Perhaps the one-line summary is this: Doing a PhD is always going to be difficult, and doing anything in a pandemic makes everything more difficult still — but I recognise how incredibly blessed I’ve been with all the people, opportunities and support I’ve been surrounded with, and I truly value all of these.

Now let’s rewind to October 2020: I’d shared that I’d passed my Qualifying Exam for my art history research master’s at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in early September that year. That was only the beginning of the gruelling process that was converting my master’s to a PhD. I’m not sure if this practice exists in other educational systems, but I’d also think that it’s not usual or easy at all. I didn’t share about any of this earlier, because there were just so many moving pieces hanging in the balance and I didn’t want to jinx anything LOL!

In October 2020, I then sat for my conversion exercise (yet another report and presentation), prepared a PhD research proposal and had an interview in November 2020 (similar to what I did when applying for my masters!), and then waited… The news came through in mid-January 2021 that my conversion was successful, and a week later, the news that I was given a NTU scholarship sent me over the moon! Took a deep breath to take it all in, before finding out that I was going to have to dash for yet another qualifying exam in April 2021. Went into a happy daze (just briefly, the PhD life waits for no one) when I was confirmed as a PhD candidate in late April!

Luckily, the timing worked out well as all of these happened when the Covid situation was doing much better, and it was a lot easier to go into campus to get my writing done. Things got more cautious from May, and flitting around many different things — classes, conference applications, assignments — to the background of restless Covid definitely takes its mental toil. I love that canvas print of Which step have you reached today, which I saw at Chapter 55 (restaurant in Tiong Bahru), up above in the cover picture. Almost every day, I go from ‘I won’t do it’ to ‘I’ll try’…

But! I’m now heading into my final fourth year of my postgraduate studies, and what a time to celebrate the good things and the breakthrough days when I get to the top three steps of that ‘do it’ staircase.

So, I think one thing I wanted to put in words (so I can remember it for posterity) is why I decided to go for a PhD and a conversion. I don’t think anyone has asked me about this in an official capacity, and what I really appreciate about postgrad interviews is that they keep the focus on research. The seed of this conversion idea was planted early on in my first semester (thanks to my professors’ foresight), and it was really in May 2020 that I fully committed to the the plan and went full-out to fulfil the crazy schedule outlined above.

Funnily enough, my main two reasons for doing the PhD conversion remained within the same two ‘categories’ that also made up my decision to take up my master’s at NTU. The first, primary reason is related to my own research: I knew I was — and still am! — in the right place to do the research I want to do (Angelica Kauffman’s self-portraits + eighteenth-century British art) as I seriously do have the best supervisor and advisory committee, and I’m comfortable in this environment and NTU’s fantastic facilities. You could say that the UK would perhaps be more fitting because the art and the archives that I need to see are located there, but the unexpected twist in the story with Covid meant that museums and archival centres had to close, and many things shifted online… And as it became more apparent that the pandemic was going to go on for longer than anyone could have expected, I was feeling uncertain about expecting to finish my MA in mid-2021.

And on my research, it only seemed that I was getting more engrossed in it all the time — and this is probably the most important factor to me in doing a PhD and sticking it out. I’d kept to the same topic throughout the MA and in converting to the PhD, but the research kept growing in many interesting ways and I wanted to keep the momentum and take my topic further by upscaling it into a PhD. I have mentioned before that there is often the initial feel to build a super-broad topic for the research proposal and the feedback you get is always to narrow, narrow it down! And then when you get accepted into the MA/PhD program and work on it further, the topic grows and changes in ways unknown yet again… It doesn’t seem to make sense, but it’s definitely what I’ve experienced!

Another thing I’ve noticed is that my research seems to be getting increasingly personal — the appeal of working on Kauffman and eighteenth-century London in the first place was that there seemed to be no relation to my actual twenty-first-century life in Singapore/Hong Kong and it was refreshing to be working on a clean slate. Yet I realise that my interest in looking at Kauffman’s London self-portraits and my approach in doing so reflects my own thoughts and feelings… I’m not too sure how to explain this, but maybe it will become clear to me when I’m finally done writing the dissertation in mid-2023?

The second main reason, on unavoidable, pragmatic terms, is related to costs and financial matters. Any postgraduate degree is pricey in one way or another (plus opportunity costs), and I was hoping to leverage on ‘saving’ a year in completing a PhD by converting my MA. In any case, receiving the news of my scholarship made it the best night of my life and it’s really been life-changing, and I don’t take it for granted at all. So, so thankful.

Now that I’m doing a PhD — which still feels surreal — what other highlights then? Turning things online has been so helpful in opening up access to hearing more talks, participating in events, etc. across the world for free — although I openly profess I’m still a Zoom noob (I like MS Teams more).

The biggest highlight of 2022 would definitely be finally making it to London to get my hands on the archives in May! I’m also (slowly) sharing more of all the art and museums I saw and visited during my time there on the blog, which was just such an immersive experience.

Ah, so now it’s a matter of writing and completing the dissertation, putting my thoughts together… Let’s see what other thoughts I’ll have about the writing process in the coming academic year!

The post PhD in a Pandemic appeared first on Wording Art.

On that cover picture: I was finalising edits of my QE report at the very lovely Little House of Dreams café in Tiong Bahru post-circuit breaker, when I could finally work outside of home! That’s the title page on my laptop, and I’d definitely like to share more about my research soon!

So what is this Qualifying Examination? Different programmes might have another term for it, but the purpose of this exam is similar across the board. For MA (Research) / PhD programmes, the qualifying examination is held after the completion of courses. There’s a written component in the form of a report, and an oral component in the form of a presentation. It’s a means for determining your progress in your research, or just to determine if you are fit enough to keep going — like ‘passing probation’, if you will! At NTU, where I’m doing my MA (Research) programme in Art History at ADM, the Qualifying Examination is held a year in. That’s what was happening with me in early September.

I have to say — writing the report was hard. It appears straightforward: it includes a listing of your literature review, aims and objectives, methodologies, chapter outline, bibliography, etc. (to sum up the main sections). Sometimes I feel like I can envision my actual, final thesis — certain points I want to make; specific images and comparisons I want to look at. But suddenly, when I was forced to think about my methodology and chapter titles, I realised that I hadn’t given a thought to it at all! I suppose in research, you always feel the initial need to build up a big, wide topic to show that you have something important to study, then you begin working on it and have to break it down again to the specifics. I struggled with writing my literature review, methodology and outline of chapters — which pretty much makes up the whole report! After multiple drafts and lots of random googling (like what’s the difference between aims and objectives??), things somehow miraculously came together. I’m now glad I have a working structure of how the whole thesis is going to look like!

In a normal world, the presentation of the QE is always held in person. With this ‘new normal’ though, I had my exam over Microsoft Teams — which I was not expecting! Funny to think that I didn’t even know how to use Teams until May this year, and it’s now become somewhat familiar (I prefer it to Zoom).

I’ve seen so many articles and posts where people say that they hate having virtual meetings, and I’m definitely in that group of people who dislike meeting virtually, much less for an exam! While presenting, it felt like I was talking to myself (especially as everyone else had turned off their cameras), and I had to keep reminding myself that people were still watching and listening! It feels strange not to see people’s reactions as you’re presenting — your education has trained you to present in front of people, but when that’s taken away in a virtual space, it feels like a whole other ball game.

Though on the flip side, the advantage of presenting virtually is having more privacy — after all, everyone only sees your head and shoulders on screen, and I could have my notes scattered everywhere around me without anyone seeing it, haha! I could hang up on my Teams call after my presentation and immediately slump over and breathe a big sigh of relief.

In any case, I’m happy to say that I passed! Now, having had time to process what has happened, I’m glad to have had this experience. It’s a good opportunity to present my research, a clear way to see how my research has developed, and to hear the ideas, feedback, or perspectives that others (i.e. the examiners) bring to the table. It’s also a major milestone to clear, and completing it comes with a sense of accomplishment. These little moments are really much needed along the path of graduate school, especially when things get busy, difficult and overwhelming. Yet at the same time, I’m realising that I’m becoming more of a nerd, and I’m enjoying my research! All the work though — it’s time to get back to it…

The post I Passed My Qualifying Exam! | Master’s Updates appeared first on Wording Art.

I’m amazed that time has passed so seemingly quickly — notwithstanding this Covid-19 season, I’ve spent the last few months reading, writing, and trying to keep myself together as I prepare for my Qualifying Exam coming up in September. For now though, I’m thinking about how things have been one year in, and what to expect if you’re heading back to school for postgraduate study!

I write this as I find it funny how things were so different just a year ago. I was both nervous and excited to start my master’s at NTU ADM, which was new to me since I did my undergrad at HKU. I had no idea what to expect at all, so I went in with my eyes wide open…

Here goes a list of things I’ve learned:

1. ‘Where does the time go?’

I say this all the time, but honestly, I don’t think I have even been so conscious of my time and hours as I’ve been since starting postgrad. Amid classes, meetings, working on research project(s), and trying to upkeep a social life, it’s difficult to maintain a regular Monday to Friday working schedule, clock out at the end of the day and have weekends off.

I’m still working on that time management skill, but I’ve found it increasingly important to take breaks from all the academic things and just make time for leisure, like how I’m writing this post now!

2. You have to do those readings.

No more getting away with it like in the good ole undergrad days! You will be expected to discuss the assigned readings in every class and contribute to the discussion with your classmates. Although it’s time-consuming, it’s actually quite fun to hear what everyone thinks about the readings though!

3. Coursework vs. Research

When applying for a master’s, I’d looked into both coursework and research-based programmes. I was leaning towards coursework programmes, because I thought it would feel ‘closer’ to what I’d done during my undergrad degree. I eventually chose to take up my research master’s at NTU ADM because I was so flattered that they were willing to take me on with my research, haha!

With that said, postgrad classes are actually quite different from the undergrad experience (see: readings). As a research student, I also have to take a few classes. Some are specific to research students — a standard one across all fields being the methods class — and I’ve also taken a couple of classes from NTU ADM’s MA in Museum Studies and Curatorial Practices.

Yet also as a research student, it’s easy to get involved in classes and leave my own research on the wayside… So I try to do what I can to keep up with all the work!

4. Having a work desk on campus is the best.

From what I’ve heard or read on the internet, it seems that only Singapore universities provide work desks for both Master’s by Research and PhD students for their entire candidature. That means this desk and that fancy iMac is mine to use for however long I spend at NTU. Such a privilege!

Since I studied in Hong Kong previously — where space is a luxury — I’ve just been so in awe of the space and facilities that NTU has. I love having a space of my own to get work done, to stack my books, and to take a break when going between classes, seminars, meetings and all.

5. It’s been going better than I ever expected.

Postgrad life gets busy, tiring, frustrating, difficult, and it’s hard for most people to understand what you do — but really, I not-so-secretly embrace it and enjoy it all.

No one ever said doing a master’s or PhD was going to be easy, but it’s a choice I decided to pursue. My mood and feelings towards my work, writing and research fluctuates all the time — sometimes I think it’s going just great, and in the next hour, I’m thinking someone send help — but in the end, it’s a joy to be able to pursue my passion and to work on a topic that I really want to know more about.

I think it’s always good to get a sense of perspective about how things are, especially when I become too absorbed in my work. So I guess this is also a reminder to myself and to whoever needs it: keep going, and enjoy the process!

The post Postgrad Expectations | One Year On appeared first on Wording Art.

‘But I don’t want to go among mad people,’ Alice remarked.

‘Oh, you can’t help that,’ said the Cat: ‘we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.’

‘How do you know I’m mad?’ said Alice.

‘You must be,’ said the Cat, ‘or you wouldn’t have come here.’

I was thinking about this quote to sum up my feelings of these crazy times of staying home, but things have gotten so much better since Phase 2 began in Singapore, and I’m able to venture out again! Then, I realised this quote is perfect (as a joke, or maybe quite real) for talking about what I’m up to doing my master’s degree!

This post is a kind of follow-up to my May 2018 post, Prospect and Refuge | In Architecture, Art, and In Life, which I wrote to ground myself among all the things in my life that were happening. What’s happened since then? In the same month, I was rejected from the master’s programme I’d applied to, and continued on my job-hunting process as I was between jobs. In June 2018, I decided to apply for a master’s again — this time round, with a better sense of preparedness, since my first application was a bit of a spontaneous decision. Somehow through the months, I managed to land my next job after many applications, apply for three master’s programmes… and then, had to make my decision on where I wanted to go.

So, here I am now — I’m almost a year into my master’s by research (research-based master’s / MPhil / whatever term exists for this) in art history at the very beautiful architectural marvel that is the School of Art, Design and Media, at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. To be honest, this was the most unexpected option that I would have thought to have gone on, for so many reasons.

As my academic study increasingly consumes my life, I’ve been wanting to share more about the process of applying for postgraduate programmes, and in actually doing one. This blog has always been a great outlet for me to talk about anything art-related that interests me, but I’ve never talked much about academia on this space. How is it like studying art history in Asia? How is it like doing a master’s in Singapore? How did I go into research? These are questions that I’ve been reflecting on, and I think writing about it is a good way to balance out my academic work.

I want to give a more personal view into the course of doing postgraduate studies, specifically in art history. There’s a lot that I want to talk about, and I will be sharing more in upcoming posts — see the new ‘Academia’ category! If you’re an art history student, and looking to go into this rabbit hole of postgrad life, or you’re already in it (!), I hope that these posts will be helpful or insightful to you in some way.

And since a large part of postgraduate life is about reading, the cover picture is a candid picture taken by my sister of me at The Moon, a bookstore-cum-cafe, back in November 2019 when they dedicated their front display to art books, and I happened to be engrossed in a book about methods in art history, I kid you not. More to come!

The post Down the Rabbit Hole | Into Postgrad Life appeared first on Wording Art.