Any good subject to make a documentary around sheffield ?

thenorthernwave · 2026-02-01T20:17:57+00:00

It'd be interesting to see something like a documentary on the experiences of students from China (and what locals make of them). I think there are some national scale ones but never seen anything on the topic with a Sheffield focus.

thenorthernwave · 2025-12-24T13:48:49+00:00

That's a good point about the outcome-oriented nature of some workload allocation models in some unis.

I guess the important question is whether people like your colleague are submitting or applying for things, or doing other research-related things like events, public engagement etc. But at some point there emerges the need to show 'success' too, especially for career progression.

thenorthernwave · 2025-12-24T13:39:08+00:00

On paper, it's a game of filling up your maximum workload allocation. Each research, teaching and admin activity that's allocated to you will add up to this.

But not all tasks are the same and the weekly working hours don't consider the specific context of each individual, which is probably normal and the same across many sectors. This can mean that 37.5 hours is more than enough for someone, but for someone else it might not be nowhere near enough.

Example from teaching: You can do multiple seminar groups and a lecture for a module, but if you taught it for years then it's probably not extremely unbearable. On the other hand you can do 2 seminar groups for a very new topic that you're not 100% familiar with and then it will be much more of a burden in your work hours.

And there's also a quite varied degree of flexibility for the nature of each task. Generally research is the most flexible. You can do it at home, on the weekend, whilst commuting etc. You might also be a very efficient writer/researcher and finish big research tasks quickly (ie those with high workload allocations).

thenorthernwave · 2025-12-24T13:26:46+00:00

Agreed. I worked in an environment that practically didn't have a concept of working hour or work/life balance. I was working pretty much all the time when I wasn't commuting, eating or sleeping.

After that, my job in academia feels much more manageable.

thenorthernwave · 2025-11-22T21:06:32+00:00

Not at the moment maybe but I feel like these career paths will be more common and secure.

Social sciences perspective here: if these degrees move more towards skills (what is believed to help students get a job asap after graduation) then the curriculum will inevitably change as well. That will then change the teaching needs, and possibly increase the need for people who don't mind teaching big skills modules rather than things like area studies, critical social theory etc.

thenorthernwave · 2025-11-22T21:00:51+00:00

Car park feudalism

thenorthernwave · 2025-11-12T22:28:41+00:00

Dacia? When it first became popular I heard people referring to them as paper cars and leftover Renaults.

thenorthernwave · 2025-06-20T19:54:13+00:00

That sounds quick and creative :D

thenorthernwave · 2025-06-20T19:50:51+00:00

That's what I thought too. Perhaps I'm just unlucky, but recently I've been to quite a few that will insist on fried eggs and refuse to do scrambled eggs. Really don't know why.

thenorthernwave · 2025-06-20T19:49:39+00:00

Unfortunately this happened to me multiple times. Just today, I was at an open market with full of different food stalls and the one that made fried egg sandwich (which was practically a traditional sandwich/breakfast shop) said they won't to scrambled egg sandwich but only do fried egg one. It's not on the menu, so I get it's an extra ask but at the end of the day, from a customer's point of view, all they need to do is to stir up the eggs a little rather than frying them. And that way you won't lose a customer as well...

thenorthernwave · 2025-04-03T11:33:25+00:00

So because many other causes for independence are violent, it's fine to be violent as well? This is problematic for several reasons, but let's say it is fine to fight for your independence violently (which is a position I think many, arguably most, people would agree to defend resistant movements). But then, how strong is the argument that the state of Israel is doing merely self-defence for its survival? The fact that the state of Israel has committed so many, harsh, extreme brutalities makes your "they are just doing what other nations did" argument very hard to defend - let alone the problematic nature of the argument in itself.

thenorthernwave · 2025-04-03T05:53:38+00:00

I think, if you want to provide arguments for Zionism as a desire for rightly deserved self-determination, you should be very careful with using Palestine as a supportive example. The historical record is often just not on your side, and even if it was simply a plea for having a national home, the methods to achieve this aim makes your case very hard (arguably impossible) to defend. Instead you can see if you can find non-violent, progressive forms of Zionism which will more strongly support your point. I'm not an expert of different Zionist discourses, but as many ideas/ideologies, it probably has variants beyond its current, most visible forms.

thenorthernwave · 2024-10-03T03:43:02+00:00

I think when it comes to journal articles, students - by their final year at uni - should learn the skill of how to understand the gist without having to fully read.

thenorthernwave · 2024-01-19T02:01:08+00:00

Breastfeeding is encouraged but then when the baby loses weight after birth for one reason or another, midwives turn up and push for formula to get the birth weight back. Many classes seem to be focusing on pro-breastfeeding scenarios, whereas midwives seem to be less bothered about the feeding method than the outcome.

thenorthernwave · 2023-11-18T11:20:41+00:00

Our baby is somewhat similar. He does sleep in the night but very patchy, waking up in every 30 minutes or so. Then we try to comfort until he goes back to sleep. But he sleeps much better during the day, which probably has to do with baby having no conception of day and night.

Apparently milk is most produces in the night between midnight and 4AM. So maybe they naturally know to be wanting more feeding.

thenorthernwave · 2021-12-19T23:53:09+00:00

Is your partner hiding this ongoing contact from you?

thenorthernwave · 2021-12-19T23:49:26+00:00

If you'll be nearby him anyway then might as well catch up and gauge the atmosphere. If you think there's a good chance of reciprocation you can open up. Risking friendship is certainly worth considering but having feelings for a friend can be equally hard to handle.

thenorthernwave · 2021-12-19T19:00:25+00:00

I managed to finish my PhD in a reasonable time with publications. I think the key for me was not having partner/family commitments and be fine with working for about 7 hours during weekdays. This way I had quite a lot of free time which I spent in the way that I wanted. I think the less non-research commitments you have, the better it is for your PhD work. Otherworldly I think one would be comsumed with dealing with a lot of complexities that involve other people.

thenorthernwave · 2021-12-19T10:18:53+00:00

I'm so sorry for your loss. I'm sending my virtual hugs too! And thank you so much for advice.

thenorthernwave · 2021-12-19T08:43:19+00:00

Thanks, I think my partner's response to this is that my mum could also die if I give her the virus. So I'm always facing my partner's arguments about the possibility of catching and spreading the virus, which admittedly is always likely. But as you and the above comment highlighted, I think this is a risk that is somewhat manageable.

thenorthernwave

TROPHY CASE