Wednesday, November 16, 2005
What I Should be Doing...
...is writing another effing conference proposal, which I was supposed to have done yesterday and, of course, procrastinated my way through instead. Aargh.
It's not that I don't have an idea -- I do, and it's a decent, interesting idea that totally fits into the proposed panel. And I've got an excellent chance of getting accepted. The problem is that much of proposal writing involves arbitrary nodding of the head to what other people have written on the topic, or what they have written on topics tangientially related to the topic, or not related at all but I have to mention just so people know I've read them. It's a bloody annoying hoop to jump through, and it's a huge part of why I love my dissertation research, which is almost entirely unresearched. My reasons for disliking graduate courseowork were hugely related to the silly nodding procedure that profs expected, especially in courses on subjects I did not intend to teach or research in the future. In three months, do they really expect you to become an expert in a field you really couldn't give a damn about? Well, some profs do -- and they are usually very boring, pedantic, self-important folks with no respect for fields they aren't an expert in because that would mean they can't lord their self-importance and impressive knowledge of a subject area over your head as an intimidation tactic.
Perhaps I should see what happens if I just write the proposal I have in my head and submit it as is. The worst that can happen is a rejection, after all, and I'm barely affected by them now. Oh what a couple years in academia will do for your emotional armour.
It's not that I don't have an idea -- I do, and it's a decent, interesting idea that totally fits into the proposed panel. And I've got an excellent chance of getting accepted. The problem is that much of proposal writing involves arbitrary nodding of the head to what other people have written on the topic, or what they have written on topics tangientially related to the topic, or not related at all but I have to mention just so people know I've read them. It's a bloody annoying hoop to jump through, and it's a huge part of why I love my dissertation research, which is almost entirely unresearched. My reasons for disliking graduate courseowork were hugely related to the silly nodding procedure that profs expected, especially in courses on subjects I did not intend to teach or research in the future. In three months, do they really expect you to become an expert in a field you really couldn't give a damn about? Well, some profs do -- and they are usually very boring, pedantic, self-important folks with no respect for fields they aren't an expert in because that would mean they can't lord their self-importance and impressive knowledge of a subject area over your head as an intimidation tactic.
Perhaps I should see what happens if I just write the proposal I have in my head and submit it as is. The worst that can happen is a rejection, after all, and I'm barely affected by them now. Oh what a couple years in academia will do for your emotional armour.
doctor T 1:33 p.m.