Posted by alexandra_k on May 19, 2021, at 13:51:25
In reply to Re: our system of sanctions, posted by alexandra_k on May 19, 2021, at 13:30:09
i'm a bit concerned for my nephew.
i don't know him very well. at all, really.
his dream is to study his phd in new york, i think.
then work as an academic.
i don't think he was opposed to or objecting to the idea of working in new zealand as an academic.
but he was determined to go to the usa.
because he said they wouldn't hire him to work, here, if he did his phd, here.
and that seems right.
what they say.
what they say to the arts students.
doing a phd in new zealand in the arts is...
something you do when you...
perhaps don't actually have the capacity to do any such thing.
don't actually have a project to be working on.
don't really have anything to say.
then your advisor and panel and externals can write it for you.
a sort of group-work project where you cross out 5 things per page and add 5 things per page.
and sort of end up with some post-modernist essay generated sounding thing that everybody will agree (reluctantly) scrapes you a pass...
once you have taken the maximum possible time.
at which point you are expected to be proud of this piece of technical perfection.
no typographical errors because of the millions of people hours that have gone into scouring it for those kinds of things.
such a beautiful piece of art.
you can sit it on your book shelf at home and visitors will peruse the mighty tome in awe of your accomplishment.
and not a single typo!and that's what it is.
a trophy.
of something...
dead.
in the water.
a non-starter.
to signify...
the lack of career.it's not engaging in research.
it's something different entirely.anyway...
he also wanted to learn ancient languages and there's nothing like that, here.but so he gets some kind of financial support.
not enough to break even. but some...
i don't know how much of his own funds he needs to contribute.
by all accounts he is not living frugally.
so i don't know how much at least part of things...
is on him. with respect to that...so he does a 2 year masters and teaching.
and apparently he did well and they were pleased with it.but he didn't get in to any phd programme.
he didn't say how many he applied to.so they have offered to...
he's doing another masters with them...
and they are giving him more teaching work.so that's a 1 year masters he did in NZ (it credits as 1 year work but his supervisor was dying of cancer so they conned him into working more slowly taking 2 years to complete the 1 year of work).
then another 2 year masters in the usa...
and now he's doing another 2 year masters in the usa...and it's starting to sound a bit like...
a bit like how they took me for a fool?
yeah?
that's what they did -- right?
___________________
anyway...
i did what i was supposed to do.
i did my work and i submitted it for external examination.
and then i saw... the lengths they were willing to go to (the laws they were willing to break) in order to refuse to give me the qualification that i had earned.
and it's strange, really, because the MPhil qualification from teh Univesrity of Waikato is, by their very own advertising campaign for it, a 'I am a gamma baby' sort of a qualification to have. I mean... a 120 point MPhil credits as only 1 year of work. A 1 year research masters, again. 50,000 words long. How good can external examiners expect it to be -- working under those constraints.
I mean... What's the alternative? It's a slavery degree? A degree whereby teh studnet slaves indefinately while not reciving the qualificatin?
There is something in this...
LIttle glimpses or glimmers that I've seen every now and then.
When I was saying 'it's just a 1 year Masters Degree I've done amasters before I know I can do one what's teh f*ck*ng problem???' and she was like 'but this is a *terminal* degree'.
I don't know.
There's some bargaining or negotiating thing that I don't get.
I do get that the leaders of New Zealand think that people are idiots if they pursue knowledge (e.g., wanting to take longer to get a qualification because you want to learn langages or wanting to study overseas so you can learn from people who are genuinely productive)... Because they just got their qualifications as quickly as possible. Sucked up to the supervisors as much as possible. Paid whatever bribes they demanded, I guess. To get their piece of paper. Haha!!! To take the highest paying job they could find... To grub their way up the money tree...
I think there is this thing, now, with PhD's where thtey just see what they can get you to do...
And you are supposed to cut your losses at some point. That is to say to move on from the whole academic thing entirely. And they see what you do. And they decide from that whether they will acknowledge you as having completed your degree or not.
So, for example...
The people who finish their degree in philosophy and then don't get any job at all. Don't find one. Don'tn get anything. They likely will get tehir Degree.
Or if you get a job in... A supermarket? That's what you do -- right? Whe you are finishing off your PhD? Move home with your parents and get a job in a supermarket?
Then they will probably get you your Degree.
But probably only if your job involves you paying the supermarket for your uniform. And for a training course. And for parking. And so on. Otherwise no. No job for you.
Yeah. About that white privaledge.
poster:alexandra_k
thread:1115145
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20210419/msgs/1115154.html