And thus it begins…

Today is the second day of Michaelmas Term at the University of Oxford… And thus my first week as a graduate student! I had what mom likes to call a “God wink” a mid last week, right in the middle of my departmental inductions in the Social Policy programme… I found out through a twist of fate, that there was a last minute vacancy in the graduate Medical Anthropology programme! As it turns out, one of the guys living in my house was one of the 8 students in the programme… Through talking with him and reading up on the subject in my spare time, I’d already become convinced that I was pursuing the wrong degree… But I chalked it up to fate and convinced myself that, while social policy wasn’t the best fit for my research interests, I still had a PhD down the road to really focus in Reproductive Anthropology… Not two days later, I called the programme to see if I could sit in on a course, and before I knew it I was being interviewed for a last minute slot in the programme! It was a little unnerving making such a large decision so last minute, but having now sat through a week of their faculty introductions and lectures I have no doubt  made the right decision… It’s amazing how perfectly I fit in the programme; it’s as if I’ve been circling around this field for the last two years…

As I soon discovered, the Medical Anthropology programme is VERY small and tight knit, which I love… We have a total of 13 students between the MSc and MPhil students, and only 3 primary faculty… All of which are already on a first name basis with the students. My peers come from a range of backgrounds in medicine, the social sciences, and humanities, but most of us don’t have formal training in medical anthropology. I seem to be the only graduate student with specific interests in studying conceptualizations of reproduction and reproductive technologies in developing nations, which leaves the resources and faculty in the “Fertility and Reproduction Institute” almost entirely to myself while I’m writing my dissertation later this year!

I’ve also realized that my programme seems to be one of the more intense in the University… While the other grad students living in my house haven’t even been to a class yet, I’ve already submitted my first 10 page tutorial essay. We had a reading list of more than 30 books and articles a week before the term even began (yesterday)! So needless to say, it’s been busy already! But I’m loving being back in classes, and so far I think the topics we’re studying are absolutely fascinating… So I can’t complain too much!

In what little spare time I have, I’ll manage to finally submit my Fulbright Grant application this week! So prayers that I’ll get funding to go back to Kenya next year for a year of research are welcomed! Haha

I think that’s all for now… Even though I just turned in Week 1’s tutorial essay on medical pluralism this morning, I’m already on to the reading list for next weeks essay on bioculturalism and epidemiology!

With Love from Oxford… ~Mary Elizabeth