Oh naive little me.. (My brief tryst with development studies)
Author :
Bem
Blog :In Dodo's Head..
Date: 3/27/2012 2:50:00 PM
So as I near the end of yet another chapter, the insides of my brain are working full time, churning and scrambling, putting together gigabytes of knowledge, trying to make sense of what it is that SOAS has taught me as part of its 'Development Studies' masters.
The whole term flew past so past, and now all we have left are two essays, exams and a chunky dissertation to write. It is only natural, being the distracted soul that I am, that I choose to reflect on what I have learned so far, than to actually get to writing my essays due very soon now (very very soon)..
I have a theory. Hypothesis really. That school is really the only time you learn something new, the consequent degrees or whatever are just certificates to adorn the walls of your room. And work? I am still yet to fully discern how I am to make a direct linkage between what I have studied so far and which (un)lucky workplace's cubicle I am going to fill with my mess.
If you are not sensing the vibe already, it has been a rather perplexing chapter this one. I am still very much in the process of unraveling all the knowledge that has been dumped into this head in the past few months, and it's still evidently a 'work in progress'. I have however come to a conclusion-
1. One year Masters programmes feel like a gust of wind swooping past. Never try this. I do not know what to make sense of in such a short time.
2. The field of Development studies is rather a disappointing one for the romantic who thinks change can come to this world. Navigating through its topics leaves one with a sense of hopelessness and a realisation of how small we really are in this world. The megamonsters that roam the surface of the world (In most of the chapters, it is usually the advanced countries, the World Bank and IMF) have taken over most of the earth and we have little hope of ever being 'where the mind is without fear, blah blah'..
3. I have become very negative and seem to be emanating negative energy onto this blog of late. -stopping right here-..