Grad School
I'm in the middle of my first semester at West Florida doing anthropology/historical archaeology, separate but integrated tracks. It's basically amazing. The department's rather large but friendly, with really great professors, particularly in archaeology. Funding isn't nearly as much of an issue as I feared, several department, college, and university grants fund research and conferences. I picked up a cool job interpreting historic downtown, complete with costume (no first-person character, sorry Ansel) and down-time. A scholarship of roughly half a semester's tuition showed up in my account, meaning my car suddenly is full of gas and fridge full of Mexican food. I should also be able to make it to a conference or two each semester.
To avoid 6-7 hours of Bio anthro and thus maintain a good GPA I might go through 12 hours of history, with any luck historic preservation, colonial history, and museum/public interpretation classes to relate to my thesis and career. I have an idea or two for a thesis that should compare Spanish colonial material culture to the written record, i.e. ship and probate inventories vs. what artifacts actually show up. This semester's courses include classes in Spanish Florida, CRM, and bio anthro. Next semester'll be all about the history: a methods class, Colonial History, and Historical Archaeology. Even more reading than now, which is 100-200 pages/day.
I asked a professor about a class and his field work. Apparently I have more than a good shot at supervising for 10 weeks during the summer. Also, he wants me to help him translate Spanish documents. My response of "Ah...what?" led to a gesture at a pile of microfilm, photocopies, and transcripts, before he started to grin. "It won't be easy, but I've got other stuff to do." He gestured to another, larger pile of papers, and answered the unspoken but obvious question "That's all the stuff I've been meaning to publish..." I've had favorite professors before, but never one to make the list so quickly.
I also have a good shot at a decently-paid semester, maybe 2 years from now, doing work in Mexico. Between that, next semester's prospects, money in the bank, a good job for now and a better in the summer, not to mention the friends and booze, life is pretty awesome.
To avoid 6-7 hours of Bio anthro and thus maintain a good GPA I might go through 12 hours of history, with any luck historic preservation, colonial history, and museum/public interpretation classes to relate to my thesis and career. I have an idea or two for a thesis that should compare Spanish colonial material culture to the written record, i.e. ship and probate inventories vs. what artifacts actually show up. This semester's courses include classes in Spanish Florida, CRM, and bio anthro. Next semester'll be all about the history: a methods class, Colonial History, and Historical Archaeology. Even more reading than now, which is 100-200 pages/day.
I asked a professor about a class and his field work. Apparently I have more than a good shot at supervising for 10 weeks during the summer. Also, he wants me to help him translate Spanish documents. My response of "Ah...what?" led to a gesture at a pile of microfilm, photocopies, and transcripts, before he started to grin. "It won't be easy, but I've got other stuff to do." He gestured to another, larger pile of papers, and answered the unspoken but obvious question "That's all the stuff I've been meaning to publish..." I've had favorite professors before, but never one to make the list so quickly.
I also have a good shot at a decently-paid semester, maybe 2 years from now, doing work in Mexico. Between that, next semester's prospects, money in the bank, a good job for now and a better in the summer, not to mention the friends and booze, life is pretty awesome.