Get ’em (back) to Cambridge!

  • £2,010.00
    raised of £2,494.00 goal goal
80% Funded
16 Donors
Raised offline: £500.00
Total: £2,510.00
Help this ongoing fundraising campaign by making a donation and spreading the word.
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The Project


Hey y'all!


I'm currently doing a master's degree in English literature at the University of Cambridge, which is both exciting AND expensive! Through a combination of grants, loans, part-time work, savings and support from my broke-ass artist parents, I've managed to secure most of the funding needed to cover tuition and living expenses throughout the year. However, there's still a £2494 gap that I need to fill. I would be very grateful for any support you can provide, be it financial or, for instance, by passing on the word to high-rollers of the philanthropic variety. Any funding above my goal will go to my PhD.


The specific course I'm studying is called Criticism and Culture (see: www.english.cam.ac.uk/admissions/graduate/MPhil_Info_Criticism_Culture.htm). My thesis will be on methodologies for analysing hip-hop music. In plain terms, I'm pursuing questions of how we might interpret hip-hop, from a literary perspective, in ways that are attentive to its various aspects: its poetics, musicality, linguistic intricacies, sociocultural and political relevance, visual culture (music videos, performances), and so on. Hip-hop is culturally influential and aesthetically labyrinthine. The interdisciplinary field of hip-hop studies has been developing since the mid-2000s, drawing diversely from sociology to music theory to English literature. As a relatively young field, however, there is still much to explore. There is ample scope to augment hip-hop studies in the field of literary criticism, which is not only intrinsically valuable in terms of the pursuit of knowledge, but also socially, politically and culturally timely. Moreover, studying hip-hop at Cambridge is uncommon, to say the least, and could have significant implications. Examining hip-hop in an intellectually serious and rigorous manner at prestigious institutions like Cambridge not only further heeds its vibrant forms of poetic inquiry, but advances a precedent for more research on an international scale. In other words, if hip-hop is being studied at Cambridge, it'll sure as hell be studied elsewhere too.


If you'd like to know more about my research or expenses, please drop me a line at [email protected].


Who Am I?


Born and raised in Charlotte, North Carolina, I'm a US-American and German citizen of Vietnamese and German descent.


My mother’s side of the family fled to the United States from Saigon during the Vietnam War. Against her parents' wishes, my mother became a painter. Whilst working at an infamous café, she met my father, who, in similarly rebellious fashion, had decided to become a dancer. Following an assortment of events involving ill-applied birth control measures, my graduation from the minus-months of prenatal existence was welcomed by a motley crew of lovable beings, who'd been camping out all day in the front yard of our shady rental duplex. We'll skim through the next bits: childhood in Charlotte, adolescence in Berlin (Germany), and then a Bachelor of Arts in Education with English Literature and Drama at the University of Cambridge. Currently, I'm co-directing a show that will be performed in September at the Victoria and Albert Museum. (if you're in London and you fancy roughly 60 minutes of obscurity, come check it out: www.vam.ac.uk/event/bnkgGKnk/ubu).


In the future, I hope to work in both artistic and academic fields. Ideally, I'd like to teach at a University whilst also following my own artistic pursuits. I've come this far thanks to much love and support from family and friends, collective work, and good fortune; this next step would allow me to fulfil my educational potential and aspirations.


Where Will The Money Go?

Here's a breakdown of my anticipated costs and current funds. As mentioned, I can provide more information if anyone is interested.


Costs:


• Tuition (University Composition Fee): £11,100

• Living Expenses/ Food & Rent: £10,305

• Moving & Settling In: £350

Total Annual Commitment: £21,755

(See: https://www.graduate.study.cam.ac.uk/courses/direc...)


Current Funds:

• Bafög (German Federal Training Assistance): £2737

• Student Finance England Postgraduate Master’s Loan: £10,609

• Private funds: £3935

  • University Hardship Fund: £1980

Total Current Funds: £19261

Gap: £2494


Rewards

In classic crowdfunding fashion, I've got rewards for any amount you might give. Check 'em out :-)

Rewards

A big ‘ol hug when I see you.

0 Backers

A an even bigger hug when I see you.

A digital copy of my thesis (and hugs).

A digital copy of my thesis, and of my own club and band music. For a taster of the latter, see: www.soundcloud.com/kikoband/i-was-in-love-until-i-met-you

A bound copy of my thesis, and a CD of my own club and band music. For a taster of the latter, see: www.soundcloud.com/kikoband/i-was-in-love-until-i-met-you

All of the aforementioned, plus a personal punt tour along Cambridge’s River Cam (if you come visit me at any point between May and August 2019). For visual representations, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punt_(boat)

I’ll think of something big, don’t worry.

I’ll think of something bigger, don’t worry.

Organizer

  • Kalvin Schmidt Rimpler Dinh

Donors

  • Anonymous
  • Donated on Nov 10, 2018
Amount Hidden
  • Anonymous
  • Donated on Oct 25, 2018
  • My friend gave me a great vacuum cleaner, and when asked what I could pay her for it, she said, "Give $30 to a fund or something." So here you go Kalvin!!!!! Much love and happiness to you! If you get a wild hair while you are in the States and want to come to Nashville, you will have a place to stay! With me!!!!

£25.00
  • Kim and Peter Herrero
  • Donated on Oct 21, 2018
  • Who are you? Who am I? Oh! now I remember. My wife reminded me to donate. Where would I be if she didn't remind me of who I am...and always has by back. - Education Is Not the Learning of Facts, But the Training of the Mind To Think Albert Einstein

Amount Hidden

No updates for this campaign just yet

Donors & Comments

16 donors
  • Anonymous
  • Donated on Nov 10, 2018
Amount Hidden
  • Anonymous
  • Donated on Oct 25, 2018
  • My friend gave me a great vacuum cleaner, and when asked what I could pay her for it, she said, "Give $30 to a fund or something." So here you go Kalvin!!!!! Much love and happiness to you! If you get a wild hair while you are in the States and want to come to Nashville, you will have a place to stay! With me!!!!

£25.00
  • Kim and Peter Herrero
  • Donated on Oct 21, 2018
  • Who are you? Who am I? Oh! now I remember. My wife reminded me to donate. Where would I be if she didn't remind me of who I am...and always has by back. - Education Is Not the Learning of Facts, But the Training of the Mind To Think Albert Einstein

Amount Hidden
  • Manuel Nunez
  • Donated on Oct 06, 2018
  • Please help this cause, it is extremely hard to get fund for studies.

Amount Hidden
  • Michael Verruto
  • Donated on Oct 02, 2018
  • I knew so many years ago, holding you in the palms of my two hands that you would live a life that would be magnificent. Keep reaching for that brass ring K, you’re an indomitable spirit.

Amount Hidden
  • Götz Schmidt-Rimpler
  • Donated on Sep 26, 2018
  • Hi Calvin, go for the first cambridge hiphop Rap Rave intellectual Superstar job in the Family :-) Good Luck Götz

£155.00
  • Anonymous
  • Donated on Sep 24, 2018
  • Dear Kalvin, Wishing you a creative, interesting and successful year of studies! In particular good luck with your hip-hop master theses. I will be very interested to see your angle on this phenomenon. Best of luck with all that you touch! Jacqueline

£500.00
  • Guest
  • Donated on Sep 22, 2018
  • !!!

£30.00
  • Guest
  • Donated on Sep 21, 2018
  • We are so proud of you, Kalvin! Love Jeff, Ayisha, and Luca

Amount Hidden
  • Mark Hinczynski
  • Donated on Sep 21, 2018
  • Good luck on your endeavor.

£20.00
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Followers

3 followers
Michael Verruto
Tamara Scott
MyLoan Dinh
£2,010.00
raised of £2,494.00 goal
80% Funded
16 Donors
Raised offline: £500.00
Total: £2,510.00

Help this ongoing fundraising campaign by making a donation and spreading the word.

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