Introduction

The Criminologist: "I would like, if I may, to take you on a strange journey."
- The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Jim Sharman, UK/USA, 1975)

Ok, it may not be a strange journey, but it is a journey for sure. I am currently on a journey of discovery, and self discovery come to think of it, as I attempt to climb the ladder of academia. Currently I am undertaking my Honours at The University of Western Australia, as an English and Communication Studies Student.
One cannot help but admit that the journey is very daunting, but I am dedicated to it, as I feel most passionately about the opportunity of teaching at University level. Why you ask? You probably don't ask, but I will tell you anyway. Because there is something wonderful about the teaching method employed by Universities. It's hard to describe, but maybe if I borrow Catherine Belsey's words for a moment and say, "Academic life proceeds by debate" (p. 35 "Discursive Desire: Catherine Belsey's Feminism" Feminist Review, No.66, Political Currents. (Autumn, 2000) pp25-45)
This is the difference, 'debate'. This process of debate doesn't just exist between academics, but also between the academics and the students they teach. In my time spent studying and listening to lecturers, often they have remarked on the joys of suddenly hearing a student suggest an idea, or a interpretation of a text that even they, after numerous years of teaching, haven't considered.
To me, this suggests a lot about what it means to be an academic and a teacher. It suggests that we never stop learning, not only in our own research, but in our interactions with each other.
This is what my blog here is all about, and what my beliefs are in regards to academia.
Here I may write ideas, interpretations, views and opinions on topics that I have found interesting. But all of this is just a building block, a small contribution, in hoping that others will then be prompted to consider these ideas, to propose alternatives, to inform me and help me learn as well.
Afterall, in all my time as a student so far, I have never once read an essay or article, or picked up a book, that doesn't owe a debt of gratitude to those who have researched and progressed ideas before it.
So please, if you are an academic, or a student at University and you come across my blog and an idea written interests you, leave a comment, tell me what you think.
Thanks
-Hilary