Dissertation update

Because I know you're all waiting with bated breath, I've published a wee dissertation calendar in the right-hand column. I've given myself a two-week buffer, as the official grad studies deadline is September 15.

As you can see, the schedule is tight, but there's a bonus: my program has no dissertation defense. Woohoo! (That omission definitely helps to make up for the friggin' grueling quals we have to take: six essays in three days--I wrote, I think, close to 60 pages--plus 3-hour-long orals with a panel of five people one week later.)

Last night I revised chapter 4, and tonight, if Lucas sleeps, I'll finish my revisions of Chapter 3 (formerly known as The Chapter That Refuses To Be Completed). Chapter 2 will be a bitch to revise because the readers' comments are all about theory. Once Chapter 2 is finished, Chapter 1 and the Intro should be a breeze.

Chapter 5 is still being written. I've been trying to schedule interviews with some very, very busy women and figure out how to use my new voice recorder on phone conversations. Still, it will be (for me) the most interesting chapter, so I'm looking forward to working on it a bit more.

This photo of me with Fantastic Adviser, who signed off on my walking at commencement even though I hadn't officially finished the diss, is keeping me going:



Mixed in with all this writing and revising is course planning for summer session II and for the fall. SSII I'm teaching intro to American Studies; in the fall, I'm repeating intro (only with 100 students instead of 20, and I'll have two TAs!!!) and teaching a new course on the 1950s.

And while I'm teaching those new courses, I'll be applying for jobs. Yay. Oh, and Lucas will probably be walking by this time.

In other words, I'm screwed.

Back to writing. . .