Tag: Graduate Studies

Week 4: 2024 June 17-23

Good week overall! It already feels like the summer is going too quickly. Only one more week before I’m back in the office prepping for the school year.

Note: The above title does not indicate which week of the year we’re in. I’m just trying to keep track of how many weeks this year I’ve managed to write a weekly review.

Grad School

This is the summer of exams. I will take my doctoral exams in October this year. I spent much of my time in the spring semester developing a long (~70 texts) reading list. I’ve got a good routine going right now: I wake up around 5am to read and study for 1.5 to 2 hours–it all depends on when the kids wake up. It’s a habit I’ve carried over from the previous semester. Unfortunately, even two hours a day doesn’t seem like enough. Right now, I’m struggling to work my way through Ovid’s Metamorphoses…but for good reason!

I’m also trying to use this blog as a way of reflecting on my reading for the exams. Having a public space to formally write down my observations will only help to solidify my thoughts and ideas around the reading list. It also keeps me in some form of writing practice. The thing that will stop me from being consistent is the tension I always feel between reading and writing. Time spent writing is time I can’t spend reading. And since my available time for academic study is severely limited, every minute feels precious. However, I realize that this is a bit of a false dichotomy. If I don’t reflect on my reading, I won’t get much out of it. Hopefully I can find a balance within the next couple months.

Books

Metamorphoses, Ovid: I still haven’t finished re-reading Ovid’s Metamorphoses. I’m just Book 13. Despite how much I want to quickly move on to the next set of readings on my exam lists, I can’t help but linger over the rich and complex narrative structure Ovid has created.

Understanding Media, Marshall McLuhan: This book will stay with me for the foreseeable future. I still haven’t finished reading it yet, which means I still haven’t fully digested the arguments and observations McLuhan is making about technology and the way it affects human society and psychology. It has been one of those books that I immediately wanted to write and talk about after reading the first page. He’s one of those writers who states an idea so clearly it lights up the mind with a host of other realizations. I’m also still blown away by the fact that McLuhan wrote this book in 1964. The first sentence alone would’ve made me think he had written it as late the the 1990s. There is no mention of the “internet,” but he saw it coming.

Movies & TV

American Fiction: I really enjoyed this film. It was, in some ways, a cathartic experience watching the main character navigate the politics of literary elites. The screen writers and director did not pull any punches. But the thing that really fascinated me was the stack of books on the desk of Monk Elllison’s agent. There is an enormous pile of A Barfield Reader very prominently placed on the desk. Why?! What is going on there? I need answers. A brief Googling search was unhelpful. My guess is that I need to read the novel that the film was based on. Until then, I’ll be haunted by the possible implications.

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, s1e1: I read the book a few years ago, and I’m very happy to get back into the world of English magic. So far so good! Both Strange (Bertie Cavell) and Norrell (Eddie Marsan) have been well-cast.

Sports

It’s a soccer summer! I’ll be following the Europe Cup and the Copa America. I really don’t know what to expect from the USMNT, and England has been very disappointing so far.

My favorite YouTube channel for post-game reviews is FourFourTwo. Adam Clery’s videos are always insightful–see his latest review of England’s very sad performance against Denmark. As someone who doesn’t know very much about football/soccer, I’ve been learning a lot from Adam about strategy and play formation on the pitch.

Also, just started watching this documentary on Liverpool, and this first interview with Liverpool’s new head coach, Arne Slot.

The Blog

I mentioned this in the Grad School section, but I’m working on blogging my way through some of my reading for exam prep. Right now, I’m thinking a lot about Ovid’s Metamorphoses:

I’m also posting some quotations and short reflections on my read through of Marshall McLuhan’s Understanding Media:

Memory Metaphors

Much of my MA thesis work this past year involved reading and rereading Mary Carruthers’ book The Book of Memory. Carruthers is one of those rare academic writers whose work is not only informative but a joy to read. Her research into medieval conceptions of the purpose and function of memory also has motivated me to memorize more poetry and literature.

Unfortunately, in education circles, the importance of memory is downplayed. The emphasis is always on creativity and connecting ideas, while memory is considered a lower-order skill–just look at Bloom’s Taxonomy.

From a medieval point of view, the skills we consider to be “higher-order” could not be so easily separated from memory. In fact, many writers believed that creativity itself is an act of memory. This might sound odd to a 21st century reader, but I’ve realized that part of the problem stems from the metaphors we commonly use for memory.

When we think of memory, we typically use the metaphor of a filing box or some kind of a computer storage device. Information is neatly organized and filed away: e.g., Washington is a state in the Northwest corner of the United States of America. That fact exists in the geography file of my brain that I can access when I need it.

For a medieval writer, the metaphor of a file box for memory is insufficient at best. A castle, mansion, or some variation of a Sherlock Holmes Mind Palace would be a closer metaphor. What medieval writers realized is that memory isn’t simply the categorizing of bland information. It is the process by which we construct our mode of cognition and experience. When we memorize a fact, we place it within a larger complex network of other memories: ideas, images, and emotions. To remember something, therefore, requires the alteration of everything we have memorized up to that point in our life. Every act of memory is an act of composition because you are building up your house of memory with every addition and rearranging everything that’s come before.

The consequences of this medieval conception of memory are far-reaching. It inevitably leads to discussions about morality, theology, philosophy, and anthropology. Memory is not a lifeless storage box, but a vital component to our understanding of ourselves and the world around us. We would do well to remember this.