Neuchâtel

I went to the beautiful, historic University of Neuchâtel this week to attend a conference called "Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Discrimination in the Context of Mobility and Migration". The paper I presented is to become a chapter in my dissertation, but still has a looooong way to go before I get there. I was hoping to get some insight into what I could do to translate my theoretical framework into empirical research. The comments that people made were helpful, and I'm hoping to make that transition fairly soon.

Other than attending the conference all day, some of the conference participants and I walked around the old part of the city, which was cute and quaint, much like Lugano. Also, like Lugano, Neuchâtel is located on a lake, with the University some 50 meters away from the shore. It was all very nice to take in after 48+ hours of stress and anxiety about my presentation. I have to say, the French part of Switzerland seems more relaxed than the Italian part. Now, I have a couple days to recover after the arduous, late-night journey back to Lugano. I think this experience marks the beginning of a turning point in my PhD journey.

Hamburg

Last weekend I went to Hamburg for a doctoral colloquium with the topic "Postcolonial perspectives on United Nations research". It was an interesting format; each paper was presented by a discussant who was not the original author, and then opened up the discussion with their own questions and comments. The paper that I co-wrote with a friend from grad school was about the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN and their role in the reproduction of racial and ethnic inequality. The whole thing was quite long, but very stimulating and productive.

On Friday, we had a keynote speech and then a post-colonial tour of Hamburg. The main thing that I found interesting was the information about Germany's role in colonizing various countries. Often, I think people aren't aware that most people in Western Europe had (and have) to do with the exploitation of countries that make up the Global South. 

The colloquium was held on the campus of the Universität der Bundeswehr Hamburg, which is a military university. It was kind of a strange place to hold a colloquium with many young scholars critical of the UN and national institutions in general, but it was nice nonetheless. I stayed in a very spartan single room on campus, with showers down the hall and lockable compartments in the community fridge. 

Representatives from the  DGVN (German Soceity of the United Nations) were part of the organizing team, so it had the official German feeling that one tends to have at these sorts of things. 

I found the quote chosen for this bag hilarious. "We're getting closer with climate change to the 'point of no return'". This is the kind of advertising that they want to do with their merch....ok.

I ended up returning to Lugano not very late, but for some reason I was still utterly destroyed on Monday. It was all I could do to come to work, go to class and take notes. Afterwards, I ended up heading home early and trying to recuperate for the week ahead. I'm really looking forward to this weekend, when I can do nothing for a couple of days. I have a conference next weekend as well, so I'll probably need the extra sleep!

Urbino

For the last few days I was in Urbino, a small university town near the eastern coast of Italy. I went in order to attend this meeting that we had for an abroad semester for a Master's program that my boss and I coordinate. I took a lot of pictures, because the place itself was beautiful. 

This was a room in the building where we had our meeting. 

The restaurant where we had lunch on the second evening

The street from my hotel to the main square

The church near my hotel  (note the snow)

The view from a window in the Palazzo Ducale

One of the "apartments" in the Palazzo

The road on the way back to the bus station

It was a very productive trip, in terms of the MA program. We had to take a bus and three trains to get there, so the days before and after were pretty much all spent with travelling. It made me think about what it must be like to live in a university town. Obviously, Lugano is very different. Now, I'm back and ready to start a more prolonged period of working and furthering my progress in the PhD.  

First post of 2017

This winter break, I decided to push my vacation back a few weeks. After working through the holidays (and actually being fairly productive), I headed off to Berlin as I am often wont to do. It was cold and snowy. 

I did manage to go shopping and eat some food and see some people BUT around the halfway point of my ten-day excursion, I got really sick. I guess it wasn't unexpected...the indicators were all there: very little sleep + very low temperatures + and running around a lot = sick me.  I was then restricted to solitary confinement in my (very generous and amazing) friend's apartment with the following view:

The last couple of days were okay, as I managed to heal up somewhat. Still, a sizable chunk of my vacation was spent cursing misfortune and drinking lots of tea. Oh well...

I noticed that this time in Berlin I didn't have as much fun as I usually do. It could be chalked up to the fact that it was -8° for a while there and that I am not a winter person. I think, though, that it had to do with the fact that I left a year ago and felt the same amount of groundedness and presence after four days that I would have had if I had stayed for the entire year in Berlin. I noticed also that with the lack of distraction in Lugano, I've grown and changed a lot since I moved here. The people in Berlin have been enjoying Berlin (something that I'm probably more than a bit jealous of) but personal development isn't necessarily part of the city's energy. 

I think being in Lugano is probably exactly what I need to be doing at the moment, even if I'm not having the most wild and crazy time. I'll probably take a bit of a break from Berlin as well. I went back four times last year...and this year I have a lot of conferences and travelling and whatnot. It all makes sense, I guess.  

Singing!

I know, I know...I haven't been very good with updating.

There's been a lot going on. I've been doing a LOT of reading, gave my first research presentation to the entire institute of public communication, worked on a couple of projects with my advisor, written an abstract (that was accepted!) for a conference, and started two other collaborative projects with other PhD students.

So, as always, there's been a lot to do at work. But not only! I also joined the choir at the conservatory here in Lugano, which had its concert this weekend. It was a nice evening and I'm happy that I got to show some of the people I've met here this aspect of my life.

Here are a couple of videos

This will most likely be the last blog of 2016. Here's to hoping that next year will be more engaging, even more productive, and all around better than this one!

Conference in Berlin

Haven't been posting lately, but that's probably to do with the huge amount of things that I've had to get done lately. I had a conference in Berlin, where I had my first poster session. It was interesting if only a little bit quantitative. I guess I should have known, given that the hosting institution was the German Institute for Economics. Here's a picture of me posing awkwardly for my mom

and here is a picture of the actual venue with the podium and whatnot. All in all, it was an okay experience (even if I didn't sleep that much beforehand and kind of ended up getting sick)

Patience

I literally have none.

I'm sick, a little bit heartbroken (I think?...not sure yet) and unmotivated to go back to work.

and I want all of this to be over with NOW.

I know that it will pass, but can it pass a little sooner?

Although, I don't know that it makes sense to wish for time to pass more quickly. I have to write two papers for conferences in September and October and I haven't even started. Also, there's going to be two weeks of PhD summer school where I'll really have to focus and won't be able to write. So much to do...