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That Flaneur

The name’s Saaket Raman. I'm a Masters student at the University of Chicago studying Computational Social Sciences with an Economics concentration. Born and brought up in the United Arab Emirates and being an Indian myself, I have had the opportunity to interact with a diverse group of people, coming from different backgrounds. This makes me naturally inclined to observe, learn, and appreciate society. I find interest in every activity I take up, but being a flaneur is easily the most interesting.

I am currently a Research Assistant at the Environmental Neuroscience Lab and a Teaching Assistant for undergraduate Economics courses. Drawing from prior experience in urban economic consulting, I research the intersection of human behavior and community development. Particularly, I am interested in understanding how the external environment shapes economic mobility of low-income communities.

Beyond academia, I enjoy reading, photography, playing video games, and training in Olympic-style weightlifting and powerlifting.

Why am I doing this?

I launched this website in 2017 as a health and lifestyle blog. I found it apt to write about fitness back then as I was in a fitness transformation myself, eventually hoping to grow an online audience. Sometime soon, I realized that I neither had the appropriate credentials nor the wisdom to research credibly. Most importantly, I couldn’t let my creative writing run free. I have since changed this into a personal website.

Now, I write both blogs and articles: the former being an online journal for me to write informally about my experiences, observations, and thoughts I find interesting to share; and the latter being a platform for me to write about opinions and pieces backed by research. I simply write because I enjoy it. 

Let's talk!

For anything related to what I write, feel free to drop a short message in one of those “Contact Me” forms. If your message is long, you can also reach me via e-mail at thatflaneur@gmail.com. Alternatively, you can find me on Instagram at @thatflaneur (though I don't like using that platform anymore). I don't bite when approached nor am I secretly a reptile seeking world domination, so feel free to reach out :D

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