Ally Louks

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Ally Louks
Born
Amelia Mary Louks [1]

1997/1998 [2]
Alma mater

Amelia Mary Louks (born 1997/1998) is an English literary academic. She gained prominence after her PhD dissertation went viral on social media, bringing attention to her research topic of the politics of smell descriptions in literature.

Contents

Education

Louks graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in English Literature from the University of Exeter in 2019 and a Master of Arts (MA) in Issues in Modern Society from University College London (UCL) in 2020. [3]

On a grant and supervised by Kasia Boddy, [1] Louks completed her PhD at Peterhouse, Cambridge in 2024. [4] Her dissertation was titled "Olfactory Ethics: The Politics of Smell in Modern and Contemporary Prose." [5] It examines "morally exigent olfactory language in relation to disgust and desire affects." [4]

When explaining her thesis to the average reader, she has said, "I draw on the well-documented history of olfactory prejudice in order to examine its contemporary relevance...We tend to think that our desire to avoid bad smells is an instinctual, protective mechanism, but evidence suggests that we are taught which smells to find disgusting, since, the disgust response is almost entirely lacking in children under the age of two. The sense of smell, then, is shaped by society and is influenced by the prejudices that pervade it." [6] Louks is in the process of converting her dissertation into a monograph and non-fiction book. [7] [8]

PhD virality

On 27 November 2024, Louks posted a photo of herself on X (formerly Twitter) holding her dissertation, with the caption "PhDone." [9] Louks' post went viral with over 120 million views. [10] Initially, comments were largely positive, until the post broke through to a number of right-wing accounts. [11]

"Thousands of people questioned Dr Louks' work on the politics of smell, saying it provided 'nothing of value' and it's 'a completely ludicrous waste of university resources, time and energy," [12] which journalist Rebecca Jennings said was an "extreme, outlandish" response to an "otherwise anodyne post about completing a PhD." [13]

Responding to the backlash, journalist Callum Booth said, "The reaction to Dr Ally Louks’ olfactory PhD, sadly, shows the worst side of the internet. The part that believes it knows better than experts, that utterly misjudges the point of a post, and the one that resorts to vile insults over discussion." [12] Louks received a number of rape and death threats. [10] Specifically, one rape threat came to an email address not easily available online. [2] The threat was credible enough for Cambridgeshire Police to confirm they had begun an investigation into a report of a hate incident. [11]

In response to the backlash, she drew a clear line between legitimate and illegitimate critiques, writing "I really don't feel that my work is above criticism... It's just that the criticisms levied at me were not based in reality." [2] Despite the personal attacks, she asserted her resilience telling Nil Köksal she was "fine... [and hadn't] taken the vitriol to heart because it's ultimately not really about me or my work." [5]

As of December 2024, she had gained over 100,000 new Twitter followers. [14]

Andy Parker, Master of Louks' constituent college Peterhouse, [15] issued a statement of support for her, as did Cambridge University itself, congratulating her for finishing her PhD with no corrections and stating they believed the backlash was a sign of harassment and misogyny. [16]

The viral post inspired numerous discourses about gender, academia, online abuse, and "misogynistic bullying." [17] [18] [13] Vox called it "a case study in how the online right targets and harasses those who don’t fit into the narrow — and often conflicting — standards they’ve formulated for women." [13] In addition, Max La Bouchardiere of Varsity wrote on how this interacts with the neoliberal, anti-intellectual backlash to the humanities and social sciences, [19] which Louks further discussed with Brittany Luse and Jason Stanley on NPR's It's Been a Minute. [20]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 "Grants, Bursaries & Fellowships - Alumni". Funds for Women Graduates. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 Bellware, Kim (7 December 2024). "The internet made a stink over her 'politics of smell' PhD thesis". The Washington Post.
  3. ↑ Carry, Owen (3 December 2024). "What's The 'Smells' PhD Discourse On Twitter About? Dr. Ally Louks' 'Olfactory Ethics' Thesis Explained". Know Your Meme. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
  4. 1 2 University of Cambridge. "Faculty of English Graduate Students: Amelia Louks, Peterhouse". www.english.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
  5. 1 2 Goodyear, Sheena (5 December 2024). "She posted about her PhD, and went viral in the worst possible way". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
  6. ↑ Louks, Amelia (16 December 2024). "My research on the politics of smell divided the internet – here's what it's actually about". The Conversation. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
  7. ↑ "Amelia Louks". The Conversation. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  8. ↑ "Dr Ally Louks". Janklow & Nesbit UK. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  9. ↑ RV, Lei (2 December 2024). "Woman Goes Viral And Receives Violent Threats From Aggressive Men After Sharing Her PhD Thesis". Bored Panda/AOL.
  10. 1 2 Butt, Maira. "Cambridge University issues statement after woman subjected to 'misogyny' after PhD". The Independent. Archived from the original on 13 December 2024. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
  11. 1 2 Katy Prickett, Katy; McLeod, Dotty. "Academic trolled for Cambridge Uni PhD 'unfazed by the vitriol'". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
  12. 1 2 Booth, Callum. "The Online Reaction To The 'Politics Of Smell' PhD, Examined". Forbes. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
  13. 1 2 3 Jennings, Rebecca (4 December 2024). "Why did the internet lose its mind about a woman getting a PhD?". Vox. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
  14. ↑ "Cambridge University issues statement after woman subjected to 'misogyny and harassment' after finishing PhD". Yahoo Life. 6 December 2024. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
  15. ↑ Parks, Andy (6 December 2024). "A statement of support from the Master". Peterhouse, University of Cambridge. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
  16. ↑ Sengupta, Trisha (7 December 2024). "Cambridge University stands with teacher trolled for her 'politics of smell' PhD: 'It's harassment and misogyny'". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 7 December 2024. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
  17. ↑ Pandey, Nikhil. "Cambridge University Responds To Backlash Over Thesis Linking Body Odour To Racism". www.ndtv.com. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  18. ↑ "Cambridge University Responds To Backlash Over Dr Ally Louks' 'Politics Of Smell' PhD". News18. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  19. ↑ La Bouchardiere, Max (1 January 2025). "Tolerating anti-intellectualism supports the 'career-ification' of university". Varsity. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  20. ↑ Luse, Brittany (27 January 2025). "Intellectuals vs. The Internet". It's Been a Minute. NPR. Retrieved 27 January 2025.
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