(no subject)
So, tomorrow November starts. I've been at this teaching my own class thing for two months and have piles of exams and papers to mark - and I should be writing a lecture on the Wars of Religion right now - but for a change of pace, I'm going to talk about my research.
Obviously, the way teaching has been consuming my life hasn't been conducive to working on my own research - or rather, what I've been describing when anyone asks, as my "ha ha, what research?" But I've also been feeling very despondent and inadequate about my research, because now that I'm back in the department, I'm surrounded by people who are doing things like finishing their dissertations and applying for jobs, and I'm still like... welp, I have no idea what I'm writing my dissertation about.
And okay, that's not strictly true, because I do in fact have some vague idea of what I'm writing my dissertation about, but it does not seem very compelling to me in the abstract. Moping and worrying about it in between the cracks of teaching is not helping me feel better about it. It's only making me feel bad about myself, and worse, it's making me feel resentful of and threatened by some of my fellow grad students (death glares to you, department neighbour EF, and to you, fellow medievalist CR, and to you medievalist on the more educationally prestigious side of the Charles whose CV I should not have looked at but is nevertheless the reason I will never get a job RD). The details of my feelings of insecurity would be long and boring and probably counterproductive to enumerate, so I won't. I don't think the solution is whining. I think the solution is actually making some progress at my research.
I have two articles in progress, one that I'm revising and one that I'm just at the point of putting together for publication. I have owed prof FM an email for two months. I have historiography that I read almost four years ago to review. I have new historiography to investigate. I have charters to transcribe and edit, and I have data to databasify. Getting those two articles ready for submission would be an excellent first step toward getting some publications on my CV and hopefully turning it into something that won't get laughed off the job market next to a CV like RD's. Finishing transcribing and editing my charters would get me in good shape for writing about them, as I'll be forced to do next semester in advisor R's medieval history seminar. Reading and reviewing some historiography might give me some new thoughts - and writing down my thoughts as I have them would probably also be good too.
THEREFORE, I am declaring November a Month Of Working On My Research, No Matter How Little I Can Do In Light Of Teaching Obligations.
THEREFORE, I am stating the following goals for November:
• Email Prof FM
• Attempt to network for real with SVdP if he makes it to Haskins, no matter how awkward that turns out to be
• Talk to Prof G about my Saint-Florent-sous-Dol article revisions
• Revisit some of the historiography for my Saint-Florent-sous-Dol article
• Have a look at my Livre Noir de Saint-Florent stuff and figure out a rough plan for turning my two conference papers into a real article with a view to submitting it by December 31
• Work on those charter transcriptions
• Figure out a system for organizing hard copies of charters
• Write up my thoughts on these things on at least a biweekly basis
• Toward the end of the month, talk to advisor R for real about research, as opposed to ad hoc teaching chitchat
• WORK ON THESE THINGS EVERY WEEKDAY IN NOVEMBER WHILE KEEPING UP WITH TEACHING OBLIGATIONS BUT CUTTING SLACK IN OTHER AREAS LIKE GROCERY SHOPPING BECAUSE GROCERY DELIVERY IS A THING THAT EXISTS
• REPORT ON PROGRESS ON DREAMWIDTH AS NECESSARY
This entry was originally posted at http://monksandbones.dreamwidth.org/698027.html. Talk to me here or there, whichever you prefer.
Obviously, the way teaching has been consuming my life hasn't been conducive to working on my own research - or rather, what I've been describing when anyone asks, as my "ha ha, what research?" But I've also been feeling very despondent and inadequate about my research, because now that I'm back in the department, I'm surrounded by people who are doing things like finishing their dissertations and applying for jobs, and I'm still like... welp, I have no idea what I'm writing my dissertation about.
And okay, that's not strictly true, because I do in fact have some vague idea of what I'm writing my dissertation about, but it does not seem very compelling to me in the abstract. Moping and worrying about it in between the cracks of teaching is not helping me feel better about it. It's only making me feel bad about myself, and worse, it's making me feel resentful of and threatened by some of my fellow grad students (death glares to you, department neighbour EF, and to you, fellow medievalist CR, and to you medievalist on the more educationally prestigious side of the Charles whose CV I should not have looked at but is nevertheless the reason I will never get a job RD). The details of my feelings of insecurity would be long and boring and probably counterproductive to enumerate, so I won't. I don't think the solution is whining. I think the solution is actually making some progress at my research.
I have two articles in progress, one that I'm revising and one that I'm just at the point of putting together for publication. I have owed prof FM an email for two months. I have historiography that I read almost four years ago to review. I have new historiography to investigate. I have charters to transcribe and edit, and I have data to databasify. Getting those two articles ready for submission would be an excellent first step toward getting some publications on my CV and hopefully turning it into something that won't get laughed off the job market next to a CV like RD's. Finishing transcribing and editing my charters would get me in good shape for writing about them, as I'll be forced to do next semester in advisor R's medieval history seminar. Reading and reviewing some historiography might give me some new thoughts - and writing down my thoughts as I have them would probably also be good too.
THEREFORE, I am declaring November a Month Of Working On My Research, No Matter How Little I Can Do In Light Of Teaching Obligations.
THEREFORE, I am stating the following goals for November:
• Email Prof FM
• Attempt to network for real with SVdP if he makes it to Haskins, no matter how awkward that turns out to be
• Talk to Prof G about my Saint-Florent-sous-Dol article revisions
• Revisit some of the historiography for my Saint-Florent-sous-Dol article
• Have a look at my Livre Noir de Saint-Florent stuff and figure out a rough plan for turning my two conference papers into a real article with a view to submitting it by December 31
• Work on those charter transcriptions
• Figure out a system for organizing hard copies of charters
• Write up my thoughts on these things on at least a biweekly basis
• Toward the end of the month, talk to advisor R for real about research, as opposed to ad hoc teaching chitchat
• WORK ON THESE THINGS EVERY WEEKDAY IN NOVEMBER WHILE KEEPING UP WITH TEACHING OBLIGATIONS BUT CUTTING SLACK IN OTHER AREAS LIKE GROCERY SHOPPING BECAUSE GROCERY DELIVERY IS A THING THAT EXISTS
• REPORT ON PROGRESS ON DREAMWIDTH AS NECESSARY
This entry was originally posted at http://monksandbones.dreamwidth.org/698027.html. Talk to me here or there, whichever you prefer.