Latest news with #Louks
Time of India
04-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Cambridge Scholar who received backlash over 'Politics of Smell' PhD, graduates: What her research was about
Image credits: X/@DrAllyLouks Unlike a bachelor's or even a master's, a PhD is a completely different game. It takes effort, time and a unique perspective on the world that is worth exploring. One has to truly sit and observe to pick a topic that is appropriate to be explored through a thesis and suitable enough to get passed. For Dr Ally Louks , the topic was 'Olfactory Ethics: The politics of smell in modern and contemporary prose'. The young literature professor announced her graduation on X on Saturday, writing, 'I graduated today! I can honestly say that doing a PhD was the best thing I've ever done for myself. I suppose I'm really PhDone now.' But why did Louks receive backlash for her PhD and what was it about? Find out below! What was Dr Ally Louks' research about? 120874509 Louks, whose real name is Amelia May Louks, analysed how literature registers the importance of olfactory discourse. The language of smell, the olfactory imagination it creates and how it plays a role in structuring our social world. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Google Brain Co-Founder Andrew Ng, Recommends: Read These 5 Books And Turn Your Life Around Blinkist: Andrew Ng's Reading List Undo She explained how the descriptions of smell in literature are used to reinforce racism, sexism and other social stigmas. For example, "the attribution of a foul smell to the Black body during the transatlantic slave trade as a tool of dehumanization." She focused largely on prose fiction from the modern and contemporary period to trace the legacy of olfactory prejudice till date. Louks shared that she hopes that "people are more aware of smell when they're reading. I think that would be a fantastic upshot of all of this." According to Louks the topic is pretty niche and the whole point of a PhD is to "contribute to knowledge in a unique fashion" While her thesis is "not going to cure cancer" she thinks it has "wide-ranging applications." Why did Dr Ally Louks' PhD receive backlash? On November 29, 2024 Louks took to X to share the name of her thesis and the good news that she had passed her viva without any corrections. "Thrilled to say I passed my viva with no corrections and am officially PhDone" wrote the Dr in her post, which now has over 126.9 million views and 11K comments. While many were intrigued by Louks' subject of PhD, others found it a waste of time and money. While she received appreciative comments such as "Congratulations. A PhD is a big accomplishment. Ignore the negativity. Opinions are like backsides - we all have one!" she also received negative remarks such as "You would have spent your years better by getting married and having children" and a rape threat. Things went on to escalate to a level where after a week of trolling, Louks' alma mater, Cambridge University, where she was also an English literature professor came out in her support with a post on Instagram writing: "'Dr Louks, we support you. Last week, Cambridge PhD student @allylouks published this photo on X to celebrate passing her viva with no corrections. Her tweet went viral, attracting over 100 million views. But the attention that Ally's achievement received turned to harassment and misogyny when trolls attacked Ally's PhD topic, her education, her achievement, and her gender... Congratulations, Dr Louks, on passing your viva with no corrections!' Dr Ally Louks is a graduate! Image credits: X/@DrAllyLouks On Saturday, May 3, 2025, Dr Louks took to X to share that she had graduated. "I graduated today! I can honestly say that doing a PhD was the best thing I've ever done for myself. I suppose I'm really PhDone now" wrote Louks. Her post, which has amassed 4.3M views, featured people congratulating her on her achievement and PhD writing, "officially PhDone and absolutely scent-sational. huge congrats!!" and "The smell of success is in the air! I'm so happy 4 u, Dr. Ally Louks! Congratulations on completing this journey & thank u4 sharing w us the importance of olfactory ethics & expanding our views on the politics of smells." Dr Louks' PhD topic is not only a unique one but also an eye-opening piece on how minds and senses have been shaped by literature into a state of prejudice that is undetectable to a layman even if put forth in writing. Her work, which she mentions is aimed at an audience, is what can help people better understand real-world scenarios.
Hindustan Times
04-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Cambridge's Dr Ally Louks, who was trolled for her 'politics of smell' PhD thesis, graduates
Cambridge University's Dr Ally Louks, who was heavily trolled for her PhD thesis regarding the politics of smell in English literature last year, has finally graduated. Dr Louks took to her X (formerly Twitter) account on Saturday to share a photo of her in an academic regalia with the caption, 'I graduated today! I can honestly say that doing a PhD was the best thing I've ever done for myself. I suppose I'm really PhDone now.' Reacting to Dr Ally Louks' achievement, many congratulated her for graduating on social media. Last year on November 28, Dr Ally shared that she had passed her viva without any corrections and her thesis was titled 'Olfactory Ethics: The politics of smell in modern and contemporary prose'. 'Congratulations Dr. Ally and thank you for changing the game of scents and smells as we know it. your work will live on forever!' said one user reacting to her graduation post. 'Not only did you graduate, but your PhD has been one of the most influential works of the decade: record breaking most researched PhD AND actively pushing the envelope on how we interact with the world around us? YOU will go down in history!!' said another. Dr Ally Louks' post, which made her a subject of massive trolling for her thesis subject, has garnered 126.9 million views so far. 'Thrilled to say I passed my viva with no corrections and am officially PhDone,' she had captioned the post, which has 252k likes and has been reposted some 22 thousand times. Dr Louks' alma mater, Cambridge University, where she also taught English literature, came in support of her a week after she was massively trolled. 'Dr Louks, we support you. Last week, Cambridge PhD student @allylouks published this photo on X to celebrate passing her viva with no corrections. Her tweet went viral, attracting over 100 million views. But the attention that Ally's achievement received turned to harassment and misogyny when trolls attacked Ally's PhD topic, her education, her achievement, and her gender,' the post by Cambridge University read. A post shared by University of Cambridge (@cambridgeuniversity) 'Curious about Dr Louks' topic? 'Olfactory Ethics: The Politics of Smell in Modern and Contemporary Prose' studies how literature registers the importance of olfactory discourse - the language of smell and the olfactory imagination it creates - in structuring our social world. Congratulations, Dr Louks, on passing your viva with no corrections!' it added.
BBC News
01-03-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Cambridge Uni academic reflects on her social media storm
Some people seek fame or infamy on social media, while others find themselves embroiled in a storm of unsolicited and often vitriolic comments. This happened to a Cambridge University academic - but how has being in the spotlight affected her?A photo of Dr Ally Louks and her completed PhD thesis, posted to X in November 2024, attracted viral fame when it was viewed more than 120 million times - and the numbers have risen steadily since the congratulations and interest in her subject - "the politics of smell" - were many disturbing comments, mysogynistic, accusatory and personally on the experience three months on, she says: "This has undoubtedly changed my life... and while I would not wish this on anyone, it has given me a platform to speak positively about academia and research." Dr Louks, a supervisor in English Literature at the university, is a self-confessed introvert and rarely used social media before posting her photo - which was mainly intended for her friends - on X. Her subject - "Olfactory Ethics: The politics of smell in modern and contemporary prose" - explored "why certain writers of the past century use the language associated with smell to characterise harmful attitudes towards objects of disgust and desire"."I draw on the well-documented history of olfactory prejudice in order to examine its contemporary relevance," she example, her work looked at Hitler's claims about the smell of Jewish people in his book Mein Kampf, and how descriptions of the transatlantic slave trade were also used "to legitimize racism".Her seemingly innocent post attracted a number of abusive comments from people who believed women should stay out of academia and those who did not understand her work, and were "under-informed or indeed uninformed", as she puts comments included threats of rape and death. 'I wasn't sleeping' Within about 36 hours of her post, the haters got on board."It was pretty all-consuming for the first week," she says. "Replies were coming in far faster than I could read them, so I wasn't sleeping much in an attempt to keep up with the conversation. "I won't pretend that it was pleasant to have people saying unkind things, but the critiques were ultimately quite baseless as they were based on the title and abstract of my thesis alone or were downright misogynistic. "It never caused me to question the value or validity of my work. I tried to approach the situation with openness and intellectual curiosity, because there was some valid scepticism, and I've relished the opportunity to prove the worth of my work among the public audience that I've been gifted." 'Don't engage' Dr Louks says she tried to approach the attention - both good and bad - in a positive way - and would advise anyone else to do the same."The positive comments I received significantly outweighed the negatives, but the negative ones were liked and shared which boosted them to the top of my feed."I refused to engage with anyone who was aggressive or insulting but I did respond to some people who were sceptical or just didn't understand my work. I was perfectly happy to prove the validity of it."I don't engage so there's no point in the negative posters carrying on."My story shows that it's possible to remain both open to criticism and respectful of others online whilst also defending what matters, which is the value and validity of research in the humanities and the legitimacy of women's role in academia." 'I'm an introvert' "Initially I was very shaken up when the hateful comments starting coming in," she says."I'm an introvert and I never asked for this - and while some people say they are even jealous of this social media 'fame', I wouldn't wish this on anyone."But it has given me a platform to talk about the importance of academia so for me, personally, it's undoubtedly been a good thing."Dr Louks now has been assigned both a British and American literary agent."It doesn't go over my head that the reason that I have all of these opportunities is because people responded to my work with such scepticism initially," she previously told the BBC. 'There was support' Dr Louks says she received - and continues to receive - support from both her college and the university as a whole, which she describes as "really heartening"."This experience has undoubtedly changed my life... but in many ways this experience hasn't changed me. "I think a lot of people want this kind of attention, but I have never harboured a desire to become famous. "What I am passionate about doing is sharing my research, sparking conversations about important social phenomena, and translating academic work for public audiences, and this experience has given me a platform to do that and to perhaps turn that into a career." 'A learning experience' For someone who used to shy away from social media, she admits that "all of the things I post get a lot of attention now because I have gained a large following". "I go 'viral' nearly every day by my old standards - posts which would sometimes attract up to 10 likes from my friends."But the attention has been overwhelmingly positive since that initial post. "I do think very carefully about what I say online now, and as a generally offline person, it has been a real learning experience, but I think you typically can't go too wrong if you remain open to feedback and approach discussions with generosity and a willingness to listen." Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
22-02-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Academic trolled for Cambridge University PhD gets literary agent
An academic who received death threats in response to her completed PhD about "the politics of smell" has been assigned both a British and American literary agent. A photo of Dr Ally Louks and her completed thesis, posted to X in November 2024, attracted viral fame when it was viewed more than 120 million the The University of Cambridge supervisor said there had been a lot of positive feedback from people, her post also resulted in negative attention, misogynistic comments and even rape and death threats. Despite the online attacks she said: "I have really relished the opportunity to try to prove the value of my work among that public audience." Since the vial post, her works have now been picked up by a British and an American literary agent who she said were "both absolutely wonderful.""It doesn't go over my head that the reason that I have all of these opportunities is because people responded to my work with such scepticism initially," she said. Her PhD, which took three-and-a-half years to research and write, was titled "Olfactory Ethics: The politics of smell in modern and contemporary prose".It explored why some writers used language associated with smell to characterise harmful attitudes toward objects of "disgust and desire".Dr Louks told the BBC: "It speaks very strongly to disgust as the so called Foetor Judaicus which is the smell of Jews that Hitler talked about in Mein Kampf." She also spoke about how smells were also used during the transatlantic slave trade "to legitimize racism". Following the completion of her works, Dr Louks said some people on X deemed it "woke nonsense," whole others said women should not be in academia, but having babies or caring for their husbands. Prof Andy Parker, a Master at Peterhouse College, said he had seen examples of misogyny and online attacks throughout his academic said: "It's not a new phenomenon, but it's particularly strange in this case for people to pick on a very sensible academic subject... a proud post from somebody who's just made a great achievement... treated as some sort of culture war."Prof Jennifer Richards, director of studies at the college added Dr Louks had "shown how to do things differently - be kind, recognise other people's humanities and share your research". After being bombarded on X, Dr Louks said while she was an "introvert" she was "doing it to show that women in academia deserve to be here". Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
