A social media user recently shared on While the news of getting a PhD would have been quite innocuous and would not have attracted much attention, the post instead went viral due to OP’s choice of thesis topic. Dr. Ellie Lukes, an
“Thrilled to say that I passed my viva with no corrections and am officially a PhD,” Dr. Luks captioned the post, posing with her dissertation. He also shared a summary of his research to provide “more context for anyone interested in learning” about his work.
“This thesis studies how literature registers the importance of olfactory discourse – the language of smell and the olfactory imagination it produces in the structure of our social world,” read the abstract.
It states, “The overarching purpose of this thesis is to present an intersectional and comprehensive study of olfactory oppression by establishing the underlying logics that inform the application of scent in creating and subverting gender, class, sexual, racial, and species power structures. Provides convenience.”
Thrilled to say that I passed my viva with no remediation and I am officially a PhD. pic.twitter.com/4qwCyFYocX
– Dr. Ally Louks (@DrAllyLouks) 27 November 2024
Chapter one of the thesis examines the work of George Orwell as well as other popular media creations to explore how “smells can be used to signal class opposition, partly as they relate to homelessness “.
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Internet reacts
As soon as the post went viral, thousands of users flocked to Dr. Lukes’ profile and questioned him for spending time and money researching a topic that may have no implications in real life.
One user wrote, “For those of you who can’t translate this academic nonsense, let me be your guide: Sister has literally written a PhD thesis on why it’s racist and/or classist when people stink. It’s not liked.” : “How did this dissertation get accepted? It has no value, and really just sets this woman up to exploit students for her loans…or for an email job somewhere.
A third commented: “Tax money well spent. Good luck with the loan.”
While most users criticized the OP for her post, some came to her defense, with one saying: “People are being so mean towards this woman for no reason. Some people just want to read books, this is someone is not a crime.”
“This sounds like a very interesting piece of research. I can see people being downright brutal in the answers and quotes and most of them are the usual suspects—racists, misogynists and people who think their entire education was in trade school. Like want,” another added.
As of last update, the post has received 3.2 million views and over 2,000 comments.
