One week in...

09/14/2009 05:57
So, I’m one week into the PhD grad program in History. Is it different from the Masters? Well, I’m teaching, so that’s a new twist. As far as the classes go, I’ve been to all but one (which wasn’t held last week due to Labor Day), and they seem about the same. Mix of MA and PhD students, and people from other disciplines may add to that. So far, caliber of the faculty seems universally high.

I volunteered to read an extra book in my Environmental History seminar, because I’d already read the assigned book. This additional book is a challenge – in the sense that I have a lot of critical things I want to say about it, and it’s a challenge, finding constructive (or at least not flagrantly nasty) ways of saying them. The author is alive and teaching in a major Env. History program, so I’m not going to put the notes I’ve taken so far onto my “reading” blog unedited. But I’m not going to say nothing…

Having my first planning meeting with the Prof. on the class I’m TAing. Will be interesting to see how much he wants to direct the process, and how much rope he gives us to run the sections. I wonder what I’d want to do, if I was the Prof.?

This afternoon’s “boot camp” seminar is going to be discussing two texts I read (and blogged) weeks ago. I’ll revisit them in a couple of hours, and see if there’s anything I want to add. Or subtract. I’ve talked to a couple of people about these readings – I’m curious what type of range of responses we’ll get in this group. The class is made up of all the incoming grad students, so it’s going to be big and diverse, relative to most grad seminars.

So far, I haven’t felt like I’m not going to be able to stay ahead of the reading or do the level of surrounding work I like to do. But I’m not doing a research project this semester, either.

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