Thanks to Daily Info, Hilary and I found something much less generic than a movie to do tonight: specifically, we discovered the entertaining jazz nights that take place every Monday at the Chester Arms on Chester Road, off Iffley Road. There is no cover charge, the music is good, and the atmosphere is a pleasant one. The music begins at 9:00pm. I shall be making a return trip or two during weeks later this term.
Category: Oxford
Posts about living and studying in Oxford, the Oxford system, etc
Into Trinity 07
So begins my last term in Oxford: eight more weeks, two papers, eight more dinners in college, and four exams. This term involves no coursework (otherwise it would be curious to be heading to Paris for four days), but it will involve the review of all the coursework completed so far, in preparation for our final examinations. Hopefully, we will have our thesis results back before we need to sit down for those. I am told that all my coursemates who took the gamble of having their theses printed this morning managed to submit them to the Exam Schools on time. After a year and a half of jumping hurdles (and hoops) together, exams are the only major thing left to worry about.
Tonight, Hilary and I are meeting up with Antonia for a while. We may also be going to the 8:45pm show of The Lives of Others at the Phoenix. I know absolutely nothing about it, but have heard enough general praise from friends to be willing to put in the effort to see it.
PS. Impressed by some of the speeches of his I have seen, I am reading Barack Obama‘s new book The Audacity of Hope during and before my trip to Paris. I am especially interested in what he has to say about the US Constitution, given that he taught about it at the University of Chicago and he is a member of the strongest body in the legislative branch. Perhaps reading this book will help me decide which Democratic candidate has the most appeal.
Spiraling through town
I am off to deposit my thesis at the Exam Schools. Then, I am giving my friend Hilary – who is visiting Oxford for four days prior to our departure for Paris – my comprehensive tour of Oxford. Those who have been given it before will remember that it is fairly lengthy: with southern and northern components that can very easily take three hours or more each.
[Update: 2:30pm] The thesis has been deposited. Both literally and figuratively, it is now out of my hands. I hope all the people who dared to have theirs bound in London this morning managed to get them submitted to the Exam Schools by noon.
Ironing out final wrinkles
Turns out it’s a good thing I printed off a draft thesis to scrutinize: a significant number of little typographical and grammatical errors were there to be found. Many of them, it seems, were actually introduced during the previous round of revision, especially in places where I was converting passive sentences into active ones. Somehow, I seem to have lost dozens of connector words like ‘the’ and ‘for.’ They are being systematically re-introduced.
Tomorrow morning, I am joining a convoy of fellow M.Phil in IR students cycling to Headington where – it is promised – there is a printer who can produce hardbound copies of our theses for less than £30 a copy, ready in time to be submitted on Monday. I wanted to have it done for tomorrow, but I found out today that having a copy prepared for tomorrow would be absurdly expensive: more than £50 a copy. Even £30 seems pretty steep. After all, we are talking about two pieces of cardboard, some plastic, and a few minutes of labour. I suppose the print shops here have a captive audience to exploit.
[Update: 1:00am] The thing is now in its final digital format. In eight hours, I am cycling over to Headington to have it printed and bound. I would print it myself, but I have no access to a printer that is (a) not broken and (b) stocked with paper.
Magisterarbeitskampf
Somehow, no language can express the concept of ‘thesis struggle’ quite so well as German can: a fact that is evident even to those who don’t speak a word of it. If I could use twenty character compound words at will, the word limit would be less of a concern. As it stands, I am trying to figure out ways to reduce the number of words used up in footnotes. The incentives created by including them in the count are quite perverse: I am removing useful little bits of additional information, as well as reformatting citations into forms that will be more difficult for the examiners to deal with.
I look forward to being interesting again. That is to say, having the time and brainpower to write about anything other than the thesis.
PS. Looking for something new to read about? Try the island of Gukanjima, near Japan. Once a coal mining centre and the most densely populated urban space on earth in 1959, it is now totally abandoned. Have a look at this short documentary or this history, more detailed than the one in the Wikipedia entry.
Nearly at the end of the line
While distant forests shrieked at me from afar this afternoon, I printed off a copy of the most recent versions of my three substantive chapters and reviewed them in the Wadham Library. As much as I am used to spending ten hours of more watching words glow on an LCD display, editing only seems to reach its full potential when there are things to be crossed out, big arrows to be drawn, and incisive notes to be written with the margins.
Generally, I am quite happy with what is written. Things are not arranged or argued in quite the waythey would be if I started over now, but the major themes that arose from my research are reasonably well articulated. As has been the case for the past week, the biggest task remaining is the relocation of some bits of what has already been written and the filling in of some gaps.
I may even be able to attend the thesis-completion barbecue that some members of my program are holding on Friday evening.
Trinity in two days
Being able to cycle around Oxford without a jacket is most enjoyable. With the thesis submitted and nothing to worry about other than a couple of essays and exams, Trinity term should be a warm and relatively relaxing end to the Oxford experience.
Of course, the four three-hour exams in the middle of June will keep it from being too relaxing. Likewise, the two research papers on international law and the need to complete whatever ‘core’ reading hasn’t been completed over the last two years. Going all the way back to notes from September 2005 on the causes of WWI, then all the way through IR theory, twentieth century history, the developing world, and international law will be a good bit of work. That said, it will also be our first opportunity to see the M.Phil program as an integrated whole, even if we are expressly forbidden from repeating material from the core seminars in the exams for the optional papers, and vice versa.
I am sure everyone is looking forward to the period between June 16th and 29th. Our exams will be done, but we are all required to stay in Oxford in case the examiners decide to give us an oral examination on the 29th. I will be able to get the last college for my photo collection, as well as finally try the whole punting/croquet/Pimms afternoon that is the stereotypical Oxford summer activity.
Dramatic pause
This morning was your standard session of attempting thesis writing. This afternoon has been markedly more unusual: punctuated with unexpected encounters. Such novelty and dynamism is a demonstration of why Oxford is a valuable place to spend time.
Tomorrow morning, it is back to the rushed and imminent portion of the slog.
State of the thesis
Some figures, for the curious:
T-192 hours
Since the thesis needs to be dropped off for binding in eight days, it will surprise nobody to hear that I am working energetically on it. More than anything I have worked on before, it is a vast, sprawling thing. The main tasks now are consolidation and tidying. I very much hope to have a copy sent off to my supervisor by tomorrow night.