#humanities

yearly reminder that if anyone needs personal statement advice i’m happy to help! i’m going into my third year of undergrad politics and history joint hons, and am more than happy to help out with any history/social sciences/humanities related statements. if anyone needs grammar checks or help cutting down statements for any other subjects i’m happy to take a look at them too! feel free to message x

summer holidays are for iced coffee and modern classics

ive had a nice little break between deadlines which has given me a chance to really focus on my last exam of the year, for my soviet experiment module. i’d always take a coursework style essay over an exam (even open book like this one will be), but at least getting a choice of questions means i get to pick the areas to focus on in revision. as you can tell (if you can read my handwriting), i tend to be drawn to social histories more than anything else, so i’m hoping some good questions come up!

my 48 hours us gov and pol exam starts in 20 mins!! ive been nervous for it because with other deadlines so close together it’s been tricky to give it as much time as i’d have liked, but this morning i’ve gotten up, done some pilates, showered, had a nice bowl of porridge and read thru my notes, and i’m ready to take my best shot at it. wish me luck!!

got a big day of essay writing today, determined to do well on this one so i’ve spent what feels like forever planning it and now i’m finally ready to write it all up!

I need some advice! Does anybody run/contribute to an online blog? Me and a friend are thinking of putting something together for mini essays/articles/thoughts, but honestly I don’t have a clue where to start and any tips would be amazing!

back at my uni house! so good to be back and getting lots more work done, which is a relief since exams are nearly here! newcastle weather means blue skies one minute and heavy rain the next, but i’m enjoying being able to go for walks more often than last term now the evenings are warmer and lighter

module selection for stage three is creeping up, so i spent most of yesterday trying to wrap my head around the very specific regulations and pick modules to balance my credits properly! finally managed to put together a balance that will work and i’m so excited for preregistration to go ahead, there are some great options that i’m so excited to take!!

exams are coming up!! spent most of today enjoying the sun (16° and sunny in england in april?? practically barbecue weather) and drawing up a plan of the next few months until the end of the semester to help visualise how long i have until deadlines. naturally this stressed me out so i spent an hour or two looking at past papers and guidance for one of my exams to feel a bit more prepared! how are other people feeling about exams?

Spent most of today working on a plan for a case study due tomorrow (oops) for my politics of the middle east module. enjoying the sunny weather and my view of a lovely tree in blossom!

thought i’d kick off my return by sharing what i’m listening to while i study. today i’m doing research for a case study for my politics of the middle east module, and i’m enjoying the summery aesthetic of the magic gang with the few days of sunshine we seem to be getting at the minute!

I’m back!!

I guess I disappeared for a while, but I’m back! I have a billion notifications and the apps changed a fair bit, I’m not sure I’ve been on in nearly a year, so I’m just slowly getting reacquainted. I used to be mostly active in my main @thegreatghostsby which I might pick up again, but for now I’ll mostly be active here.

I’m half way through my second year of uni now, studying for my BA in History & Politics, and still loving my course but desperately needing motivation. I first made this blog to motivate myself to revise for my GCSEs (four whole years ago!!) so it seemed natural to come back see if blogging my studies helps like it has before. What kind of posts are you guys after?? It’s nice to be back:) x

afutureworththinkingabout:

I’m Not Afraid of AI Overlords— I’m Afraid of Whoever’s Training Them To Think That Way

by Damien P. Williams

I want to let you in on a secret: According to Silicon Valley’s AI’s, I’m not human.

Well, maybe they think I’m human, but they don’t think I’m me. Or, if they think I’m me and that I’m human, they think I don’t deserve expensive medical care. Or that I pose a higher risk of criminal recidivism. Or that my fidgeting behaviours or culturally-perpetuated shame about my living situation or my race mean I’m more likely to be cheating on a test. Or that I want to see morally repugnant posts that my friends have commented on to call morally repugnant. Or that I shouldn’t be given a home loan or a job interview or the benefits I need to stay alive.

Now, to be clear, “AI” is a misnomer, for several reasons, but we don’t have time, here, to really dig into all the thorny discussion of values and beliefs about what it means to think, or to be a mind— especially because we need to take our time talking about why values and beliefs matter to conversations about “AI,” at all. So instead of “AI,” let’s talk specifically about algorithms, and machine learning.

Machine Learning (ML) is the name for a set of techniques for systematically reinforcing patterns, expectations, and desired outcomes in various computer systems. These techniques allow those systems to make sought after predictions based on the datasets they’re trained on. ML systems learn the patterns in these datasets and then extrapolate them to model a range of statistical likelihoods of future outcomes.

Algorithms are sets of instructions which, when run, perform functions such as searching, matching, sorting, and feeding the outputs of any of those processes back in on themselves, so that a system can learn from and refine itself. This feedback loop is what allows algorithmic machine learning systems to provide carefully curated search responses or newsfeed arrangements or facial recognition results to consumers like me and you and your friends and family and the police and the military. And while there are many different types of algorithms which can be used for the above purposes, they all remain sets of encoded instructions to perform a function.

And so, in these systems’ defense, it’s no surprise that they think the way they do: That’s exactly how we’ve told them to think.

[Image of Michael Emerson as Harold Finch, in season 2, episode 1 of the show Person of Interest, “The Contingency.” His face is framed by a box of dashed yellow lines, the words “Admin” to the top right, and “Day 1” in the lower right corner.]

---

Read the rest of I’m Not Afraid of AI Overlords— I’m Afraid of Whoever’s Training Them To Think That WayatA Future Worth Thinking About

Doing a Ph.D. is a really scary thought. Especially in humanities and social sciences. Especially in today’s job market.

Here I’m going to speak a little about my approach to Ph.D. applications, why I chose to do what I did, and how I put it all together including examples.

1. The Doubt

After coming out of my Master’s degree, I already had a year of research set up, so I didn’t have to think about jobs like all of my friends I had made during that degree. I watched many of them struggle to find a job offer. Some were successful in attaining a job in Cultural Resource Management, a couple got smaller jobs in local museums, but for the most part it induced a lot of stress to have come out of a Master’s degree with no prospects.

How I imagined my future at that time: I knew I didn’t want to work in a museum, I knew I didn’t like Cultural Resource Management, I knew that after all this hard work I didn’t want to end up underpaid somewhere doing data entry.

A Ph.D. has always been something that I wanted. Ever since entering the Anthropology discipline, I imagined myself working towards becoming a Professor.

Here’s what I was told when I started to consider a Ph.D. Program:

• “Don’t do it” (said by someone who already had her Ph.D.)
• “I wish I had gone into something with more money, even after my Ph.D. its been difficult to find stable work”
• “If you’re doing a Ph.D. in social sciences, ONLY go if you are fully funded, otherwise it is not worth the financial debt”
• “Most people don’t get in their first try, that’s why people apply to 10+ schools”

Coming up with a plan: After hearing this, I came up with a couple different options. Plan A: Apply to Ph.D. programs, if I get into one my first try and it’s fully funded then I’ll do it. Plan B: Find a job in Environmental consulting, I could put my GIS experience to use, make some money, and then try again for a Ph.D. later down the road if I wanted. Plan C: Move to Japan and live out my weeb dreams (I’m part Japanese and have a lot of family there so this wasn’t as crazy as it sounds).

I was genuinely okay with any of these options. They all involve things that I enjoy, none of them are bad options, none of them would feel like “failure” if I ended up not getting into a program. I think this step is very important because it forces you to figure out what you care about, and allows you to be open to change if plan A doesn’t work out.

2. Choosing a Program to Apply to

I knew that I didn’t just want to apply anywhere. Getting a job outside of a PhD is already hard enough, and I wanted the school that I chose to reflect the work that I would put into it. As much as we want to think that name brands don’t matter when it comes to education, it sure as heck does help when it comes to opportunity and being selected amongst 100′s to 1000′s of applicants. Therefore, why not shoot for the stars? What’s the harm in trying. For this reason, I decided to only apply to schools that:

1. Had a prestigious name
2. Had a program that supported what I wanted to study and allowed for cross-disciplinary research (Digital Archaeology focused on SE Asia)
3. Had an advisor that had done research paralleled to mine (whether that included SE Asia or just Digital Archaeology in general).

I started research into programs with the Ivies and went down from there, also cross-comparing programs that had been ranked as best schools for studying Anthropology.

At the time of researching, the programs that stood out the most to me were:

• Stanford (ideal because it was close-ish to home, fully funds their Phd students for 5 years, has opportunity for additional funding, had professor working with digital archaeology in Asia)

• Harvard (had professor working in Digital Archaeology though it wasn’t in my preferred region, also has good funding, and its Harvard)

• U Chicago (traditionally one of the top schools for Anthropology, however I had heard that a lot of this is because of “legacy” professors, and not much has come out of the department in recent years. Did not have someone specifically in my region of focus)

• ASU (Also considered one of the top Anthropology schools, but funding is often fought for between students)

• UC Berkeley (Had professors studying Asia, but it is a public school and also has limited guaranteed funding)

I sent e-mails to advisors that I thought I could support my research (this was probably around May, when applications are due Sep-Dec).

• Hello Professor______,

• My name is _______ and I am interested in applying to ________’s Doctoral program in Archaeology beginning in the fall of 2020. I would like to inquire whether you are accepting graduate students for this period, as my research interests align well with your research. I received my B.A. in __________ from _________ in 2017 and am currently _______. [Enter what you’re doing now, and any relevant experience that shows what you’re interested in researching]. [Enter something about their research, and why you’re interested in working with them/why you think you would work well with them]. I am eager to continue along this path and I feel as though your experience with _______could provide an interesting opportunity for future research. I would also be interested in working with [enter any other faculty that have similar interests, this shows that you’ve done some research into the program and the school in general] For your convenience, I have attached my CV here. If you have the time, I would appreciate the opportunity to speak with you further about the program and future research.

• Best,

• Full name

I also researched the financial aid provided to incoming Ph.D. students. After doing this, the only schools that sounded good to me were Stanford and Harvard.

Yeah, I know, only applying to Stanford and Harvard was a “big risk,” but this is how I thought about it:

• I don’t want to commit to a Phd program for 5+ years if it’s not fully funded, doesn’t have a big name, and isn’t going to guarantee opportunity after graduating.

• I wanted an environment where I knew I could be happy under immense amounts of pressure  (California by family, Boston by friends).

• If I didn’t get in, I had back up options that honestly sounded really fun to me, so I was okay with pursuing those instead.

• I didn’t want a Ph.D. just to have a Ph.D., I wanted a degree that would set me apart from others so that I could give myself the best chance for success afterward. I wanted one that, if pursued, could lead me to become a professor.

So I applied to 2 Schools.

I got scolded for this by many people… but whatever…I got in, so ha. Why spend money and time on an application for a school that you don’t really want to go to? :P

3. Applying to a Program

What an application looks like:

1. At least 3 recommendation letters:

Mine were:

• Undergraduate Anthropology Advisor who has been helping me throughout the years with grant applications, etc. She knows me well, can speak well to my accomplishments. She is also a very well decorated anthropologist.
• Undergraduate Professor of Geography who can speak to my GIS coursework. I’ve been updating him with my whereabouts and successes since graduating, so we have kept in touch regularly since taking his course.
• My Master’s dissertation advisor (he stressed me out submitting his letter 3 hours before the deadline >:| )

It’s good to have your recommendation letters come from people within the academic world. These people can write on your ability to achieve your research goals, your drive, etc. It’s okay to have maybe one letter from a workplace environment, however, it’s best to get as much street cred as you can from these letters, and this comes from Professors that know what they’re doing.

2. Curriculum Vitae (C.V.): This is important because it shows everything you’ve accomplished up to this point. This is how mine was set up:

• Full Name, Current Position, Email, Phone Number
• Education: University Name, City, Degree in ____
• Publications: In Edited Volumes, Journal Articles, Manuscripts in Preparation
• Conference and Workshop Participation: Papers, Presentations
• Grants, Awards, and Fellowships:
• Research Experience: Project Roles, Fieldwork
• Teaching Experience
• Additional Employment History
• Leadership and Extracurriculars
• Skills/Languages

A C.V. is a list of EVERYTHING you’ve done in your career, unlike a resume which is tailored to the specific job that you’re applying to. If you’d like a specific example, send me a DM. 

3. Personal Statement: This is where you tell them why you want to be there and what makes you qualified. Why should they consider you?

Personal Statement Example

      1st paragraph, introduce the program and your research interests: I am applying to _____ for admission to the Ph.D. program in Anthropology with a focus in Archaeology. My research interests are to explore [the consequences of ….. on the environment and human responses to environmental change] in [region of the world], and how these actions of the past can be visualized through the use of remote sensing and GIS applications to archaeology.

      2nd paragraph, why you’re interested in what you’re doing: I learned the value of digital applications in archaeology through my undergraduate and master’s degree. [Digital archaeology] is appealing to me because [………]. I first became interested in [example of why you’re interested in the topic/what inspires you].  After witnessing this, I began to seek out opportunities to partake in similar research.

    3rd and 4th paragraph, what makes you qualified to pursue this degree?: I have many research experiences that qualify my pursuit of a Ph.D. dedicated to using digital methods in Anthropological research. [Talk about your undergrad experience, do some name-dropping of professors you’ve worked with], [why did these experiences inspire you to take the next step?], [how are you where you are now because of them?]

   5th paragraph, what are you doing now?

   6th paragraph, why this school in particular?: This is where you name drop the professor you are interested in working with, talk about how their research aligns well with yours by mentioning specific things that they’ve done such as theoretical approaches. What are you interested in doing that would fit well within this program? Are there any facilities on campus that you are particularly eager to work with? Show that you’ve done your research.

   7th paragraph, what do you plan to do after you get your Ph.D. from this institution?: With goals of continuing archaeological research in ________ and expanding off the networks that I have established in _______, ________’s doctoral program in Anthropology is the ideal match to further my career as a Digital/Landscape Archaeologist. The Ph.D. in Anthropology at _______ allows for _________[reasons why you like the program]. Ultimately, my postgraduate goals are to remain in academia by continuing research and gaining a university faculty position. My foundation in archaeology gained in my undergraduate, graduate, and ______experiences have equipped me with a unique set of abilities to offer to ______’s Anthropology graduate program, and I look forward to the opportunity to exchange ideas with faculty and students alike.

Have your resume and statement looked over by as many eyes as you possibly can. It took me a good 6-10 revisions before settling on something that I liked.

4.Let the professors that you’ve been in contact with know

This puts you at the front of their minds when application review comes around. They’ll be like “oh yeah, this person messaged me about this.”

I hadn’t spoken to the professors that I reached out to since those first few exchanges back in May, so sending this message was very valuable to remind them of my existence.

This email can be as simple as: Hi Professor ____, I hope you have been well since we last spoke. I am writing to inform you that I have submitted my application to _______. Since our last chat I’ve been [whatever you’re up to now that’s relevant]. I look forward to hearing from _____ soon. Best, Me.

5. Productive Waiting

Yay, you’ve submitted! That was hard, but you made it through. Time to start diving into those other plans you’ve been thinking about. What will you do if you get into your top school? What will you do if you don’t get into your top, but you do get into your 2nd or 3rd choice? What if you don’t get into any of them?

Remember that none of these options are bad, and in this world, you have to be open to change and welcome it. A Ph.D. is a really long commitment, and it doesn’t have to happen right away.

If you get in, accept only if:

• It has the research you’re looking for
• It has an advisor that’s supportive of what you’re doing
• It’s transparent about what it offers its students
• The current students are happy with the culture of the program and quality of life
• The location is something you’re comfortable with (for me having family nearby was a very important factor)
• The money you are offered is enough to live the lifestyle you need to maintain good mental health
• There is an opportunity for networking and expansion of your research outside of the university

As always, feel free to reach out with any questions at @aal.archaeology on Instagram or DM here! I’m happy to share my documents with you.

Happy writing!

-Lyss

If you’re an Archaeologist/Anthropologist in any stage of your career, please join the I Dig It discord server! https://discord.gg/T7BPe36

This community of archaeologists and archaeology enthusiasts includes people from all corners of the world and many different sub fields of archaeology!

Here you can ask specific questions to the community about things like: fieldwork opportunities, undergrad/grad school, jobs on the market, conferences, as well as join in on Lectures and Conferences that are posted in the chats. 

This discord started as a chat for our Podcast: I Dig It, which can be found at archaeologypodcastnetwork.com 

https://discord.gg/T7BPe36

In honor of Mental Health Awareness month, we’ve recorded a podcast episode titled “Sad Grad Hour” talking about our worst periods in academia and research, and comment on what we learned from these experiences and how we got through them.

Every feeling you have is valid, especially during this time of social distancing, join us in becoming aware of how your environment is affecting your mental health.

You can contribute to the discussion by sharing your stories or advice you want to give to others! [email protected]

Twitter & Ig: @idigitpodcast

Join the discord at: https://discord.gg/J8TXnr

Join the I Dig It Discord Server!

https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fi-dig-it.simplecast.com%2Fepisodes%2F003-sad-grad-hour-mental-health-awareness-month&t=YmQyNzgyMGEwOGYwM2ViMDViYTIxNmNkNWZlNTEzOGY4YjA0NTU1NCwyYzkzNGUyNjkxNWY3MjZlZGI2OGJhZGJlOWU5YzkwN2NkYjk0MTUw

A Podcast is in the works! 

Here is a list of topics to cover, please let me know if there is anything else you’d like to know! It does not have to be exclusive to archaeology, and can also generalize education/ grad school/ etc.

Feel free to contribute any other ideas as well! Or if you are interested in joining in on the production! I’ve started a community of mostly archaeology friends on Discord,let me know if you’d like to hang out!

-What is Archaeology? So you wanna be an archaeologist? 

-Different types of Archaeology, Different  Professions in Archaeology 

-Undergraduate Degrees in Anthropology and Archaeology 

-Networking through your undergrad degree 

-Grant and Scholarship applications 

-Time Management of coursework 

-Pros and Cons of a masters degree in Anthropology/Archaeology 

-Grad School Applications for Masters Degrees (US vs. UK) 

-Favorite things about our time in UK Masters degree 

-Jobs in Archaeology outside of Academia 

-C.V. for Humanities degrees and Academic Job searching 

-Research in Archaeology between degrees 

-Networking after and during your degree 

-Ph.D. in Archaeology/Anthropology? Pros and Cons -Ph.D. Applications  

-Choosing your program 

-After Ph.D

madamebibliothecarius:

making a post because I see a lot of “if you don’t understand a concept, note taking, studying” stuff but i’m well into an English lit degree and it’s not so much understanding a concept, or taking exams as much as it is dividing your time to read 700 pages in a week and writing essays, I’m writing this so I follow my own advice

• reading will take longer than you think it will, schedule accordingly
• even if you read fast, reading will, and should take longer than when you’re reading for fun. you’re analyzing bb
• write in your books
• no one will care i promise. underline patterns, highlight writing idiosyncrasies
• if you’re reading theory, read out loud
• idk if this is an adhd thing, but I cannot read a giant hunk of critical theory. it’s like i’ve suddenly become illiterate. reading out loud helps a lot.
• you don’t need to understand every reference of obscure writers in the 1800s
• the hardest writing to read is when a famous author rattles off a bunch of names of authors you’ve never read. ignore them. 
• try finding an audiobook of the book you’re reading to listen to while reading
• once again, reading comprehension can be difficult if you just stare at the page like me. a lot of old books have audiobooks available on youtube for free, plus you can speed it up. listening to it helps hammer it in. (libraries typically have audiobook sources as well)
• google words you don’t know
• and whip em out at parties to look smart and accomplished
• every professor is different when grading essays, especially for different kinds of essays
• forget everything you learned in high school about essays. none of it is true. in fact, forget everything you learned about essays every time you take a new class. every professor has their own made up rules. figure out what your prof wants, don’t take bad feedback personally. 
• read something you want to read in between
• when you’re constantly reading stuff you’re forced to read, even if you enjoy it (and you won’t always) it can be hard to remember why you love books in the first place. read some wonderfully stupid YA novel and that’ll get you back on track
• YOU ARE SMART. 
• GOD, reading stuff you don’t understand over and over with professors telling you you’re analysis is wrong, sometimes it makes you feel DUMB. I PROMISE YOU ARE NOT. just because you’re not a tenured professor doesn’t make your analysis wrong, and it doesn’t make that professor right. and you’re in school for a reason! if you knew about it then you wouldn’t be in school. 
• I cannot stress this enough: TALK TO YOUR CLASSMATES
• Discussions are literally the most important part of this entire degree. Zoom University is made even more difficult in this respect, but  reach out! My survey of Irish lit class has no discussions and I’m sad because I want to know what other people think about Oscar Wilde ok? but I found someone who happened to be in that class, and now we chat about it all the time. It makes the class a lot easier to get through.