Hello all!
It is Winter Olympic time again! Hooray! I have had the Olympics on for probably more time than is advisable recently, but who hasn't? (I don't actually want to know. I feel better if I assume everybody loves the Olympics.) I've been watching the BBC coverage after it happens. The only live events I've watched are hockey, generally over video call with my mom. (I love the internet, mostly.) Hockey is, always, really great. Even better, good ole STC has a native daughter on the women's team, which is not news to the vast majority of you reading. When I initially discussed my excitement for hockey, people here were a tad confused. Understandably so because field hockey is way more popular here than ice hockey. I honestly forget that another kind of hockey exists. I've moderately enjoyed listening to the BBC commentators. They explain hockey and say other amusing things. However, they tend to refer to the female athletes as "girls" rather than women but they do not refer to the male athletes as "boys." Everyday sexism.
In academic news, I got my mark for my second essay from last term. I did much better on it than my other essay and I was happy with the mark. The feedback was interesting and generally helpful.
I'm thinking about doing my dissertation on postmodernism in museum exhibits. I'm reading up on postmodernism (yes, willingly). I just read about Barthes and his ideas on books and authors. One of my favorite quotes/ideas is "books belong to their readers" (John Green). I understood what Barthes was saying because I've been exposed to Green's ideas about his writing--which, I see now, is very "postmodern." Basically, ideas of ownership and meaning and the use of language are fascinating. Particularly fascinating to me is how language and meaning is conveyed in museum exhibits and how people interact with the language used in museums. I don't have many coherent thoughts yet, I only figured these basic ideas out in the last three days.
I have no other real news and no pictures this week. I probably won't have anything terribly exciting until term ends. The week immediately following the end of term, I am off with the campus chaplaincies to the south to look at places important to the return of Christianity to the island--and a bit of sightseeing I suspect. So pictures then!
Monday, February 17, 2014
Monday, February 3, 2014
Week 5: Take Two
Hello all! I have been a bit rubbish at updating you all recently and I'm sorry. But, to be honest, there isn't much that's new. I have been working on my research for my placement, reading for class, and working on an essay.
The most exciting (maybe) bit has been the research. I really like trying to figure out what things were and why they were needed and how they were used. That being said, most of my research can be depressing. Considering I'm researching World War I, it's not too surprising. My research, as I'm sure I've mentioned, concerns supply lines and the logistics of supplying an army. One of the other student's working on, generally, the same project, is researching the York ties to the Gommecourt Wood area of the front. Not-so-fun fact about Gommecourt: during the battle of the Somme, Gommecourt was the diversion. Yes, the diversion. In a war that was, for the most part, stagnant, on the first day of a battle that was questionable in its efficacy, the place where a large-ish concentration of York/Yorkshire men was the diversion. As I said, not-so-fun.
The essay I have due this week is about historical films and how they are criticized. I'm enjoying the topic, so hopefully it goes well. For the case study, I'm using is Oliver Stone's "JFK" (I had to watch it for my cinema class in D.C.). It is not my favorite movie, which is the diplomatic way of saying I kinda sorta hate it. However, when I first saw it, I disliked it in a generally sense. Now I actually have reasons for disliking it. Stone's questionable use of facts is top of the list. In my research, I've discovered that, in terms of "doing" history in a similar fashion to academic written history, "JFK" is worse than "A Knight's Tale," a film that includes a significant number of anachronisms.
Sadly I have no new pictures this week. But, the weather is, in general, very nice, so I will hopefully have a nice day with some time soon when I can take a wander and have some new pictures!
The most exciting (maybe) bit has been the research. I really like trying to figure out what things were and why they were needed and how they were used. That being said, most of my research can be depressing. Considering I'm researching World War I, it's not too surprising. My research, as I'm sure I've mentioned, concerns supply lines and the logistics of supplying an army. One of the other student's working on, generally, the same project, is researching the York ties to the Gommecourt Wood area of the front. Not-so-fun fact about Gommecourt: during the battle of the Somme, Gommecourt was the diversion. Yes, the diversion. In a war that was, for the most part, stagnant, on the first day of a battle that was questionable in its efficacy, the place where a large-ish concentration of York/Yorkshire men was the diversion. As I said, not-so-fun.
The essay I have due this week is about historical films and how they are criticized. I'm enjoying the topic, so hopefully it goes well. For the case study, I'm using is Oliver Stone's "JFK" (I had to watch it for my cinema class in D.C.). It is not my favorite movie, which is the diplomatic way of saying I kinda sorta hate it. However, when I first saw it, I disliked it in a generally sense. Now I actually have reasons for disliking it. Stone's questionable use of facts is top of the list. In my research, I've discovered that, in terms of "doing" history in a similar fashion to academic written history, "JFK" is worse than "A Knight's Tale," a film that includes a significant number of anachronisms.
Sadly I have no new pictures this week. But, the weather is, in general, very nice, so I will hopefully have a nice day with some time soon when I can take a wander and have some new pictures!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)