Author: Milan

In the spring of 2005, I graduated from the University of British Columbia with a degree in International Relations and a general focus in the area of environmental politics. Between 2005 and 2007 I completed an M.Phil in IR at Wadham College, Oxford. I worked for five years for the Canadian federal government, including completing the Accelerated Economist Training Program, and then completed a PhD in Political Science at the University of Toronto in 2023.

Back in the loop

Sweet, precious connectivity. She has returned to me. In short, the week in Devon was about as productive as could reasonably have been expected. A solid amount of reading and writing was completed. Now, the thesis project is down to filling in some blanks, followed by retooling and editing.

The next few weeks will be busy.

PS. It looks like Mica won another contest while I was gone. You can watch the winning video online, though many long-time readers will have seen it before.

[Update: 8:00pm] The spam robots have certainly been busy. I have just finished removing their comments from the blog. The wiki will need to wait, since my internet connection at home is taking thirty minutes to load a basic page and I don’t want to spend all night in the Wadham Library.

[Update: 8:45pm] A few photos from Devon are now available on Facebook. As you can see, we were living in comfortable and attractive surroundings. Nicer versions of these images will show up on this site during the next few days, and perhaps on Photo.net as well.

Off in Devon (7/8)

Happy Easter

When doing academic reading, you sometimes run into the equivalent of a slow moving recreational vehicle on a winding, mountainous, two-lane road. The thing has such bulk and you cannot hope to push it forward, and yet it would be perilous to circumvent entirely. As such, you get stuck behind it. I carried around Keohane’s Neorealism and its Critics for more than six months, in three countries, before finally deciding that my studies could proceed without actually reading the conclusion in anything but the most cursory of ways. A few bits of thesis reading have been similar, though I am not going to name names.

Off in Devon (6/8)

Magdalen sundial

By now, I have doubtless crafted a groundbreaking and compelling document, in which every footnote jumps off the page with ecstatic energy. As such, I am probably strolling along the coastline now, looking southwards in the evening light.

Alternatively, six days of reading may have left me so utterly lacking in the ability to focus my eyes and perceive depth that I need to walk with arms outstretched in front of me, so as to avoid walking into walls.

Off in Devon (5/8)

Cool Cowley graffiti

Five days without web access has been the longest stretch I have experienced in about two years. It is amazing how utterly useless a computer now seems when it isn’t connected to the internet. First came the abandonment of gaming, in favour of blogging and chatting with friends by instant messenger. Then came the general abandonment of print media for online news sources (though I have hung onto my print subscription to The Economist). Finally, there was the selection of a research area where sources are virtually always available online. My transition to the web-embedded side was complete.

Hopefully, I have managed to keep my sanity. Quite possibly, doing so will involve painting an image resembling Slashdot onto a volleyball with a little painted Skype window in the corner. The other members of the retreat will probably be wondering who I am speaking to.

Off in Devon (4/8)

Thesis files

I wonder how different thesis writing was back in the days of typewriters. On one hand, many operations would be extremely frustrating. You would need to redo an entire page to correct a single error, for instance. On the other hand, people were probably less susceptible to being overwhelmed by the amount of information at hand. Furthermore, there is little danger of your typewriter getting toasted by a malicious script picked up on a dodgy website.

Adios to Oxford, albeit temporarily

Green plants

Files, books, drafts, system recovery discs, emergency rations, bed sheets, caffeinated mints, and more: I am now essentially ready for my thesis writing week in Devon. The sheets I was instructed to bring; the rest is meant to be essential thesis gear. I sure hope this trip proves as useful for advancing the thesis writing as I hope. Once I get back, I will only have about a week of editing time left before the thing needs to be sent off for printing.

Best wishes to everyone for the next eight days.