January 7th 2025

Welcome to my second day and another introduction to a new course, this time it is a research class for political science. There are different versions of this course and I chose one that I believed centred on my interests. What I mean by that is there are different research methods that are applied when, well, doing research and writing papers: qualitative and quantitative. I chose the one that I felt was best for me and I will leave it at that because I have to be careful about specifics.

Before I even get to class I popped into my professor’s office to pick up my detailed feedback research paper. Just as a refresher this professor taught my historiography class in semester 5 and was the same guy who taught my genocide course in semester 3. He is also the one supervising my work class as well. I handed in a physical copy of my paper because I had the time to do so and wanted detailed feedback so I can improve on my writing for when I go to my masters and eventually my PhD. We actually talked about that a bit, when he was going over his comments on my paper (I have a hard time reading his handwriting) he asked about language barriers as I made it a point to mildly critique Fitzpatrick on her usage of English sources rather than thee original Russian since it seemed like she could read the language. He inquired about my interest in study and that the language skill is useful for that, especially when it comes to a masters and PhD.

I was vague with him, saying that my studies were focused on non-English history and I was already on my way with learning my target language (as in I have chosen it now and am planning my course of studying). I did tell him that I was interested in revolutionary history but that was all I was going to say. He was satisfied with that answer and continued on with his comments. I remember asking him about my current writing skills and where I could be headed academically. He thinks I have great potential and believes that I have a very good chance at getting into a masters program, but my writing is not PhD level yet which is fine because I am still in undergrad (his words, not mine although I agree with him). I am surprised that I was able to take these comments well because if this had happened when I was 18 I would’ve cried and plotted my own downfall. Intense? Yes, but I was not doing well at that age and it was a good thing I dropped out of my first university when I did. For the most part I think my writing would significantly improve with engaging in feedback from my professors, handing in drafts of my papers even if not required (I will ask ahead of time if that is acceptable), and give myself way more time to write my papers. I have improved on my procrastination but I am still not where I want to be. It’s also why I want tee syllabus as soon as possible so I can choose a research topic right now and then gather my information as thee semester passes. If you any advice on how to improve my writing I am so open to receiving it (I know it is difficult as you are only exposed to my casual style rather than my academic version, but anything helps). Also I don’t know how to use semicolons, which is hilarious.

When talking about the PhD he expressed general concern due to the fact that getting one will make me over qualified for everything except one career: academia. A masters I’ve craved as it broadens your qualifications but a PhD is a whole other beast. He said I need to really know what I want, and I told him I did. I’ve (unintentionally) kept myself up at night thinking about what I want and its to be a professor. I can research, publish books, and teach many people. That is what I want. He nodded and just warned me about the fact that it is around6 years of study, although I pointed out that it really depends on where you go. His PhD took 6 years because he got his in the US, I am not going to do that. I did ask him questions about the paper I have to write for the work course and, thankfully, it is not a typical academic paper but more of a report on my experiences. He even said that this course was actually quite easy compared to your typical university class, so that does take some of the pressure off. I just have to do well with my work and not stress about writing something intensive.

I remember before leaving I asked him if he was teaching any other classes this semester and he said yes, a class about the British empire (his speciality). I felt embarrassed because earlier in our conversation he had mentioned teaching it and yet I totally forgot. I told him that it must be nice to be able to teach his favourite thing and he replied that the British empire is not his favourite thing but is his favourite subject. I specified that’s what I meant but I was speaking casually, I asked if maybe I should take a more professional approach and he said no. He would actually like to see me relax more because, according to him, every time he speaks with me I seem to give off the idea that I believe the world is against me, and he wants me to know that he is not and hopefully this semester I can believe that too. I said well have to see where it goes but hopefully that’s true.

After that we can now move on to my polisci class. Like my other classes this was all introduction and syllabus stuff but this time it’s a new professor. Because of that I have no idea what the vibe is supposed to be but the course content makes me nervous. It’s a research methods class so nothing I am too unfamiliar with, but the assignments are weird. There are no quizzes and there doesn’t seem to be a research paper, instead we are graded on a detailed research proposal, and each step is graded as we improve on it. We start with a research question among other details, then we go off that by tightening it up and expanding it by finding case studies/sources. It’s very very weird and apparently by the end of it we should have around 4000 to 5000 word. This isn’t written all at once but compiled at the end. It’s very confusing but hopefully as the semester goes on it’ll become more clear. All I know is that our research question can be about pretty much anything as he himself believes everything is political. Some of the sources we will be reading in class (to learn about methodology) cover some topics that will be of interest here (Soviet union) so look forward to that. The syllabus lists a final exam on the grading portion but it was not detailed in class whatsoever nor in the syllabus itself so I might have to ask him about it.