OTP (6) -- Proud of my (future) alma mater

The Department of Theology and Religion here at Durham got some exciting news this spring. Apparently, they are the top ranked theology department in the UK for research and publications. That's actually very cool.

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(from the Durham U website)
Department Receives Top RAE Rankings

The Department of Theology and Religion is pleased to announce that in the Research Assessment Exercise for 2008, it has been ranked at no. 1 among all departments of theology and religion in the UK in two categories: (a) the highest percentage of publications at 4* (world-leading research) and (b) the highest Grade Point Average for these publications. This is a major achievement, which confirms Durham University's position as a front-rank institution for Theology and Religion and reflects its continuing leadership in the academic discipline.

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Good thing I was accepted before they received this accolade and could start getting picky!

Quotable Quotes from SCE

• Ok, buddy, that's the only shade of green the light's going to turn.
• I'm not a luddite, I'm a patient customer. I wait until it's a proven thing.
• Yale might give you a chair to hold, but would they give you a pot to sit on?
• I'm happy to pay for your dinner, you poor impoverished grad student... 20 dollars???
• We need to keep our comments brief, preferably under 1 minute each.
• I definitely like the 1974 version of Charlie Daniels' "Easy Rider" better than the 1988 version.
• I'm hoping to be employed this time next year.
• How much is that book, with the discount?
• It's too late in the day to be eating beef, don't you think?
• Those have to be the wives of all the folks at the youth ministers' conference, next door.
• I think we've underestimated the degree to which ___ is indebted to the thought of ___ in this matter.
• How many of you would like a free sample of our house cabernet?
• I just think it would be nice to return the car clean. Just a drive-through car wash, that's all I'm suggesting.
• You're nothing to me, both of you, but fleas on the backs of rats. You're just vectors.

Books I purchased this weekend at SCE (aka why I need to ask Billy for forgiveness)

• Conceiving Parenthood: American Protestantism and the Spirit of Reproduction
• Rewired: Exploring Religious Conversion
• Study guide to Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition (2 copies)
• The Ethics of Aquinas
• Inheriting Paradise: Meditations on Gardening
• The Christian Case for Virtue Ethics
• Amor Dei: A Study of the Religion of St. Augustine
  
  Ok, so they were all 30-40% off, and I've really needed the Aquinas and virtue texts, and I'll probably give away both the study guides, and I'm reading lots of stuff about parenthood right now... what???
  
  The really depressing part? Rewired is the dissertation of a friend of mine, who graduated Asbury after I did, and had the same advisor, and now it's in publication. At least he didn't have a kid.

In the big leagues now

Today I drove from Lexington to Atlanta for the annual meeting of the Society of Christian Ethics. My friends Jim and Christine graciously footed the bill for this poor postgraduate, borrowing a rental car from the seminary and covering the gas bills. We had a great time on the drive down to Georgia, listening to holiday carols, bluegrass, and Charlie Daniels. The conference starts tomorrow evening; we arrived early for Christine to attend the board meeting.

It's a bit strange to be attending these things. I feel something like an imposter, or a wannabe. Who cares what I think? I'm just a pathetic postgraduate, an unproven amateur who should heed that turn of the century parenting advice -- that children at the dinner table should be seen and not heard.

Ok, so it's not that bad. People are generally gracious and welcoming, sometimes even attentive to what we have to say. But last year, I felt a bit out of my depth, and was afraid to make comments for fear of sounding unknowledgable or insufficiently erudite.

Whatever! This year, I'm reveling in my status as a punter (Brit/Aussie slang for someone who doesn't run anything, but just shows up). I'm relaxed, I'm enjoying hanging out with my friends, I'm just sitting back and taking it all in. Turns out there's a certain freedom in being a nobody, which is that you can fly under the radar and just absorb everything. I'll let you know how it works out.

Yes, I'm getting a PhD

My idea of fun: Read a funny post about grading practices. Compose and post a witty comment with several spelling and grammatical mistakes. Delete and recomment, adding an equally witty quip about spelling mistakes in posts about grading. Read your revised comment, now posted on the original blog, and see 2 spelling mistakes. Receive a D from the blog's author.

o, ō, ω, s, ς, σ, e, ē, ê, έ, η… &#%*!?!!

Today was a rather tedious day at the library. I'm revising a paper I wrote on the use and meaning of "temperance" in the Platonic dialogues. This is the paper that I'll submit for my "transition viva", which is the process by which I'm officially upgraded from Masters student to PhD candidate. In other words, the paper needs to be good. So, in addition to sharpening the conclusion and tightening the arguments, I'm simultaneously checking all the spelling, grammer, and wording.

Now, Plato wrote in Greek, so the word I'm actually researching is "sophrosyne", which is Greek for temperance, or moderation. And as I'm revising the paper, I realize that I wasn't very careful about staying true to each author or commentator's particular rendering of the word. That is, each person may or may not have done the following:

• used the Greek alphabet, (σωφροωυνη v. sophrosyne)
• if not in Greek, then transliterated the long vowels (σωφροωυνη v. sophrosyne v. sōphrosynē)
• used italics (sophrosyne v. sophrosyne v. sōphrosynē v. sōphrosynē v. σωφροσυνη v. σωφροσυνη)
• used any particular spelling, and there appear to be 3 or 4 options (sophrosyne v. sophrosyne v. sophrosune v. sophrosune v. sōphrosynē v. sōphrosynē v. σωφροσυνη v. σωφροσυνη v. ςωφροςυνη v. σωφροσύνη)

Additionally, I have to select which version I'll use in the original portion of my paper. Now, I've used 2 translations of 4 different dialogues, and 11 different commentaries. My paper is 46 pages long, with around 200 footnotes. So, I spent today doing the following:

1. Checking each and every use of (some form of) the word sophrosyne
2. Verifying that those in the original portion all say sōphrosynē (my advisor seemed to prefer this one)
3. matching EACH of the remaining words to its source (which commentator, which spelling) to make sure I've stayed true to the original

And so... 4 hours in the library, 16 bibliographical sources, 46 pages, and 201 footnotes later, I ask you -- wouldn't it be easier to just say "temperance"?

&!#?% academic standards.

Finding a Rhythm

I seem to get all these great ideas for blog posts, but can't seem to find the time to get them done. Sound familiar to anyone else?

After 13+ months of motherhood, I finally seem to be creating a good, sustainable rhythm for my days and weeks. Whereas I spent last year studying in 1-2 hour bursts between feedings and naps (and generally accomplished very little on my thesis), we've arranged for me to have 4-6 hour study blocks, three days in a row. This is incomparably better; I'm much more productive and don't feel like I'm just spinning my wheels. I've also printed out my thesis outline (with subtopics) and taped it to my study carrel, where I can check off papers as I complete them. Plato? Check. Aristotle? Check. Stoics? Check. Hauerwas? Check. MacIntyre? Check. One hundred others? Not yet...

Sometimes I can't imagine how I'll transition from this endeavor to teaching ethics. I don't see how I'll get my intellectual shit together, so to speak, and have anything coherent to contribute. I read the blogs of other folks in academia, or in the Emergent conversation, and they seem to sound so much... further along. I need to remind myself that finishing my thesis is the task before me right now, and that when I get to the next step, I'll probably be as prepared as the next PhD flunkie.

This new rhythm is also good for my relationship with the Crunchie. Now, when I leave the library, I leave my work there and don't worry about it at home. So, from 3 PM on Wednesday to 9 Am on Monday, I can focus on the girl, and the hubby, and the community.

Now, I just need to find a rhythm for exercising and cleaning house. Any suggestions?

Some really depressing news (and a way to forget about it)

After working with my advisor Robert to locate the semi-complete draft of my paper on Aquinas, which we discussed in England last month, we have decided that the only copy was, in fact, on the now-lost computer in the computer bag. Along with the paper copy on which we took notes for the final draft. Along with all the photocopied chapters from books on Aquinas, with the helpful underlinings.

Shit shit shit. Back to square one. I'll be spending this morning and afternoon tracking down those books, recopying, and beginning to reread.

However, I've found an antidote to the depression this has caused: picking up the pictures from Miranda's birthday party. Instant upper. Examples coming soon.

Lastly -- a special congrats to our friend Michelle, who just had her second son in Philly, Elias Lewis Harper Brix. Great labor and delivery, and she's already blogged. What a woman!

OTP, Day 4 -- slightly revised state of shock

Ok, so I looked a bit closer at the comprehensive schedule for my work, and realized that I'll be finished in March 2011, when I staretd in October 2003. So, it's only 7 1/2 years total, instead of 8. I feel a little, little bit better.

And then, I'd forgotten to account for this year of semi-maternity leave (working about 1/4 time, instead of 1/2 time). So... in actuality, my degree will take me about 7 - 7/14 years to complete, part-time. The shock is continuing to fade.

But I still won't be done for almost 5 more years! And that's without another bambino! Lord, give us strength, and money for our fabulous babysitter.

Over the Pond, Day 4 -- Aquinas, Aquinas, Aquinas...

And more Aquinas. I'm so tired of Saint Thomas Aquinas, and so glad that this paper will be (largely) completed tomorrow. I'll have a few additional articles to incorporate during August, but the bulk of it will be submitted. Hooray! Then, on to Augustine.

I'm still pretty tired, as I arrived exhausted from travel and have been working pretty late to finish this damn thing. Overall, though, my time with my advisor, Robert, has been excellent. He's very encouraging and gracious and very knowledgeable. We constructed a good working outline for my thesis (in England you write a dissertation for a masters, and a thesis for a doctorate -- I always get them confused), as well as a timeline for its completion. It will only take me... 5 more years.

What???? That means I will have spent 8 years (ok, part-time, but still) on this project. I feel faint.

But upon reflection, it makes sense. This took Robert 5 years, fulltime, no spouse, no child, no job. And this field is fairly different from my previous studies. Ok, I feel better now. A little.

I'm off tomorrow to spend a couple of days at the Northumbria Community up near Scotland. I'll rest, read, and join them in praying the Daily Office. It should be wonderful. Then, off to Harrogate for a day or two. I'm not sure when I'll get back online, but I'll do what I can. Thanks for joining me on the journey!

To close, the daily highlights:

1) Spending several great hours with Robert, his wife Margaret, and their kids Iona and Jamie tonight over dinner. It felt just like family, especially when 4 1/2 yr old Jamie made me read a western Veggie Tales book with my genuine Texas accent. That was fun!
2) Ummm.. more good tea and orange marmalade at breakfast. Honestly, that's all I can think of today.

Off to Cincy

Billy, Miranda and I are headed up to Cincinnati (Covington, KY actually) for the "Pastor in Community" conference I've been participating in for the last few years. This is the last one, which is sad, as I've enjoyed meeting new folks and spending a few solid days talking about the practices that make and break community (keeping promises, telling the truth, offering hospitality, and being grateful). This week's topic is practicing discernment and its role in facilitating the other practices. Billy will be Mr. Mom throughout most of the day, a role which he fulfills better than anyone I know. Also, we usually get some very nice meals.

When I get back, it's gotta be Aquinas, Aquinas, Aquinas. I've scheduled my trip to Durham to meet with my academic advisor in July, and I need to have two good papers done by then.