This is Not a Drill
So, I've been really busy/productive in the last month since I've posted. For one, I seem to actually have a dissertation now, one that I like, and my advisors like. I'll probably be able to defend the proposal in the next few months, and then I'll be ABD (which is academese for all-but Dissertation i.e. you have cleared all PhD requirements except the dissertation itself. Or as middle easternists say, `abd al-Dissertation. Which, uhh, I guess isn't very funny if you don't know Arabic).
For another, I just got the word that I won a bunch of grant money, so I will be hitting the field. This time, it's the real thing. Not some summer Arabic program. I'll be doing a bunch of advanced Arabic study to get myself to the point that I can read scholarly work, but mostly I will be there doing my actual dissertation research.
For at least a year. Maybe two if I can win another grant, like SSRC or a Fulbright, or one of the more obscure sources. I'm still floored by this. Like, I'm hitting the field. For real. And I'm going to be gone for 1-2 years.
So, yeah, next stop, Cairo. A couple of other cities in the region may be involved - Beirut, Bahrain possibly - but the bulk of the research is going to be done in Egypt.
I really, really can't wait.
For another, I just got the word that I won a bunch of grant money, so I will be hitting the field. This time, it's the real thing. Not some summer Arabic program. I'll be doing a bunch of advanced Arabic study to get myself to the point that I can read scholarly work, but mostly I will be there doing my actual dissertation research.
For at least a year. Maybe two if I can win another grant, like SSRC or a Fulbright, or one of the more obscure sources. I'm still floored by this. Like, I'm hitting the field. For real. And I'm going to be gone for 1-2 years.
So, yeah, next stop, Cairo. A couple of other cities in the region may be involved - Beirut, Bahrain possibly - but the bulk of the research is going to be done in Egypt.
I really, really can't wait.