Mike Ryder is a PhD student at Lancaster University. His research interests include biopolitics, sovereignty, science fiction and war. He is particularly interested in the intersection between literature and philosophy, and the works of Giorgio Agamben, Gilles Deleuze and Michel Foucault. In today's interview, we talk about his experiences of PhD life so far, including how he adapted to the academic environment after taking a break from it and starting a PhD a little later on in life. Go and have a look at his (fab) personal website: www.mjryder.net and check out his Facebook page: www.facebook.com/MJRyder.net
Firstly, it would be great
to hear a little bit about your PhD research. What is your subject and what are
you researching?
My research straddles two
fields, English Literature and Philosophy, and seeks to explore the interaction
between the two.
I picked sci-fi because there
are just so many links that can be drawn between the genre and philosophy. In
fact, many philosophers including Arendt and Deleuze mention science fiction
explicitly in their works, which just goes to show that there is a direct dialogue
between the two. More than that though, I find that sci-fi is an incredibly
fertile genre when it comes to new ideas, and ways of examining questions such
as the notion of ‘humanity’ and what it means to be alive.
In terms of my theoretical
grounding, I’m very much working with Foucault, Agamben, Deleuze, Derrida, and
a few others besides, drawing on ideas such as biopolitics, bare life,
segmentarity and state bureaucracy. I don’t want to give too much away at this
early stage, but there are some really interesting links to be made between the
books I’m working with and the concepts that these continental philosophers
deal with; the novels themselves being selected from the period 1955–1975, and
in many cases pre-empting the work of Foucault et al from the 1970s onwards.
Why did you decide that
you wanted to embark on doing a PhD, especially considering the fact that you
worked for several years outside of the academic setting before applying to do
one?
For a long time now I’ve wanted
to be an academic and spend my life combining research, writing and teaching.
At the time I finished my BA I didn’t have the option to do an MA straight away
as I would have liked to as I didn’t have the funding. As such I had to go out
in to the world of work and bide my time until I could afford to start my
postgraduate study. It took a few years before I was in a position to apply for
a part-time Masters, and even then that was with the stress of commuting over
two hours each way and holding down a full-time job. No easy task I assure you!
It was only after I completed
my MA that I really knew where I wanted to go with my long-term PhD research (I
initially thought I might be a Victorian scholar as I really enjoy the
literature of that period). Unfortunately, again, this was where life caught up
with me. While many people apply for their PhD while still in education, I
spent over a year collecting my ideas together and getting my application
ready. It was a lot of work I can tell you and I can’t describe the relief when
I received news that I was able to finally take the next step and start on my
PhD.
How have you found the
transition of re-entering into higher education as a “mature” student? Has
there been any stand out challenges, surprises or positives?
I admit it’s been a bit of a
shock to the system. I really built myself up for what I hoped would be an
amazing return to university and student life. Unfortunately, so far, it’s not
really turned out like that. Well, not completely anyway.
It doesn’t help I think that I
am in this strange zone where I’m older than the undergraduates and the
early-20-something-PhDs here at Lancaster (who all happen to know each other
from their MAs); yet at the same time I’m also significantly younger than most
‘mature’ students who tend to come back into study later in life. I know I’m
only 31, but when you’ve been working professionally for many years you have a
very different perspective to someone who hasn’t been out there in the wider
non-academic world.
There’s also the issue for me
that when I moved up here, I didn’t bring any family or significant other with
me – I don’t have children, or a partner at the moment, so it’s quite hard to
find like-minded people, as most tend to live off-campus with their families and
commute in, so may not even come to campus for days or weeks at a time.
A very strange experience, and
one I’m still getting used to, but please don’t let me put you off!
What would be your advice
to people who are about to re-enter (or considering it) into higher education
as a PhD researcher, after having had quite a big break from education? Was
there anything you specifically did in order to feel more ready to get back
into studying?
The studying itself has been
really enjoyable if I’m honest. I know I sounded quite negative in my last
answer, but this isn’t to say that being a mature student doesn’t have its
benefits too. One, I think, is a really good work ethic and sense of
perspective. I worked for three years as a professional ghost-writer, writing on behalf of the great and the good in the
healthcare sector. The experience means I don’t often take things to heart, and
I’m quite good when it comes to dealing with setbacks in my research or my
writing.
If I was to give one piece of
advice (and this applies to anyone) it’s get a routine and think how you can
work more efficiently. Remember it’s not about the amount of time you spend at
the library that gets you your PhD, but the quality
of the work you do while you’re there.
If you can really get a good
understanding of how you work, and the way your body reacts to stress and
tiredness then you will know the signs that will tell you ‘I’m not going to get
any more work done today so I’m going to stop’. It would be a waste then to
keep sitting there for another few hours when you’d be much better off
physically and emotionally going home and taking a nap, or doing something
completely different. Remember to be kind to yourself!
In your first year so far,
what experiences, if any, have you had that you perhaps didn’t anticipate prior
to starting your PhD?
I don’t think I was quite
ready for the transition of going from a 9–5 job to not really having the same
level of day-to-day interaction with people. I know it sounds strange, but you
really can go weeks without talking with anyone if you don’t make an effort to
take time away from your studies.
What would you say you’ve
enjoyed the most about doing a PhD so far? Has anything really rewarding
happened yet?
I’ve really enjoyed the
process of reading and note-taking and getting my first draft chapter together.
I also like the intellectual freedom this project has given me and the time I’ve
had to read around my subject.
Your PhD is funded by AHRC
(NWCDTP), what advice would you give to prospective PhD students that are
seeking funding?
Make sure you know your
subject and dedicate a good deal of time to planning what your research is
going to be about. There’s a lot of competition for funding so your words need
to be carefully chosen and your application can’t be full of ‘filler’ text.
You also juggle part-time
work alongside your PhD, what’s your top tip to make sure you keep on top of
PhD-related objectives when you have other commitments?
I currently have a part-time
job working for Student Based Services, helping to compile the weekly student
newsletter here at Lancaster. It’s just one day a week and is quite good as the
hours are fairly consistent, so I am able to plan my research around it. More
than a day a week though and I’d probably struggle to get my work done to be
honest, as I always like to make sure I have Sundays ‘off’.
If you could say something
about your overall PhD experience so far, what would it be in a nutshell?
For the most part it’s been
really enjoyable, but it’s also been quite different to how I would have
expected. My advice is don’t bring any pre-conceptions with you, and be
prepared to make the most of the opportunity.
And finally, what is your
end goal? Do you have any aspirations yet as to what you want to do after your
PhD?
Ultimately, I’d like to become
a full-time academic, as this has been my goal for as long as I can remember.
I’d also really like to publish both my academic and non-academic work (I write
fiction as well in my spare time). My dream has always been to walk into
Waterstones one day and see my book(s) on the shelf.
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