Amanda Shopa, PhD.
Artist. Researcher. Educator.
Amanda Shopa, PhD
Artist. Researcher. Teacher.
Posts
- Showing Fire in Black and White
- Week 54 of 209 Weeks
- Week 53 of 209 Weeks
- 209 Weeks Project
- Minnesota, 1/24/2026
Categories
Artmaking (10) Dissertation Writing (3) Graduate School (2) Home Page (13) Photography (60) postcards (54) Uncategorized (1)
Tags
209 Weeks (57) artist's dates (1) artistic decision making (1) artistic problem solving (1) at-home residency (1) creative fatigue (1) creative life (1) creative rest (2) cyanotypes (1) darkroom (4) dissertation art (1) film photography (1) Minnesota (1) photography (5) pinhole photography (1) Reading (1) textile arts (1) Writing (1)
Latest posts
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209 Weeks Project
Read more: 209 Weeks ProjectThe 209 Weeks project is a weekly political postcard project that started in January 2025 and is expected to continue for 209 weeks. You can learn more and see recent postcards, sign up for a postcard, or view the entire series of postcards.
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How Much Reading Do I Need to Do?
Read more: How Much Reading Do I Need to Do?One of the biggest hurdles I’ve faced in working on my doctoral dissertation is knowing when to stop reading. I know this is a common problem. When should PhD students stop reading? How much is enough? How do you get over the nagging feeling that you might be missing something? And what do you do
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Artmaking First
Read more: Artmaking First“Artmaking first. Process over product.” One of the difficult things about being an arts-based researcher, for me, is trying to figure out how to find time for artmaking over writing. Ultimately, the academy (the whole system I’m depending on to grant me my PhD) honors writing more than artmaking, and my dissertation is primarily a