Alex Diggins is studying for an MPhil in American Literature. He is interested in presentations of landscape, space and identity in American culture and literature, as well as contemporary English landscape writing. He is currently researching for a thesis on the constructions of the Frontier in 19th Century texts, and the recent film and novel…
Author: Porridge Magazine
Frames – Jay The Echo (Music Video)
Jay the Echo is a Hip Hop artist and producer from the Bay Area, California. He is interested in the utilization of music and other media as a vessel for social change. For more material, visit jaytheecho.com. Frames – Jay The Echo In Jay’s own words, Frames is about an artist’s epiphany about the feeling of freedom that comes…
‘Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth’ – Jess Ennis
Jess Ennis is a graduate from UoB, interested in film, journalism and publishing. She currently writes for VultureHound and tmrw magazines. ‘Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth’: Representations of authenticity in pharmaceutical and neural enhancement narratives. In ‘The Critic as…
‘Help me, Google!’ : How the internet makes the representation of Tokyo smaller – Marcus Hirst
Marcus Hirst is an architecture student from the University of Sheffield working in London. His interests lie in the international cultural differences in architecture. ‘Help me, Google!’ : How the internet makes the representation of Tokyo smaller “Google-sensei tasukete!” (“Help me, Google!”) is something I found myself exclaiming in the Asakusa district in central Tokyo…
Is the celebration of quality television a type of cultural elitism? – Amelia Nicholson
Amelia Nicholson is a film graduate and aspiring screenwriter interested in the rhyme and reason behind storytelling. Is the celebration of quality television a type of cultural elitism? It can, and has been argued that ‘quality television’ represents the upper class equivalent of contemporary excellence in visual entertainment akin to the divide between literary fiction…
Call for a Science Editor
Call for a Science Editor TGIF! And that’s not the only thing we’re shouting about; Porridge is looking for a science editor! The role will involve the handling of scientific submissions, editing them to ensure that they are readable for a more general audience. You will be in communication with contributors, and occasionally promote pieces and…
Shite, skin and skulls: Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting and the body – Emily Muscat
Emily Muscat is an English with Creative Writing graduate from the University of Birmingham. As well as essays about poop, she also writes poetry and a Birmingham based food blog. Emily now works at UoB on the Graduate Management Training Scheme, where she plans to continue her career in Higher Education. Shite, skin and skulls:…
The Good, the Bad, and the Evil: Repairing Our World & Reconciling with Our Limits – Scott Remer
Scott Remer is an MPhil student in Political Thought & Intellectual History at the University of Cambridge. As an undergrad, he studied Ethics, Politics, & Economics at Yale University. His interests include political theory and contemporary politics, epistemology, metaphysics, psychology, literature, and Chinese philosophy. The Good, the Bad, and the Evil: Repairing Our World &…
Is the Use of Genetic Engineering, Pre-Natal Selection, and Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnosis Inherently Wrong? – Eleanor Beresford
Eleanor Beresford has an undergraduate degree in English Literature with Creative Writing at the University of Birmingham. Her dissertation is comprised of a collection of short stories about anxiety, and a commentary on the portrayal of such disorders in contemporary literature. She is currently teaching English as a Foreign Language in China, but she plans…
Interdisciplinarity: A Brief Introduction – Dr Matt Hayler
Dr Matt Hayler is a lecturer in post-1945 Literature in the Department of English Literature at the University of Birmingham. His research interests focus on e-reading, materially experimental writing, digital humanities, critical theory, technology, and embodiment. He can be found on twitter @cryurchin. Interdisciplinarity: A Brief Introduction Interdisciplinarity is a long word for a good thing….
Interview with Sophia Mann: Jewellery as Art
Words by Juliette Mann My interest in the presentation of the female form dictated my studies while reading English Literature at university. From Paradise Lost, to the war poetry of Richard Aldington, the transgressive potential of the female form as a force of solace, or as disaster, bewitched me. But how does a similar interest…
A domain focused interpretation of the Doux-commerce thesis: is commerce universally beneficial or does it, as Marx argues, just lead to exploitation? – Sam Altmann
Sam Altmann is a former philosophy student, now an economics student at Oxford interested in the economics of healthcare. London Stock Exchange via flickr. A domain focused interpretation of the Doux-commerce thesis: is commerce universally beneficial or does it, as Marx argues, just lead to exploitation? Introduction The Doux-commerce thesis is the notion that commerce,…
Porridge 