A recent post on X (formerly Twitter) by a social media user went viral after they announced completing their doctorate with a flawless viva. Dr. Ally Louks, who claims to teach at the University of Cambridge, shared that she passed her viva with no corrections, marking her PhD completion. However, it was her unique thesis topic that caught the attention of the internet.
Her dissertation, titled “Olfactory Ethics: The Politics of Smell in Modern and Contemporary Prose,” instantly piqued curiosity online. “Thrilled to say I passed my viva with no corrections and am officially PhDone,” Dr. Louks captioned the post while posing with her dissertation. She also shared the abstract of her research to provide “more context for anyone interested in learning” about her work.
“This thesis studies how literature registers the importance of olfactory discourse—the language of smell and the olfactory imagination it creates in structuring our social world,” the brief began.
“The broad aim of this thesis is to offer an intersectional and wide-ranging study of olfactory oppression by establishing the underlying logics that facilitate smell’s application in creating and subverting gender, class, sexual, racial and species power structures,” it added.
Thrilled to say I passed my viva with no corrections and am officially PhDone. pic.twitter.com/4qwCyFYocX
— Dr Ally Louks (@DrAllyLouks) November 27, 2024
Chapter one of the thesis explored how “smell can be used to indicate class antipathies, partly as they relate to homelessness,” by examining George Orwell’s work as well as other popular media creations.
Netizens react
As the post went viral, thousands of users descended on Dr. Louks’ profile and questioned her for spending time and money researching a topic that may not have any real-life implications.
“For those of you who can’t translate this academic gobbledygook, let me be your guide: sis literally wrote a PhD thesis on why it’s racist and/or classist to not like it when people stink,” wrote one user, while another added: “How did this dissertation get accepted? It provides nothing of value, and really only sets this woman up to exploit students for their loans…or an email job somewhere.”
A third commented: “Tax money well spent. Good luck with the debt.”
While the majority of users criticised the OP for her post, some came to her defence, with one stating: “People are being so mean to this woman for no reason. Some people just want to study books, that’s not a crime.”
“That looks like a super interesting piece of research. I can see people being straight up cruel in replies and quotes and most of them are the usual suspects- racists, misogynists and people who would rather have all education be like trade school,” another added. As of the last update, the post had garnered 3.2 million views and over 2,000 comments.
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