elanya

Today is the first real day of classes for me. I have, in theory, two today: france from the old regime to Napoleon (not the proper title), and Historical Arcaheology, which is at 3:30. I decided to come home between and hve lunch today, so I can try and make some more progress on this whole PHD application thing. Also, food = good.

I thought I would do an entry, though, while my soup cools, and to talk about the French course, because I Am Excited! the calss is being run by Dr. Terjanian, who is Canadian, for Ottawa. So I knew right from the get-go that I would probably like her, and that I'd be more used to her teaching style. Well! I went to the first lecture. I'd forgotten that this wasn't just a mixed class of grads and undergrands, it is a piggybacked course. After the lecture, which was a basic undergrad course intro, I wasn't sure what to think. I knew that she was expecting more from the grads, but I wasn't sure what. We met in her office to talk about it. There is only one other grad in the class, and I know him from some of my other courses, and we get along, and such. I learned some interesting things!

-I don't *have* to go to the undergrad lectures, but I can.
-we're only going to meet every two weeks
-I'm going to do a lot of reading
-she wants a 30 page paper (eep)
-she actually write about French piracy as part of her dissertation, and is also interested in pirate identity
-she was actually disappointed that I have already filled my committee, in fact ;)
-Adam and I will get to decide how the course will go and what we want to look at
-I didn't have to buy all those texts I have, but they are classic works and I may have a use for them in the future, so no harm no foul.
-I almost wrote no harm no fowl. Mmm, chicken.

Anyway, in the end, I am really looking forward to the course, because she is really interested in helping us both get the most out of the course, because I like her personally and professionally, because I think the material can potentially be really interesting and useful in the long term. I now have two weeks to read a really long book, though. Arr!

Now I will eat soup and re-email the U of Bristol guy. Then maybe I will go back to the school and harass Carl. Is there anythig going on tonight?

Well,, today has been surprisingly social! tsiankiio came over just after I posted last, to borrow my fridge :) We talked for a bit, and then she took me back up to campus so I could talk to carl about grad school. He basically told me that I need to apply to more schools. He suggested a multi-tiered approach: Top Tier: Aim for the Stars (I Put UCL and possibly Boston). Second Tier: decent schools with good programs that you can probably get into, even if they don't necessarily have what I want. I'd probably put U Bristol in that category. Tier Three: Schools that I *know* I can get into, even if they aren't the best. I don't have any in this group yet.

I'm looking for program recommendations, though. I am looking for schools with Historical Archaeology programs, and it would be nice if they have anyone there with maritime intersts, or eighteenth century, or both. rightb now I am looking into: UCL, BU, U of Bristol... I have some others to peek at as well. Memorial, maybe, William and Mary, maybe Florida, Michigan state.... Any ideas people? carl made a decent point in that I need to consider what job markets I'd be aiming for. A degree from Bristol won't mean dick over here, if it even means anything in the UK. I don't know much about their program, to be honest. Dr. Ewen has suggested that I alter my prospectus a bt to make my interests seem less narrow, which does make sense to me. I would really really like to study pirates, but I don't want to be kept out of somewhere because they think that's all I'm interested in. So I will reenforce that I am interested more broadly in the eighteenth C, and in the dynamics of other marginal groups, and of illicit activities in the archaeological record. and then I'll send it to Steve to see what he thinks. Ewen *did* say that it looked really good, though. I meant to e-mail the UCL guy again today, but didn't get to it. I may do it tonight, or I may wait until I am happy with my prospectus.

In other news... I got invited to go out with the anth folks after class. I got to Ham's at 5:30 and didn't leave until 8:30. Good times :) We talked alot about rotting pigs and dead bodies ^-^ I think we scared out server away.

When I got home from *that*, there was a call from maria! So I called her back, and we chatted, and we are gogn to have dinner next tuesday or Wednesday, since we are practically neighbours. I thought she had already moved, but, it turns out not! She lives almost right beside me. Woo-hoo! And on top of it, I got an e-mail from one of my Niagara friends today.... Which reminded me that I ought to go seek out Dr.Unks and see if Swann is working, or when she is, and say hello. Maybe tomorrow afternoon... If I can ever get some bloody work done. Rah!

Joss Whedon is a Pandemecist!

By which I mean that all Serenity fans need to click that link. Sorry, I was thinking in inside references again. Go, clicky clicky!