a week of work
Sep. 26th, 2005 09:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sigersonWhat have I been up to this past week?
Back in school...In the same way that reentering my parents' home stirs some petulant adolescent emotions, I find that HDS reanimates feelings and mental states from college. I had forgotten that momentary flash of shame when you realize you've said something fairly stupid in discussion. I had also forgotten the full-brain frisson of reading a dense bundle of theory and realizing you've understood the ideas involved. Pleasant and unpleasant; useful instincts, such as the ability to home in on the quiet restful spots in the library, or hindrances, like the desire to flee the classroom the second the lecture's done.
My class schedule has solidified. Like jello. As follows:
--German. Can't yet tell if it's going to be hard or easy. Achtung!
--Judaism and the Liturgical Year. Besides filling one of my graduation requirements, this class will be an interesting intro to the origins and interpretations of Jewish holidays. Mmm, matzo.
--Religion in American Public Life and Religion in Multicultural America. There's some overlap between these courses in a general way, but less when it comes to exact items of study. Religion and Public Life involves more political theory and policy. It's kind of the study of the structure of the current situation of religion and state in America today. First Amendment issues, religion as an organizing force for social change, religion assisting or derailing political issues (and, conversely, politics as buttressing, protecting, or destroying religion). Religion in Multicultural America, on the other hand, involves studying the current American religious landcape, and the way it's changed radically in the last few decades. Assignments for October involve visits to local Buddhist, Sikh, Muslim, Hindu, or Jain communities. Public Life is studying the 'architecture' of the current religious/political interaction, or how the house works with its inhabitants. Multicultural America is the study of how the inhabitants interact with each other inside the house.
--Anthropology of Religion. I thought for a moment today that I'd have to take this as a fifth class, but the prof is letting me audit instead. It's a doctorate-level course, and I'm doing the reading for it and the undergraduate lectures. So it'll be a lot of additional reading. But oh, it's worth it! By the end of it I'll have absorbed so much basic theory...
"Shopping Week" meant I could attend any course I wanted and didn't have to finalize my decision till today. I think I made good choices.
Before I touch on the events of the weekend, here are a few moments from last week...
--Watching Larry Summers speak at Convocation (which was commemorating 50 years of women at Harvard Divinity School) was amusing. I couldn't see the only other man on the stage from my vantage point, so all I saw was Larry chatting away at the podium, while nine women behind him look progressively more and more irked.
--One afternoon, I sat in a window seat in a large empty hall. The seat on the other side of the room was taken by an older gentleman who sat and read some xeroxes for a while. Then he lay down on the windown seat. Soon my Martha Nussbaum reading was accompanied by a gentle snore. Ah, academia.
--By mid-week, I heard back from the job. I'll be a research associate at the Pluralism Project this year! More on that as the job develops; at the moment, it's all just filling in Financial Aid forms.
--Thursday, the night was finished by going to the Boston Pagan Discussion Group. I realy enjoyed it. Already I'm learning more about the vast umbrella term of "paganism" as well as thinking about my own beliefs and actions. I may never join a coven or a community, but I am learning about her Voice and the way we choose to see Her. Thank goodness for this; among all the talk of symbol sets and paradigms, I can just talk tarot or such in an evening. Turn off the scholar, turn on the pagan. Or rather, change costumes.
--On Friday, teh adv1z0r gave good adv1ze. Contradicting a lot of what my little grad-school-guides had said, in fact. Over and over they stress, Be prepared now. Publish now. Think of your dissertation topic now. She said, don't do that. Not yet. Now is the time to dive in, to take classes that fascinate you and "roll around in them". Find the things that you can't stop thinking of, even if you tried. Career is dependent not on these preparations but on finding the fire that will keep you going.
After all this scholastic stuff, the weekend was a real relief. I'd cleared my schedule so that I'd have no obligations or even fun dates planned ahead of time. It helped me concentrate, but by the week there was a side effect: I was really lonely. So a weekend of socializing was exactly what I needed. Dinner on Friday night with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kenjari and her gentleman was good; new people, fun people!
Saturday involved an interview withthomascantor and a caffeinated stroll through the park with twin, then an evening of Iron Dragon and especially tasty food with anu3bis and Balsamic Dragon. I've never played a railroad game before, and it's something I'll have to do again.
Then Sunday afternoon was spent meetingmeranthi and thastygliax and their Munchkins. It was good to catch up, and the Munchkins are beautiful. The weekend came to a close with a big dinner at cute_fuzzy_evil's and ethicsgradient's home. I supplied jello shots. With gummi bears. It has been established that me + Jello = Bad Idea.
All in all, a good way to start off school and a good way to keep from being isolated. I shall continue to blather!
Back in school...In the same way that reentering my parents' home stirs some petulant adolescent emotions, I find that HDS reanimates feelings and mental states from college. I had forgotten that momentary flash of shame when you realize you've said something fairly stupid in discussion. I had also forgotten the full-brain frisson of reading a dense bundle of theory and realizing you've understood the ideas involved. Pleasant and unpleasant; useful instincts, such as the ability to home in on the quiet restful spots in the library, or hindrances, like the desire to flee the classroom the second the lecture's done.
My class schedule has solidified. Like jello. As follows:
--German. Can't yet tell if it's going to be hard or easy. Achtung!
--Judaism and the Liturgical Year. Besides filling one of my graduation requirements, this class will be an interesting intro to the origins and interpretations of Jewish holidays. Mmm, matzo.
--Religion in American Public Life and Religion in Multicultural America. There's some overlap between these courses in a general way, but less when it comes to exact items of study. Religion and Public Life involves more political theory and policy. It's kind of the study of the structure of the current situation of religion and state in America today. First Amendment issues, religion as an organizing force for social change, religion assisting or derailing political issues (and, conversely, politics as buttressing, protecting, or destroying religion). Religion in Multicultural America, on the other hand, involves studying the current American religious landcape, and the way it's changed radically in the last few decades. Assignments for October involve visits to local Buddhist, Sikh, Muslim, Hindu, or Jain communities. Public Life is studying the 'architecture' of the current religious/political interaction, or how the house works with its inhabitants. Multicultural America is the study of how the inhabitants interact with each other inside the house.
--Anthropology of Religion. I thought for a moment today that I'd have to take this as a fifth class, but the prof is letting me audit instead. It's a doctorate-level course, and I'm doing the reading for it and the undergraduate lectures. So it'll be a lot of additional reading. But oh, it's worth it! By the end of it I'll have absorbed so much basic theory...
"Shopping Week" meant I could attend any course I wanted and didn't have to finalize my decision till today. I think I made good choices.
Before I touch on the events of the weekend, here are a few moments from last week...
--Watching Larry Summers speak at Convocation (which was commemorating 50 years of women at Harvard Divinity School) was amusing. I couldn't see the only other man on the stage from my vantage point, so all I saw was Larry chatting away at the podium, while nine women behind him look progressively more and more irked.
--One afternoon, I sat in a window seat in a large empty hall. The seat on the other side of the room was taken by an older gentleman who sat and read some xeroxes for a while. Then he lay down on the windown seat. Soon my Martha Nussbaum reading was accompanied by a gentle snore. Ah, academia.
--By mid-week, I heard back from the job. I'll be a research associate at the Pluralism Project this year! More on that as the job develops; at the moment, it's all just filling in Financial Aid forms.
--Thursday, the night was finished by going to the Boston Pagan Discussion Group. I realy enjoyed it. Already I'm learning more about the vast umbrella term of "paganism" as well as thinking about my own beliefs and actions. I may never join a coven or a community, but I am learning about her Voice and the way we choose to see Her. Thank goodness for this; among all the talk of symbol sets and paradigms, I can just talk tarot or such in an evening. Turn off the scholar, turn on the pagan. Or rather, change costumes.
--On Friday, teh adv1z0r gave good adv1ze. Contradicting a lot of what my little grad-school-guides had said, in fact. Over and over they stress, Be prepared now. Publish now. Think of your dissertation topic now. She said, don't do that. Not yet. Now is the time to dive in, to take classes that fascinate you and "roll around in them". Find the things that you can't stop thinking of, even if you tried. Career is dependent not on these preparations but on finding the fire that will keep you going.
After all this scholastic stuff, the weekend was a real relief. I'd cleared my schedule so that I'd have no obligations or even fun dates planned ahead of time. It helped me concentrate, but by the week there was a side effect: I was really lonely. So a weekend of socializing was exactly what I needed. Dinner on Friday night with
kenjari and her gentleman was good; new people, fun people! Saturday involved an interview with
thomascantor and a caffeinated stroll through the park with twin, then an evening of Iron Dragon and especially tasty food with anu3bis and Balsamic Dragon. I've never played a railroad game before, and it's something I'll have to do again.Then Sunday afternoon was spent meeting
meranthi and thastygliax and their Munchkins. It was good to catch up, and the Munchkins are beautiful. The weekend came to a close with a big dinner at cute_fuzzy_evil's and ethicsgradient's home. I supplied jello shots. With gummi bears. It has been established that me + Jello = Bad Idea.All in all, a good way to start off school and a good way to keep from being isolated. I shall continue to blather!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-09-27 02:43 am (UTC)And this pluralism project thing sounds supernifty too!
And mostly I am just so excited for you. Look at you -- you're boldly going!
*HUG*
no subject
Date: 2005-09-27 03:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-27 03:29 am (UTC)Glad you have an advisor with her head on straight, and people, and dragons, and gummy bears. *Hug* Please blather lots.
no subject
Date: 2005-09-27 03:57 am (UTC)Also, thank you for posting this. It is really good to hear everything that's going on.
no subject
Date: 2005-09-27 02:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-27 05:38 am (UTC)Signed,
Proud auntie
no subject
Date: 2005-09-27 01:26 pm (UTC)No wonder
It was marvellous randomly running into you Thursday evening!
no subject
Date: 2005-09-27 02:13 pm (UTC)BTW,
no subject
Date: 2005-09-27 02:50 pm (UTC)Jello
Date: 2005-09-27 03:32 pm (UTC)It's hard to eat something that makes giggle-inducing noises as you're eating it.
no subject
Date: 2005-09-27 06:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-27 09:10 pm (UTC)My father likes to say, "You have class! It's just all third."
no subject
Date: 2005-09-28 06:23 am (UTC)Also, we have found that if you soak gummi bears in vodka in the fridge for some longish period of time, you can get tasty, bloated gummi bear treats. (If left out at room temperature, the gummy bears dissolve--less fun.)