Tuesday, April 29, 2008

+Depart in Peace! Alleluia, Alleluia!

Yes, another blogging hiatus.

I am in the final throws of finishing the editing process on my dissertation (as well as writinf two more chapters), and the next few weeks are going to be quite hectic with a flurry of activity.

First, there's what is oftimes called the "summer camp for medievalists": The 43rd International Medieval Congress, held at the University of Michigan in Kalamazoo (no, I don't "have a girl" there, for you Glenn Miller fans). I will be attending some cool sessions, getting a sense of where the field of medieval studies is currently in the disciplines of history, philosophy and literature.

Then comes Don Rags. This is the end-of-semester evaluation that we put our students through, grilling them on what they have learned in the course of their readings and class discussions. These are oral exams, so they have to articulate, concisely and acurately, such concepts as being and becoming in Plato's dialogues, happiness as the highest good in Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, etc. I have thirty-four students under my mentoring care that I am responsible for making sure they can sufficiently articulate these concepts in good, clear and cogent arguments. Anything less than "A" level work is grounds for being put on probation, and even might merit expulsion. I will be paired with a colleague, who will have just as many mentees as I do, so you can imagine how tough and tight the schedules are going to be.

And on top of that, there is, again, my dissertation. I was hoping to defend this spring semester, but the more realistic and probable scenario is no later than October.

So there you have it. This will not leave much time for blogging. I will start up again some time in the summer.


But for now, I wish you all a happy and blessed Pascha. Christ is Risen! Alleluia, Alleluia!

3 comments:

Rachel said...

Have a good time at "summer camp"--it does sound like fun! I shall try not to envy you... :)

Michelle said...

He has risen indeed!

Wow, thanks for stopping by my blog! I now know where to get information for all my questions about the Orthodox Church! :)

Looks like you have been very busy studying since I last saw you! :) LOL.

I bet you know about Kyiv's Lavra Churches!

Study hard and I will be back when you are writing again!

Benedictus said...

Thanks for posting, Michelle!

In terms of information on the Orthodox Church, if I don't know, I can point you to someone who does.

I have been wanting to go on pilgrimmage to the Lavra Churches. I understand that, slowly but surely, monastic and spiritual life is being restored since the fall of the atheistic regime in the late eighties. I hope to go in two years, so maybe we'll bump into each other there!

Keep up the blessed work you're doing there.