University Reading Made Bearable

Okay so taking reading and writing as two of the defining pillars of a social science degree and having discussed academic writing previously, now we can think more about academic reading. As I have mentioned previously, I am not, have never been and will likely never be much of a reader. My biggest challenge coming to university was trying to keep up to date with the reading lists for my courses. Not only are these texts usually rather long, but they are also densely packed with complex theory, intellectual jargon (i.e. long and scary words) and rigorous ethnographic detail. As per the usual structure of this blog, let me suggest some ways of mitigating these barriers in the way academic glory!

Establish a Reading Tool Kit

The difficulties people have with reading are individual and therefore these may not be helpful to all. Experiment with different strategies to find what works for you.

§ Print and Highlight- you can print on both sides with 2 pages per sheet to save trees! Take a highlighter and work your way through. Then go back and make notes next to highlighted segments. This saves essentially re-writing what you’re reading and you’ll still get a really strong understanding of the text, usually (for me) in a shorter amount of time.

§ Word’s speech tool- copy and paste sections of the reading into a word document, highlight with your mouse, press the A symbol on the blue bar at the very top of your page and the text is read aloud to you. On another text page you can then make notes as if you’re in a lecture.

§ Speed reading applications- in the ‘Have a Lookie here’ section of this blog there is a link to the ‘Spreecher’ website. This one doesn’t actually work for me, but I know others who use it regularly. You copy and paste sections into the text box, and it flashes the words one by one at a speed decided by you.

Make Readings Applicable to You

This means choosing readings that in some way interest or stimulate you. There is usually a set reading list with ‘essential’ readings. However if, for example, you embark on an essential reading and find it near impossible navigate then cut yourself some slack. The chances are that the author’s writing style differs substantially from yours, hence why your brain is struggling to make sense of it. In this situation, I would read the abstract, introduction and conclusion, make some notes and potentially search for other scholars’ comments on the reading. You can leave it there and then use the general topic, concept or whatever as a basis for your search. Try to find a reading that is perhaps based off fieldwork carried out in a place that you have some connection to or knowledge of; or one which traverses themes you have previously studied.

Alternatively, turn to the fool proof tactic of finding your favourites. Find writers, academics or publications that you have read and enjoyed reading before (or at least those who you have been able to read and digest easily). Throughout my 3 years at university I have accumulated a list of anthropologists’ whose work I love to read- my anthropology crushes- and in times of difficulty I can refer to their scholarship in the hope that they have had something to say on the issue I am researching.

(Side note- Anthropological crushes include David Graeber, Janet Cartsen, Sylvia Junko Yanagisako, Paul Farmer, Savannah Shange, Paul Farmer and many more)

Don’t just read….

Last but not least, if you have a huge amount of research to do and are really struggling to read academic articles then look elsewhere. Resources including podcasts, television programmes, films, social media and so on can be highly useful resources and perhaps even ethnographic artefacts if analysed appropriately. Reading continuously is hugely laborious and can be very dull, so be brave and shake it up a bit. It might just give your essay the creative edge it needs.

Now go forth and read (or don't read) proactively.