This discussion is now closed.

Check out other Related discussions

"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 80

username1599987

12

Original post

by The_Lonely_Goatherd

Blagged my way through supervision (not very well though!) :biggrin:

Posted from TSR Mobile

How was your supervisor? Was she kind of okay with you slacking off? Or was she disappointed? Btw what is her job, with regards to you, precisely?

Oh and did you know that every time I read the thread title I have to sing the chorus of S.O.S!

Reply 81

The_Lonely_Goatherd

OP

20

Original post

by gagafacea1

How was your supervisor? Was she kind of okay with you slacking off? Or was she disappointed? Btw what is her job, with regards to you, precisely?

Oh and did you know that every time I read the thread title I have to sing the chorus of S.O.S!

I suspect she was probably a bit disappointed but she hid it well if she was :colondollar:

She's incredibly nice to me :redface:

She's basically the person who guides me with regards to reading for/writing the thesis. She's the person I answer to and who keeps me on my toes and makes sure I'm doing enough work :eek:

I have an advisor but at my uni, advisors don't really do much afaik. So it's basically just me and my supervisor, aside from annual check-ins with a panel to make sure both me and my supervisor have been doing the right thing throughout the year :yes:

Reply 82

The_Lonely_Goatherd

OP

20

Not done any work for a while :hide:

I've set up a new Facebook group for the postgrads in my dept though :awesome:

Reply 83

username197472

17

Is this a funded PHD and is it 3 years TLG?

How do you balance between your health and the work required?

How are you staying motivated?

What will you use it for? / end goal?

:hugs:

sorry for being nosey lovely. Don't answer any question that you feel is too personal.

Reply 84

The_Lonely_Goatherd

OP

20

Original post

by tradingmyheartforyours

Is this a funded PHD and is it 3 years TLG?

How do you balance between your health and the work required?

How are you staying motivated?

What will you use it for? / end goal?

:hugs:

sorry for being nosey lovely. Don't answer any question that you feel is too personal.

Not too personal at all! Sadly it's an unfunded PhD. The finances are a bit of a longwinded story but essentially my family are running round like headless chickens trying to find the cash :s-smilie:

It's 3 years plus a write-up year, so four years in total :yep:

I always prioritise my health but that means I can go weeks without doing a single PhD-related thing :nopity:

Fortunately my supervisor is very mental health-friendly in that she understands that sometimes I will have next to nothing to show, whereas other times I'll have done a lot in a short space of time.

I'm not really motivated atm, which is a huge problem. I have two mental health mentors - one academic and one study skills - provided by my uni (one funded by DSA, the other provided by/paid for by the uni), so they tend to keep an eye on me and try and keep me going. I'm using this blog as a motivational factor coz I hate reporting no progress to people I feel accountable to :colondollar:

No particular career plans atm. I'm doing this PhD first and foremost for the love of the subject, but also partly due to immense parental pressure from one parent to do this. I have no plans to go into academia because I don't think anyone would employ me :sad:

So the main plan atm is to turn my thesis into a fan-friendly book that all my ABBA fan friends can read and (hopefully?!) enjoy! :h:

Reply 85

The_Lonely_Goatherd

OP

20

Next supervision set for 5th October. I'm determined that today I will do some reading and do something constructive towards PhD. That's if I don't fall asleep from fatigue, though :redface:

Reply 86

username1599987

12

Original post

by The_Lonely_Goatherd

Next supervision set for 5th October. I'm determined that today I will do some reading and do something constructive towards PhD. That's if I don't fall asleep from fatigue, though :redface:

About reading and studying in general, do you listen to music while doing that? Or are you more into the quiet library environment
?

Reply 87

The_Lonely_Goatherd

OP

20

Original post

by gagafacea1

About reading and studying in general, do you listen to music while doing that? Or are you more into the quiet library environment
?

Academic libraries have a tendency to make me psychotic :s-smilie:

So most of my work/reading is done at home. Sometimes with music on if I need an energy boost, but sometimes not :h:

Reply 88

The_Lonely_Goatherd

OP

20

So on the day that I *finally* manage to summon up enough courage/motivation to open the book my supervisor leant me (yes I know, you're all wondering how on earth I'm doing a PhD if I need to psyche myself up so much to open a damn book :tongue:

), my dad decides that rather than letting me read more than 4-5 pages in peace, it's necessary to come and start reminiscing about stuff that happened before I was born :nothing:

On the plus side, I guess those 4-5 pages got done and hopefully picking the book up tomorrow will be easier :colondollar:

Also, some fun fieldwork coming up: I'm going to a late-night cabaret in Central London put on by some of the cast of Mamma Mia! (West End), featuring songs from the pre- and post-ABBA careers of the four members, plus some ABBA songs that never made it into the musical! :danceboy:

Reply 89

The_Lonely_Goatherd

OP

20

So fieldwork the other night was great fun! One of the admin from one of the Facebook groups I'm working with was there, and we had a good time chatting away. Got some interesting quotes/ideas from him :smile:

It was so nice to hear ABBA songs performed by musical theatre stars, because ABBA songs are quite difficult to sing in general! They were performed well and there were some interesting arrangements (Motown, etc). I've tried attaching the programme here!

Also, the ABBA' convention' (for lack of a better term) for next year has been announced! Rather than the Netherlands, it is going to be held in Sweden in late April next year! Exciting :biggrin:

Though, given my supervisor is gonna be in India all of next April, this means I have to get ready for my upgrade (to full PhD student status, as opposed to being an MPhil/PhD student) uber-early :eek:

ABBA cabaret 24-09-15 - PROGRAMME.jpg322.7KB

Reply 90

username1599987

12

Original post

by The_Lonely_Goatherd

So fieldwork the other night was great fun! One of the admin from one of the Facebook groups I'm working with was there, and we had a good time chatting away. Got some interesting quotes/ideas from him :smile:

It was so nice to hear ABBA songs performed by musical theatre stars, because ABBA songs are quite difficult to sing in general! They were performed well and there were some interesting arrangements (Motown, etc). I've tried attaching the programme here!

This sounds so good! See this is why I sometimes wish I lived in London.

Btw I didn't know about many of these songs (the attachment). And I dare call my self an ABBA fan?

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 91

The_Lonely_Goatherd

OP

20

Original post

by gagafacea1

This sounds so good! See this is why I sometimes wish I lived in London.

Btw I didn't know about many of these songs (the attachment). And I dare call my self an ABBA fan?

I didn't know any of the non-ABBA ones aside from 'I Know Him So Well' from Chess. So dw! :h:

Reply 92

The_Lonely_Goatherd

OP

20

Task for today: finish the book I'm currently reading for supervisor. Will I manage it? Let's see! :beard:

Reply 93

jelly1000

21

Original post

by The_Lonely_Goatherd

Task for today: finish the book I'm currently reading for supervisor. Will I manage it? Let's see! :beard:

you can do it :biggrin:

Reply 94

The_Lonely_Goatherd

OP

20

Original post

by jelly1000

you can do it :biggrin:

I went for a nap instead and then freaked out coz I think I somehow got sleep paralysis as I was drifting in and out. So no reading done yet :facepalm:

Reply 95

jelly1000

21

Original post

by The_Lonely_Goatherd

I went for a nap instead and then freaked out coz I think I somehow got sleep paralysis as I was drifting in and out. So no reading done yet :facepalm:

break it into small chunks and reward yourself when you've done each chunk

Reply 96

The_Lonely_Goatherd

OP

20

Original post

by jelly1000

break it into small chunks and reward yourself when you've done each chunk

Good thinking! :colondollar:

Thanks for the support and for cheering me on :hugs:

Reply 97

apple8888

13

Spoiler

Reply 98

jelly1000

21

Original post

by The_Lonely_Goatherd

Good thinking! :colondollar:

Thanks for the support and for cheering me on :hugs:

no problem, after all the support you and the other GoG guys gave me when I was basically having a breakdown over my dissertation I owe it to you! Rewards can just be something simple like a nice hot drink or 5 mins on TSR or something like that!

Reply 99

The_Lonely_Goatherd

OP

20

Original post

by REMLewis

Spoiler

Sadly, no Rih Rih involved in my PhD :nah:

But rep for you :biggrin:

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

Related discussions

How The Student Room is moderated