… for me to have another go at blogging. Having applied at a number of places to being my PhD, for the moment my plans for next year are looking uncertain. Having had a number of offers of places but without any funding, and still awaiting the outcome from two more, my resignation deadline has been and gone so it is unlikely a full-time PhD is going to be an option in 2013. This leaves me with 2 options, to pursue the same PhD part-time and self funded or to wait another year and begin the process again.
This gave me two very good reasons to start a blog: If I do pursue a part-time route, to have navigate the challenges and opportunities that brings or, if I don’t, to keep me motivated to engage with Sociology over the next year. I’ve found twitter to be my biggest source of support and inspiration over the past twelve months working through the application process, some of which I may blog about but I think that now is the time to explore some of the debates in greater depth.
I came to Sociology later than some, mainly by accident by from initially studying a FdA in Multimedia Design at University back in 2004 followed completing a Bachelors degree with the Open University (focusing on Sociology and Social Psychology) and moving into Secondary Teaching of Art and Design before completing my MA in Social Science, again with the OU last year. This blended identity has often left me feeling out of place in both academic and professional realms, it has also made finding a focus for my interests a challenge at times! This has been confounded by having many Sociological interests springing out of my professional and personal life and many of them being very disparate. Hopefully this blog will enable me to draw upon these as attempting to reconcile them within more formal study is extremely challenging as, at times there is little overlap, although I know from many conversations i’ve had, I may not be alone in these feelings!
Jon Rainford 