An introduction to Lancaster life

Hello everyone!

My name is Guillermo, I’m on my third year studying Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE). I will try to maintain a weekly update of what is going on here in Lancaster University, both from an academic and social perspective, so that you can see how life in Lancaster is like.

 

I feel that first I should talk about my degree. It is organised by the PPR department, but it also incorporates modules from the Economics department, which gives it the interdisciplinary character that I was looking for when I applied. You can really see it on the course structure I have this term: I’m doing two Economics modules, Monetary Macroeconomics and Applied Economics, and one module from Politics, Understanding External Intervention in Violent Conflicts. In addition to that, although I am not doing any Philosophy modules this term, my undergraduate dissertation is on Hannah Arendt’s relationship between thinking and evil. That way I can get my healthy dose of philosophical thinking (and existential crises) for this term while research a topic that I’m really interested in. However, this is only one possible combination of modules, and you can choose from a great variety of options ranging from Epistemology to Metaphysics in Philosophy; from Elections and Domestic Policy to the Political Economy of Globalisation in Politics and International Relation; and from Game Theory to Economic Policy in Economics.

 

On the more social side, Lancaster is full of opportunities to interact with other people and to have a fun time. From the wide variety of societies you can join, to your colleagues from your college and events happening in town, it is possible to enjoy your time here even if you have much work to do. For example, as a member of the executive of the Philosophy society (I know, nerd much?) we host a weekly debate on a variety of topics that the members have voted for, and after that we usually go to one of the pubs in Uni to either continue the debate or to just have a few laughs. Also, as Halloween approaches new events and parties are approaching, which promise to be really fun and exciting, as well as an opportunity to move around town to enjoy the festive ambient.

 

I will try to keep you guys posted on what else happens this year. I hope that this will convince you to come join us in the future!

Until next time,

Guillermo

 

 

Baby, It’s Cold Outside…

… But this is a warm hello!

Hi, my name is Ellie, a third year Philosophy major at Lancaster University, who you will (if you so wish), be able to follow as I journey through my final year here at Lancaster in the following weeks to come. To introduce – who am I? well, I am a 21 year old student from Jersey, Channel Islands. I chose to come to Lancaster because it allowed me to pursue an eclectic education following my achievement of the International Baccalaureate Diploma. My current modules include Philosophy of Work, Politics of Cultural Diversity, Seminar in Contemporary Moral Philosophy, and my Dissertation, which focuses on the ideal of authenticity and social media. You won’t find me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or the like, but if you are curious about what I am studying or what I get up to in my daily life at Lancaster, count yourself lucky – you can follow me here!

Since studying at Lancaster I’ve been able to pursue a broad range of subjects throughout the PPR department, including Politics in my second and third years, and religion in my first, (and of course Philosophy is my major, so I have pursued different Philosophy modules throughout). The vast number of combinations of modules you can take is something quite unique to Lancaster and something which really ought to be taken advantage of; if you have even a remote interest in something your major doesn’t offer directly, (in my case, this was an Economics For The Real World module in second year) or maybe you are entirely clueless about a particular study, these are equally good reasons to pursue something new and broaden your horizons exponentially. Another example is first year in which I was also able to take an English module, which I found to be an excellent opportunity, not only to prove that I could do it, but because it linked many aspects from other unsuspecting modules and enhanced my writing skills.

  • Well, what have I been up to in the past two weeks?

We are currently in week three of Michaelmas term, and I must say the settling back in after a long summer holiday and trips away was a struggle. (Summertime I was lucky enough to receive some funding from my college (mighty Furness) which subsidised part of my trip to Los Angeles and Las Vegas, in return for a report on my venture.)

Yes… a struggle… particularly as it’s now dark upon waking up, dark when returning from university, and significantly colder than Los Angeles…

But it’s certainly not all bad. This week I was given the opportunity to write to you on behalf of my department once a fortnight (or maybe even once a week if your particularly lucky), and for this I must say I feel immensely proud.

Other than that, this week I’ve managed to get up at a reasonable 7am, hit the gym, and study for a few hours prior to my midday lectures. In my Seminar On Contemporary Moral Philosophy, I’ve presented on Chapters 2-5 of Parfit’s Reasons and Persons which was intensely laborious, but incredibly rewarding to get my head round and present my results to my seminar group. I’ve also officially started writing my dissertation on the way in which authenticity is a genuine ideal we ought to take seriously and the way in which social media has detrimental effects on our pursing of this ideal.

Oh, and I’ve booked tickets for SugarHouse’s “House of Horrors” event for Halloween: I’m going as a “Blessed Babe,” probably because the outfit only set me back £11.

If you made it this far, well done, and thank you for reading. I will catch up with you again soon.

Ellie

Hobbling my way to the end of term

Hi again! I’ve been pretty quiet with these blogs recently, but there’s been a lot going on!

Uni life has taken a bit of an unexpected turn recently. I landed a dodgy somersault in training at the end of February which has resulted in a dislocated and seriously fractured ankle, 9 pins to hold it together and 6-8 weeks in a cast. I’m nearly three weeks into the healing period and it’s getting much easier, although there is a lot more to an injury like this than I initially planned for! Everyday activities such as making food and general household chores, showering and even going up and down the stairs to the bathroom has required more planning, so I’ve been very lucky to return home until I’m allowed to put weight on my ankle again, and until I get better at using crutches.

At the minute, progress on essays has been painfully slow with the setbacks this injury has given me. I can no longer access the library, where I am at my most productive, and the concoction of painkillers I have been given aren’t exactly great for maintaining concentration! However, the department has been really supportive – I’ve been given extensions on my deadlines to make up for time that has been lost, and lecturers have been in contact over email so I’ve still been able to get the support I need, despite being away from Lancaster.

In terms of going back to the Trampolining Club, I’m still very uncertain at the minute. I’m aiming to be back in Lancaster full time by the end of April, so I’ll still be able to support them at Roses despite not being able to compete. If I stay for the MA Religious Studies then I might try getting back into it next year once I’m fully healed, although this might be an opportunity to expand my society horizons and see what else is out there!

That’s all from me for now, stay tuned for incredibly exciting recovery updates and hopefully the next part of this blog will have more to talk about!

Updates on my Lent Term

Hi folks,

Second term is passing very quickly, and we’re approaching week 18 already! In the past few weeks I’ve received conditional offers for two of the graduate programmes in philosophy that I submitted an application for back in mid-December. I’m very happy about this, and I have to say thank you to some of my lecturers, who helped me figuring out which courses to apply for, and how to submit a strong application. This is one of the things that I like most about the PPR Department here at Lancaster: the staff is very supportive, and able to help you a great deal if you just ask. By the end of your third year, you can truly get to know some academics from the department and form good relationships with them.

Having received some good news, I decided to concede myself a few days off and went climbing in Warton (a place close to Carnforth, 10 minutes by train from Lancaster) with some friends– the weather was exceptionally good for end of February standards (it was some 5-6 days before blizzards hit the country, just in time)! We’re also planning a trip to the climbing wall in Kendal, which is supposed to be one of the best in the UK. Hopefully next week.

Week 10 is week of deadlines, so I’ll have to do some more work before a well-deserved Easter holiday. The essay I’m working on at the moment is for my Logic and Language module, and it’s about modal logic. Roughly speaking, modal logic deals with how to analyse arguments that incorporate notions of necessity and possibility. It’s a very intriguing topic, but also quite technical and difficult to get your head around, so it will require some serious concentration!

On March 17, we’re having our last Applicants Visit Day. If you haven’t had the opportunity to come already, book a place for that day if you can.

Hope to see some of you there!

New Modules, Essay Results And More!

Since my last post things in Lancaster have changed quite a lot, which is unsurprising given that it is now a new term and so I now have different modules. This term I only have two so that I can also focus on job applications (more on that below). Specifically, I am currently studying a module on the Middle East, which is really interesting as it is being taught by a lecturer whose previous job involved him serving as a diplomat to Saudi Arabia, meaning he is able to offer a different insight to most others. In addition to this, I am also covering a module on the practical element of foreign policy and diplomacy, which has so far involved me learning more about both nuclear weapons and climate change and the international politics surrounding both of these. The modules themselves have been really interesting and I am looking forwards to writing my essays for them, which I am now beginning to draft.

Speaking of essays, I have also recently received my essays from last term, and am pleased to report that I am currently on 68%, which is close to the 70% that I need for a distinction (the highest grade at Master’s level) overall. The feedback I got on the essays has also been really helpful and allowed me to understand what else I will need to do to improve with my next few essays, which should hopefully mean that my grade goes up this time as well.

On the job front, I have also been using the fact that I have one less module this term to focus more on my job hunt, and I have so far identified several jobs that I am interested in and am set to apply for once I have a few details clarified. I have also used this time to improve my CV with the help of the careers team, which I am optimistic will help me significantly.

Finally, things are also going on very well with my flat as well. We are actually planning a trip to the Lake District soon, which is something that has been on my list of things to do since I have come to Lancaster but which I have never really gotten around to until recently.

Woahh, we’re halfway there…..

Hello again,

We’re halfway through the term already, and life is certainly getting busier!

On the academic side, I’ve been narrowing down topics for my essays and meeting with lecturers to try and formulate a question. I have two 3000 word essays in week 10 and then a 5000 word essay (and of course my dissertation) due in after Easter at the end of April, so I won’t be short of things to do in the next few weeks! After that, I’ll “only” have five exams and then it’ll be the end of my undergraduate degree, which is a scary thought – I remember moving onto campus in my first year as if it was only yesterday…

It’s not all been coursework though! At the end of week four, I travelled to Nottingham for the weekend for a competition with the Trampolining Club. It was a little bit stressful and really tiring, but still so much fun! We stayed overnight and took part in the social with the other universities, which was really lovely as everyone gets along so well at competitions. However, as social sec, it was interesting to see how well I could herd twenty three people around a new city without losing them!

Valentine’s day has been and gone, and this year my boyfriend and I actually celebrated (albeit a bit late). Lancaster has plenty of opportunity for romantic clichés. Instead, we ate far too much tapas and threw shapes down the ‘Gaunt with a few pints of plum porter to the best funk band this side of South Carolina.

Opportunities at Lancaster

Hi everyone!

 

This week, I’m going to to tell you a bit more about some of the opportunities you can find here at Lancaster if you’re interested in gaining new skills, improving your employability, and put what you study into practice. Among the projects I’ve taken part in over the last couple of years, there’s two I’d definitely recommend: the Richardson Institute Internship Programme and the Lancaster Mentoring Programme.

The Richardson Institute is the oldest Peace Studies research centre in the UK, and it is based at Lancaster University. Every year, it offers an internship programme directed at students in their second and third year, which starts in October/November and ends in June. Students get to work with external organisations, such as International Alert, Maslaha, the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, and RadicalisationResearch, to produce research reports on socially relevant topics. Last year, for example, I worked in a group of about 6 people, tackling issues to do with injustice in the UK education system. I found the internship particularly valuable, in that it allowed me to gain research experience outside of the sort of research you get to do for your degree.

The second opportunity I mentioned is the Mentoring Programme. This project, too, is run every year, and it helps you gaining a better understanding of what to do after uni; or, if you know that already, it allows you to sharpen your knowledge of your chosen career path. Students get paired with professionals in the field that they express an interest in, and they then meet their mentors on a regular basis, learning about their job, about how to pursue specific careers, how to gain experience relevant to particular jobs, how to write a good CV, etc. For me, the Mentoring Programme has been very helpful: my mentor helped me gaining a better idea of my future plans, aided me with choice of postgraduate study, and gave me tips about how to do well in applications.

I think it’s important to study in a place where you can find opportunities like the ones I’ve just described. They allow you to understand what you like doing, what your potential is, and what you’re good at: all things that is in general highly beneficial to know, but perhaps particularly so when you need to decide what to do with your life after uni.

Week 12

Hello again,

 

I hope that you have all had a good Christmas break and that 2018 has started well.

 

The term at Lancaster has started well and it is difficult to believe that we are already in the third week of term, where did the time go! Despite it still being early days things are already very busy. One highlight for us all in the department was hosting our first applicant visit day of this year. It was really great to meet so many of you personally and get to answer questions that you had about Lancaster, the courses available and university life in general. Thank you for all of you that could make it, it was great to see you and for those who are coming to our upcoming visit days we all really look forward to welcoming you for the day!

 

This week the Politics Society, in cooperation with the Jewish Society hosted Stephen Breuer, a Hungarian Holocaust survivor. It was a very moving event to attend and it was humbling to hear first-hand of the experiences that Stephen and his family endured during one of the darkest chapters of human history and the chance to hear his message of acceptance and tolerance was a remarkable opportunity. We were also very honoured to be able to ask questions after the talk and it was an exceptionally special evening all-round.

 

My studies are also beginning to pick-up and I am in the process of trying to narrow down ideas for my dissertation. This is stressful to say the least, but it is also a great opportunity to be able to look in detail at topics that interest me, and it is really exciting to get the chance to take full ownership of my degree and decide for myself what I want to dedicate time to studying in detail.

 

Until next time…

 

Michael

 

January is over already?!

So the second week of Lent term is almost over, and it feels like time is flying by so fast! After three deadlines at the end of week 10, I had a lovely Christmas break that consisted of lots of food, wine, being reunited with my dogs, and smashing out some reading for my dissertation!
However, all holidays must come to an end, so I came back to Lancaster a bit earlier to cover some shifts at my part time job. Working at the same time as studying for a degree can be a little hectic sometimes, so I always think it’s a good idea to get some shifts in while you’ve got less on. That way, when I really need the time off, they’ll (hopefully) remember the favour!
The term ahead is looking like quite a busy one. Over the past two weeks I’ve been getting back into the swing of things, nervously awaiting feedback from my Michaelmas term essays (which turned out great, yay!) and working on my MA application for next year. I’m also on the exec of the Trampolining Club, which has been quite busy at the beginning of term as we try to promote the Club to potential new members and run the taster sessions. Since the introductory lectures and seminars for new modules are well underway, now is the time to really get stuck in with reading and planning essays alongside my dissertation. This term I’ve taken the modules Indian Religious and Philosophical Thought, Reading Islam, and a ‘special subject’ called Religions in the Modern World, (which is more focused on discussions/seminars than sitting in lectures) and they’re looking really interesting so far!
For those of you who are coming to the Applicant Visit Day tomorrow (does anyone read these blogs?) I’ll be there to give a little talk on what it’s like to be an RS undergrad at Lancaster, and have a chat about any questions you might have. I’m looking forward to meeting you all!

New Term, New Modules

Hello!

Time to get you updated on my second term here at Lancaster. Other than working on my dissertation, this Lent term I’ll be taking three new modules: Logic and Language, Aesthetics, and History of Twentieth Century Philosophy.

The Logic and Language module explores some key techniques in logic which allow you to assess arguments and distinguish valid from invalid ones. I’m looking forward to approaching the material from this course because I think that being able to evaluate arguments is a skill everyone should aim at developing. Logic is generally associated with philosophy and mathematics, but in fact any academic discipline is one way or another engaged in the practice of making good arguments and providing reasons for or against certain claims. Outside of academia, too, people make arguments all the time: public debates, including political debates, are just one notable example.

The second module I mentioned is Aesthetics, which addresses questions to do with beauty, art, and their value and significance. I’m looking forward to learn more about this stuff as well, because I’ve always been interested in the way people disagree about matters of “taste”. Yesterday night, for example, I went to the cinema here at Lancaster with a couple of friends: when one of them told me he found the film brilliant, I couldn’t believe it. I had found it extremely dull and poor. Was one of us right in our different assessment of the film, or was it all just a matter of subjective opinion? In the next few weeks, I’ll grapple with questions of this kind and try to get an understanding of what aesthetic judgements might amount to.

The last module I’ll be taking is History of Twentieth Century Philosophy. I’ve picked this one because I hope it will give me a better idea of the context in which some philosophers I’ve already studied produced their work, and also an understanding of the origins of contemporary philosophy.

As you see there’s quite a lot of work ahead of me, but, after all, that’s the very last bit of my degree, so I’d better get the most out of it!