Academic Faces Threats Over PhD Post, Remains ‘Unfazed’

A scholar who encountered death and rape threats subsequent to sharing an image of herself on X celebrating her completed PhD has expressed feeling “quite unfazed by the vitriol”. Dr. Ally Louks’ submission has accumulated 100 million views since its initial publication on November 27, drawing over 11,000 comments. The University of Cambridge supervisor, whose doctoral research is in English Literature, highlighted that most feedback has been “incredibly nice, kind and generous,” yet following its re-sharing by “a couple of very right wing accounts,” the post started to draw adverse reactions. X was contacted for a statement, and Cambridgeshire Police verified the commencement of an inquiry into a reported hate incident. Dr. Louks notified law enforcement about the rape threat. Regarding the occurrences, initially covered by the Daily Mail, she remarked, “It’s definitely been overwhelming and an unusual week for someone who is typically a bookish introvert who doesn’t really like attention but I feel quite unfazed by the vitriol.” She further stated, “I was receiving a lot of rape threats, even death threats, but also there were just a lot of people forcing their views about what a woman ought to be or do on me which were entirely beside the point.” Dr. Louks’ doctoral dissertation, titled “Olfactory Ethics: The politics of smell in modern and contemporary prose,” required three and a half years for its research and composition. She explained that her thesis “explores why certain writers of the past century use the language associated with smell to characterise harmful attitudes towards objects of disgust and desire.” She additionally commented, “I draw on the well-documented history of olfactory prejudice in order to examine its contemporary relevance.” Dr. Louks declared: “I don’t want to stoop to their level, I don’t think it’s useful.” She continued: “I’m open to criticism, provided it is based in reality and I think it’s important to be an example for people because although I never wanted to go viral, I do now have a platform at least for a little bit and I think it’s important to show people that we don’t have to be this way.” A spokesperson for Cambridgeshire Police stated: “We have received a report of a hate incident, namely a threatening email, which was sent to a woman at 22.47 GMT on 1 December following a social media post about her completion of a PhD. An investigation has been launched and anyone with any information is urged to contact police.”