Hey guys!

 

Hope everything is going well. Life here in Lancaster is pretty quiet for now, as the workload is not too stressful for now. Apart from a presentation for Economic Policy next week, the readings and dissertation work are the only important things I have to keep up with. I’m pretty happy with the modules so far – the Africa and Global Politics one is showing me how little I actually knew about the continent and its history, so I’m really excited to learn more!

Last weekend we had our first Open Day of the term! It was pretty good to see you guys around, and if you haven’t been able yet to come see us, remember that the next one is on the 16th of February, so make sure to come if you have a chance! The people who came were very interested in both the university and in the Lancaster life, and I hope we were able to share our enthusiasm with them. By the way, remember that if you have any doubts about university in general, you can email your admissions mentor to ask them about it. They will be happy to help you in any way they can.

 

I’ll keep in touch as to how the term goes by. See you guys around!

Guillermo

It may only be week 3, but it is about this point in the term that I like to take a moment and pause and think about what lies ahead.

This term is already super important because it is my last proper term as a Lancaster undergraduate (where does the time go?!) and it’s time to consider what essays and assessments are on the horizon. I have three essays and a presentation to complete this term, alongside my dissertation. With roughly half of my dissertation completed, I am feeling relatively calm about the looming assessments.

Term 2 also has a couple of other major events on the calendar. Firstly, the British University and College Sports Long Course Swimming Championships are happening in mid-February in Sheffield. I can’t believe this is the third time I will be competing in this competition – I still remember doing it for the first time. The feeling of representing Lancaster University never gets old!! Secondly, the Politics Society is hosting their first ever ball this term! I can’t wait to bring this event to our members because it has been in the pipeline for so long, and let’s be honest, who doesn’t love the chance to dress up and be a bit fancy?!

Whilst I have been thinking about what is to come in the final months of my Lancaster undergraduate career, I had the pleasure of helping some potential Lancaster undergraduates at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Applicant Visit day last week. These events are some of my favourites, as it feels like only yesterday I was in their shoes. I also love being able to promote the university and the department and help the students in making one of, if not the biggest decision, of their lives.

I hope you are all doing well and maybe I might see you at an applicant visit day real soon.

All the best,

Orla

Hey guys!

 

After a pretty uneventful Christmas vacation, here we go again, ready for the new term. I’m pretty excited, because the new modules I’m taking seem really interesting. I only have one Economics module this term, Economic Policy, which I believe will tackle important questions that affect current governments in the world. In Politics I have chosen Africa and Global Politics, which explores the historical development of Africa in in the global system, from colonialism to the present day, and will tackle issues as important as the debt crisis and the role China is playing in the region.

Finally, and for this one I am particularly excited, in Philosophy, I’ll be taking Continental Philosophy, in which we will study the writings of three of the most important philosophers of contemporary history: Friedrich Nietzsche, Michel Foucault and Hannah Arendt. I’m a personal fan of all of them, especially Nietzsche and Arendt, so I cannot wait to start with the discussions and readings. Moreover, it might help me on my dissertation about Arendt’s thought, which is going pretty good. I’m really proud of the work I’ve been doing with it, it has allowed me to do my own research on a topic that I find incredibly interesting and that I hope will make for an interesting read.

 

I’ll keep you posted on how things go. By the way, this term the university will be having a series of open days to those interested in joining Lancaster, so I hope to see you guys if you come visit!

See you around,

Guillermo

Hello Everyone!

Firstly I wanted to say thank you to everyone who came to our applicant visit day on Saturday, it was truly wonderful to meet all of you and learn a little bit more about the future students of PPR here at Lancaster. If you didn’t make it this time around, there is lots of information available online in terms of course prospectus, accommodation, years abroad, and so on; most of which can be found here: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/ppr/.

I also really look forward to welcoming all other students joining us for our visit days in the upcoming weeks. Thank you to all who got involved, and for your stimulating questions; hopefully we managed to do a good job of answering them, but if you didn’t manage to get your question in, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. 

So – a little update on what I’ve been up to so far in the past week. I’ve mostly been working on my dissertation this week, as I’ve set up a meeting with my advisor for Tuesday. I think I was right – taking a break away from it over the Christmas period really has given me a fresh perspective, and consequently, I’ve found a new enjoyment in working on it. I had the opportunity to do this because I was organised when I was told to be! If there is any advice I can give you with regards to the dissertation, it is start early: even if this is reading and acquiring general knowledge. The sooner you start, the better position you will be in to manage your workload. Currently, I have around 9000 words, so the bulk of the essay is there, but my attention is now directed at organising it coherently, as well as adding critical analysis where this is due. 

My other modules are really quite enjoyable so far, I am particularly enjoying Reading Political Theory, as the focus of this course is to pursue a closer reading of Rawls’ Theory of Justice – as I mentioned in the last blog, I really enjoy his Politics, and since I took Modern Political Thought last year, I feel like I have somewhat of a head start, having studied some of his works then.

In Aesthetics, we have discussed what constitutes an aesthetic experience. Such a phenomenon is very difficult to describe: but as an example, one can think of the chills you get when hearing a beautiful piece of music. In simpler terms, aesthetic experiences seem to move us in a way that non-aesthetic experiences do not. This might be compared to when we say “I like X”, and “X is beautiful”: the latter seems to have some normative force – we believe others ought to think it beautiful too; it moves us in a way that simply liking something doesn’t. So in one sense, it seems as though our aesthetic judgements are about the properties of some object, an artwork, for example, and on the other, about our subjective experience of encountering the object and how this makes us feel. Things get a little confusing when we consider the fact that we can call something beautiful and yet have no aesthetic experience whilst doing so. This is to say that aesthetic properties, whatever they may be, supervene on non-aesthetic properties (the former are reliant on the existence of the latter.)

So, we are debating whether beauty can be an objective property, or whether beauty can only ever be “in the eye of the beholder.” What is so interesting about this question is that there is such a wide agreement in general as to what is considered beautiful; yet, at the same time, taste varies so widely. Hume’s “Of the Standard of Taste” addresses some of these early issues. I think Hume’s project is to argue that, where there is widespread convergence about beauty, one might be able to say that this suggests beauty exists objectively: think of timeless pieces of art and why such pieces are still widely popular today. 

I think one of the general comparisons here is between colour, and our perception of it: think here of Locke’s primary and secondary qualities. This is one of the first things you will encounter on Phil100 if you are a philosophy major and might be useful to get a head start if you haven’t heard of it before: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/real-essence/. The essential idea is that we don’t really “see” red, but we do reach broad convergence on objects which are deemed red: given that we aren’t colourblind. What if we are sentiment-blind? Perhaps if colour judgments have objective validity, then as do aesthetic judgments, given we have an enough refined or appropriately good faculty of sentiment judgment. Nonetheless, what explains your love for heavy metal and mine for underground hip-hop? 

That’s all today folks, 

Ellie 

Hi Guys,

I hope everyone is well, and all of you had a great Christmas period. It’s a quick stop in for me – just to update you all on what I will be up to this term. 

Today I had three deadlines, of a total of 14,000 words which I had been working on over Christmas. I feel a great amount of relief to have them in, as I felt as though I didn’t really stop over Christmas. I didn’t get much opportunity to work on my dissertation, but I feel like I’m in a relatively good place with it at the moment so I’m not too worried. Plus – having taken a break from it might (hopefully) give me a fresh perspective. 

Nonetheless, I’m really excited to start some new modules this term. These are:- 

• Philosophical Questions in the Study of Politics and Economics 
• Aesthetics
• Reading Political Theory

My first choice was inspired by the Economics for the Real World module I took last year, and really enjoyed. Prior to this module even the word economics made me cringe – I wouldn’t have dared pretend I knew anything about it. Professor May made a seemingly impenetrable subject exciting to learn about. I would highly recommend this module if you are offered it in second year. My motivation for taking that module was simply because I knew nothing about the subject, and was curious. Don’t be afraid to try new things, even if you think you aren’t “good enough” for them – you might find something you are passionate about. 

Aesthetics I have never studied, and am curious about, I’ll keep you updated on whatever it is I am working on. 

As for Reading Political Theory, we are reading Rawls’s Theory of Justice. I just received my copy in the mail today – it is vast to say the least. Anyway, I’m really rather looking forward to tackling it, as I have always enjoyed implementing Rawls’s ideas into my essays: I’d say he was one of the first to spark my interest in politics. We’re also studying Young’s Politics of Difference, frankly, I’m not entirely sure of Young’s political position, but I believe her ideas are feminist in orientation. Feminist philosophy is a module I regret not taking last term, so I am really happy that I can at least explore some feminist thought this term. 

That’s all for now: I will catch up with you guys very soon, I hope everyone has a great week. 

Ellie