wants me to completely overhaul the way I've structured the chapter I was bullet pointing for (the penultimate chapter of the thesis. Well the last one actually, if you discount the epilogue), which is a bit annoying but her suggested structure is much stronger. So it'll be a good change to make

Not seeing her again for a month now, due to the UCU strikes, but that should be OK

I'm glad the talk was productive! I can relate to that, I remember when I had to re-write my whole EPQ lol But it should be worth it to have a strong outline

So I didn't manage to go to the library writing meet-up with my friends. Turns out none of them ended up going today anyway, but that's not the point. I was feeling really lethargic and lazy, and the depression is getting overwhelming again, so didn't make it out

I hope your depression eases a little soon. <3 We're here for you and believe you can get through this
:hug: