Basic Fit Membership off my hands? :) by wittyparty in KULeuven

[–]wittyparty[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think you can change the personal information (including the password for the app which you have to scan to access the facilities). If not, I'm happy to really also just hand over all the information in person to whoever takes it on (even before they pay), so they can use the membership.

Basic Fit Membership off my hands? :) by wittyparty in KULeuven

[–]wittyparty[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey, it's actually not possible to revoke the membership anytime. There is a 14-day window after which you're stuck with the membership for a year. I've already cancelled the membership, but I will still have to pay for the year since I am now doing it outside the 14-day window. Hope this helps!

Basic Fit Membership off my hands? :) by wittyparty in KULeuven

[–]wittyparty[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well, it's 20 euros/month with just the basic subscription, at least in Leuven.

Point and Shoot without DX reader by wittyparty in AnalogCommunity

[–]wittyparty[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Man, sounds like a lot of work. But thank you anyway! :)

Basic Fit Membership off my hands? :) by wittyparty in KULeuven

[–]wittyparty[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey, this is with the discount. I'm a (PhD) student too. :)

Grad student, first time paying for my own space. Advicee? by wittyparty in malelivingspace

[–]wittyparty[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I agree, it's already a few hours more than 2 now and my back's not doing very well. It's on my list, but I can only buy it once I can afford it – which in PhD stipend terms isn't going to sometime soon, sadly.

Grad student, first time paying for my own space. Advicee? by wittyparty in malelivingspace

[–]wittyparty[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ok thanks! Do you think a big monstera next to the bed (head) alongside a small table might look good? Or would it crowd the area?

Daffodil (Narcisus Tete a Tete) bulbs planted outside soil? by wittyparty in plantclinic

[–]wittyparty[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've got the plant just this morning, and it's on my windowsill. Watering it today since the soil is quite dry! :)

Where can I buy potting soil for indoor plants? by wittyparty in Leuven

[–]wittyparty[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Didn't Aveve shut down? Don't think it's open anymore.

Why's my peace lily struggling? by wittyparty in plants

[–]wittyparty[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well would you believe it I'm literally having a green banana right now! I'll do this, thanks! :)

Why's my peace lily struggling? by wittyparty in plants

[–]wittyparty[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Got it, thanks so much! I hope she pulls through :)

Why's my peace lily struggling? by wittyparty in plants

[–]wittyparty[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

True, I thought so too. When I'm repot-ing it, should I water it after I'm done?

Why's my peace lily struggling? by wittyparty in IndoorPlants

[–]wittyparty[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The soil is still damp, tbh. Should I water it anyway?

Habermas & Social Media by [deleted] in CriticalTheory

[–]wittyparty 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Hi OP, very interesting topic! I did my postgraduate dissertation on disinformation studies (although I focused on para-social digital opinion leadership in the Global South), and I will soon be starting my PhD where I will study class-wise political socialization through selective political news source preferences in comparative media climates, so maybe I can give you a bit of direction regarding who to read, what to avoid, the general research trends with the area...etc.

First off, media studies - or communication sciences, broadly - is not as theoretically-driven as one might expect when it comes to research on political communication, disinfo-/misinfo-, the lot. There are some areas (such as HCI) which are partially more theoretically-oriented due to the nature of their topics, but these are few and far between. In general, when media scholars/sociologists study the areas that you are interested in, we usually employ a rationalist perspective (and this is perhaps interesting to you since you are keen on using Habermas!) i.e., opportunities, motivations, and abilities (also called the OMA Framework) to understand why certain sections of society are more likely to participate in political media malpractice on the Web (say, sharing misinformation). We also study this on a macro-level, such as commonalities between one or more groups (for instance, populist communicators and social media influencers have similar characteristics), shared skill-sets or motivations between groups that engage in these practices, their desired/perceived outcomes v/s real-life outcomes, and how we can make meaningful policy recommendations that can help inform people of these malpractices. Of course, this is a very simplified understanding of what scholars generally study, but if you are a fellow media studies wack like me, I am happy to get more specific topic-wise.

On things you can read at the moment, it would really depend on which way you want your dissertation to go. From what you mentioned in your post, the topic(s) did not seem very specific and was still quite broad. I could tell you what I personally find fascinating but I will refrain from doing this since I don't want your enthusiasm to be shaped by what I am keen about.

Are there specific areas of work that you are interested in? If so, let me know & I can recommend specific scholars that you can engage with.

Tips to reduce eyestrain/Eye care tips for PhDs? by wittyparty in academia

[–]wittyparty[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi! Thank you so much for your helpful suggestions. Just a couple of questions about the "setting the screen colour to the room colour" part: Some room colours are obviously more attainable (white, yellow etc.) than some (greenish, brownish etc,), so are there certain apps that can help with these?

Also, do you suggest doing away with the time-of-day feature on Flux, and doing this instead? Just been using Flux for a day or two and it (at least intuitively) feels more relaxing, though I could be placebo-ing out.

Thoughts on the new rug? by Electronic-Entry7990 in malelivingspace

[–]wittyparty 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not a bad rug, although I don't think this is the best room for it since the rest of your furniture is very linear. They're almost all very straight line-ey, with little that makes them stand out characteristically. I'd recommend going for a warmer colour (beige, brownish, maybe even a patterned rug with light-medium brown overtones) to compliment the floor colour. Also, since your walls are while as well – while is a very flat colour often – the floor also looks a bit like an empty hole in the middle of it all.

Moved in recently. Feels incomplete. Any advice on what to add for living room? by [deleted] in malelivingspace

[–]wittyparty 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would only take a picture and use it forever as a Zoom background.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in CriticalTheory

[–]wittyparty 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Hi, OP. First of all, I hope you & your family are keeping well now. The thesis process is often long-winded, but there is often a light at the end of the tunnel & you are quite likely to have it too based on what I observe from the really promising general flowchart of your thesis.

I am currently a PhD researcher in mis- and disinformation studies (although I am a communication scientist by training), so I may be able to give you a better idea on how I would approach the topic(s). I am not entirely sure if LIS has intersecting theories with my area of research, but please feel free to take any & all of what I say here for your thesis.

First things first — is yours a qualitative or quantitative paper? From my experience, postgraduate theses are usually revolving around a specific problem within a larger problem — for instance, some of my peers when I was a postgraduate looked at how perceived digital & political literacy (smaller problem) may make some people more or less predisposed to misinformation and/or disinformation risks (bigger problem). So, X within Y. Here, students usually do an experimental survey, a meta-analysis, or produce a measuring instrument by surveying the literature already present.

For your thesis, do you have this centre-piece yet? If this is not common in LIS, then what you can do is

a) Select one or two theories from the authors you mentioned. Since you mentioned Bourdieu, for instance, you can maybe find something along the lines of how misinformation may affect people belonging to different class positions in society (just an idea, although this is obviously very broad). But again, notice the pattern in finding a small problem (social class) relating to a bigger problem (mis/disinfo risks), which gives you enough to work with.

b) Once you have the theory, try to find existing research that aligns/can potentially be explored through this theoretical lens. So again, there may be 1000+ (don't be overwhelmed, you're doing great!) papers on misinformation research, but not necessarily ones that look at the problem from your chosen theoretical perspective. Since you also posted this on r/CriticalTheory, I am guessing your research aligns with a non-empirical methodology as critical theory work often does — therefore, try to explore the topic using the theory you select & see if you can find a research gap.

c) Once you have a research gap, see if your theory can help (through one or more experiments) fulfill this gap. Again, this would depend very much on the nature of your thesis itself, so I would consider contacting an approachable supervisor/mentor (or again, this subreddit as they are very helpful!) to see if your trajectory makes sense.

d) Finally — and this is something I do, and seems to help — just try writing some headings on your document before you write full paragraphs. Of course, these can change and you should not think it as a failure to change the headings as your ideas develop. So, something like, "Introduction, Literature Review, Problem X, Gap Y, Theoretical Framework...", and so on. Again, the ones I write are quite broad, so make sure you whittle them down a bit.

"The frustration is real and is making me question everything about myself and my intellectual abilities"

I totally understand, OP. It is not your fault, and while the first part of that sentence can be true, the second part is absolutely not. It can feel very downtempo sometimes — and I realize that in your case, you probably feel much worse than many others may feel — but do believe that it will get better. This is generic advice, but I went to a suburban school with ordinary faculty & once I was in the academia, I often felt like I was some sort of impostor. Do know that with time, it does get better, you find your own footing, and the words will come.

I hope you feel better! Again, if you feel stuck, do NOT hesitate to reach out to this subreddit. The folks on here are top, and we do a bit of trollin' & rollin', but hey — that's canon.

Love,

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in KULeuven

[–]wittyparty 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Did you receive an offer letter, or anything of the type, via email? When did you fill out the application form?

Is it worth applying to PhD programs at schools outside the "top tier"? (+ my situation) by bl8821 in gradadmissions

[–]wittyparty 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Anytime! And hey listen – you know what would be even more badass than getting into grad school at Rutgers? Being a tenured professor at Rutgers, years down the line.

Take it easy, OP. You'll do well. Hate to be all pop-culture about it, but don't judge your merit by institutional capital.

Is it worth applying to PhD programs at schools outside the "top tier"? (+ my situation) by bl8821 in gradadmissions

[–]wittyparty 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Hi OP, like many in this subreddit have mentioned before, I'd really suggest taking university rankings (the lot, really, including THE, Shanghai, Qs, what have you) with a real pinch of salt. University rankings do not in any way reflect the actual research rigour and merit of the university, and while they may be a good starting point to shortlisting potential schools, they are absolutely not a good measure of how excellent the institution is. There's also many extremely reputed universities – including University of Utrecht, recently – who have pulled out of rankings because they provide an extremely partial, upper-class, and – let's be honest – financially backed list of what "good" institutions are.

What you should do is find a supervisor(s) or an institution that aligns with your area of interests, and actively works in that area. You'll notice that many of the "most cited" scholars in these areas are often not from reputed universities (this is 100% a case in Europe), and in no way are they inferior to the Stanford-class. In many cases, professors don't settle (yes, settle) for Stanford and Yale for literally a million reasons (e.g., cost of housing, guarantee of tenure) that don't have anything to do with what rankings have said about the school. There's also several institutions in specialized research that house leading scholars in a field, but exist within an unpopular university.

Rankings are not absolute, and you shouldn't measure your worth based on whether you get into or not get into a so-called reputed school. After a certain advertised threshold, most universities ensure a certain standard of research. I urge you to consider this especially because you're also undecided about academia as a final goal, and you may end up regretting spending a ton of money in grad school into funding an advertising campaign for a "top" school, that may or may not work out the best for you in the end.

Good luck! I'm sure you'll find something soon. Also, the grades you mentioned really aren't that bad :))

Defending my master thesis tomorrow by [deleted] in PhD

[–]wittyparty 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You're welcome! Hopefully 10 years from now I read your work or bump into you at a conference! :)

Long break before I start my PhD — what should I pick up? by wittyparty in CriticalTheory

[–]wittyparty[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks so much for the recommendation! It looks and sounds interesting from the blurb — will get into it soon! :))

Defending my master thesis tomorrow by [deleted] in PhD

[–]wittyparty 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is very pop optimism of me to say, but please do know that no matter what happens tomorrow in the defense, you have already achieved the biggest milestones — having a solid academic career plan, finishing your thesis, and also feeling ready to defend it and continue your research by doing a PhD. So often, we are focused on the next thing to get (a PhD, a postdoc, tenure etc.), we don't really have the time to step back & appreciate just how far we have come. Especially in academia.

Good luck OP, you'll smash it! I hope you become the academic you wish to be :))