Thinking – Page 3

Back to Indexicality

I have been working on my secondary comprehensive exam paper/topic again . Again might not be the right word. It started out as a paper on figural meaning and its relationship to indexicality through the process of one’s imaginary museum (Lefebvre), but for the allocated length of the paper, it was way too much. IContinue reading “Back to Indexicality”

Random Dissertation Thoughts

I had my first full-on thesis proposal/comprehensive exam meeting on Thursday. All in all, it went relatively well. Ok – to be honest, it was a lot better than I had expected, and only have some minor tweaking on my actual proposal, and a decent-sized (but very doable) edit on my secondary comp paper. OneContinue reading “Random Dissertation Thoughts”

Rethinking, Restructuring, Rewriting

I am in the process of rewriting a paper that I had written last semester for a course. The final paper wasn’t my best work, although it fulfill the course’s requirements. There are a few nuggets worth saving though, and this is where the work really begins. It is one thing to edit a paper,Continue reading “Rethinking, Restructuring, Rewriting”

Professional Identity

I have been working on the same stream of research on identity and video games over the last five years. My argument has been relatively consistent over the years, with a few flaws here and there as to be expected. Regardless, my goal has always been the same – to decentralize the concept of identityContinue reading “Professional Identity”

That Sinking Feeling

A feeling that, as an academic, happens every once in a while when you are scouring the literature on your research topic, when you stumble upon that title that both excites you and makes your heart sink. The title that says “hi kelly, your thesis has already been written by somebody else, move along”. IContinue reading “That Sinking Feeling”

Thinking: The Hidden Work

As I sit here, trying to work through yet another draft of my PhD Proposal, I have been struck with a sense of guilt that I hadn’t “done” anything all day. But when I stop and take a minute to think about what I have been doing, I realize that I haven’t done “nothing”, butContinue reading “Thinking: The Hidden Work”

Plagiarism and Patents

Throughout my academic career, the question of plagiarism has always been at the forefront of my mind. Many conversations have been had over the years about what constitutes an “original” idea, and what ideas are merely a result of some form of intellectual ‘mash-up’ of books read, stories heard and other intellectual conversations. It hasContinue reading “Plagiarism and Patents”

Writing Rituals

So, I have been sitting in front of my laptop for the last few days, working on my thesis proposal, typing a word here, a phrase there (I am about 1/4 of a way through being finished …). I have been trying to think of ways to get myself into that super-fiend-work-mode that I findContinue reading “Writing Rituals”

Working Through The Process

I am working (read: struggling) through writing my thesis proposal. In theory, it shouldn’t be as difficult as it currently is. I have five sections that I need to write on over the span of 7,500 words; problematic, hypothesis, justification of corpus, state of the question (lit review) and theoretical framework/methodology. Simple enough – asContinue reading “Working Through The Process”

I, Avatar: Reading Review in Progress

I am reading the book I, Avatar: The Culture and Consequencese of Having a Second Life – yet another book that has been sitting on my shelf waiting to be read, and I was struck by a few things. First of all, I am really enjoying it so far. To be honest, when I firstContinue reading “I, Avatar: Reading Review in Progress”