Has this happened to you?
You are walking through your Research City, when you come upon a tour group. You stop for a moment to listen in... and hear the tour guide assert something so patently ridiculous that it's all you can do not to shout "Oh my God. What a load of ignorant twaddle!"
This happened to me today. I did manage to restrain myself, but only just barely.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Starting to think that I've found something really interesting
Remember that obscure book of privileges that I mentioned a couple of posts back?
Well, I finished transcribing the privilege I was working on, and I thought I'd see if I could find some book or article or a even an entry in a reference book to give me some background on it, and there's nothing. There's a book with the same title for a different location that is a music manuscript. And there's another one that has something to do with plants. But absolutely nothing out there on the book I'm working on.
On the one hand, this is frustrating, as I'd like to know a bit more.
On the other, there's that really cool feeling that maybe I've stumbled onto something that almost nobody even knows exists, and it's a really big something.
There's likely a doctoral thesis from some Blargistan university floating out there somewhere. And there are a couple of people I can ask. But I'm still quasi-giddy about this whole thing.
Well, I finished transcribing the privilege I was working on, and I thought I'd see if I could find some book or article or a even an entry in a reference book to give me some background on it, and there's nothing. There's a book with the same title for a different location that is a music manuscript. And there's another one that has something to do with plants. But absolutely nothing out there on the book I'm working on.
On the one hand, this is frustrating, as I'd like to know a bit more.
On the other, there's that really cool feeling that maybe I've stumbled onto something that almost nobody even knows exists, and it's a really big something.
There's likely a doctoral thesis from some Blargistan university floating out there somewhere. And there are a couple of people I can ask. But I'm still quasi-giddy about this whole thing.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
In an effort to do my part to help rescue the European economy...
Also, a stripey shirt.
And lunch.
And then, I rested.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Archive discoveries
Technical archive geekery ahead. You have been warned.
#1: I found the urban privilege I have been looking for off and on for over half a year. It's kind of the key to the paper I've been working on, and I'd started to believe that the informants in my document were just making it up (they do that sometimes) to bully the other cities around them (they do that a lot). But it exists, and in a minor book of privileges that seems to be little known except among real specialists; it's been completely overshadowed by its more important sibling book of privileges.
#2: The person whose reference I used to track back to this privilege (thank you!) has the date just a bit off, and doesn't seem to have looked at the whole document. It's not that they got the interpretation of the part they looked at wrong, but...
#3: ...the whole document is ever so much more interesting than I could have hoped for. I was expecting a terse paragraph saying "city X gets to do this crazy-ass thing." What I got was five full pages, in which this privilege was nested within a narrative about how city X did this crazy-ass thing, then city Y (which was harmed by this action) retaliates against city X, at which point the king explains the privilege to city Y and orders them to make city X whole again and furthermore to publicize among their officials the fact that city X gets to do this crazy-ass thing that looks like flat-out theft but in fact is totes legal, and then city Y just plain ignores the king's order and goes on retaliating... and that's just the first page and a half.
It's nifty.
#1: I found the urban privilege I have been looking for off and on for over half a year. It's kind of the key to the paper I've been working on, and I'd started to believe that the informants in my document were just making it up (they do that sometimes) to bully the other cities around them (they do that a lot). But it exists, and in a minor book of privileges that seems to be little known except among real specialists; it's been completely overshadowed by its more important sibling book of privileges.
#2: The person whose reference I used to track back to this privilege (thank you!) has the date just a bit off, and doesn't seem to have looked at the whole document. It's not that they got the interpretation of the part they looked at wrong, but...
#3: ...the whole document is ever so much more interesting than I could have hoped for. I was expecting a terse paragraph saying "city X gets to do this crazy-ass thing." What I got was five full pages, in which this privilege was nested within a narrative about how city X did this crazy-ass thing, then city Y (which was harmed by this action) retaliates against city X, at which point the king explains the privilege to city Y and orders them to make city X whole again and furthermore to publicize among their officials the fact that city X gets to do this crazy-ass thing that looks like flat-out theft but in fact is totes legal, and then city Y just plain ignores the king's order and goes on retaliating... and that's just the first page and a half.
It's nifty.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Update: On being a student again
...to yesterday's post, which alluded to me being a student again. And here's my student perspective from this morning:
If you assign 100+ pages of pretty complex reading for a week's discussion, the students will take a deep breath, and struggle through it.
If you announce at the beginning of the week that you will be posting the primary texts that that seminar's discussion will actually be based on, your students will groan, complain to each other, and mentally rearrange their schedules for the week.
If you actually post those readings less than 12 hours before the discussion? At that point, expect things to get interesting.
[Explanatory note: Yes, I'm bitching and moaning here. I'm also reading. But really, being a student again is causing me to reflect on things I can improve in my own teaching and structuring of classes. It's been a long time since I've been in this position, so this is super-helpful to me. Anyone else want to chime in with some learning experiences?]
If you assign 100+ pages of pretty complex reading for a week's discussion, the students will take a deep breath, and struggle through it.
If you announce at the beginning of the week that you will be posting the primary texts that that seminar's discussion will actually be based on, your students will groan, complain to each other, and mentally rearrange their schedules for the week.
If you actually post those readings less than 12 hours before the discussion? At that point, expect things to get interesting.
[Explanatory note: Yes, I'm bitching and moaning here. I'm also reading. But really, being a student again is causing me to reflect on things I can improve in my own teaching and structuring of classes. It's been a long time since I've been in this position, so this is super-helpful to me. Anyone else want to chime in with some learning experiences?]
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Junior Year Abroad... the Sequel
Hey there, all!
Betcha thought some big beastie had swallowed me whole. But that's not the case. Unless you count this seminar as a beastie, in which case, it's a pleasant one, full of smart and interesting people and a lot of great food. Also, many interesting excursions.
In some ways, it's like revisiting my junior year abroad:*
The first week was packed with group activities, both those put together by the organizers, and those we came up with on our own. These activities have also meant that many of us finished week one with the sense that we really hadn't done nearly enough work on our major projects. In fact, last night, I gave away a ticket I had purchased to a really excellent cultural event because I felt rising guilt that would have prevented me from enjoying myself anyway. So I stayed home and worked -- which turned out to be the right decision, at least for me.
Anyway, these are general observations. I'll let you know how I feel about this at the end of week two, which I consider to be my first "real" work week. And I'll leave you with a cool picture from one of our excursions:
*The one major difference? I'm sober enough to remember the experiences I'm having.
Betcha thought some big beastie had swallowed me whole. But that's not the case. Unless you count this seminar as a beastie, in which case, it's a pleasant one, full of smart and interesting people and a lot of great food. Also, many interesting excursions.
In some ways, it's like revisiting my junior year abroad:*
- I've been thrown in with a group of people I don't know, and we work out interpersonal relations quickly.
- I'm staying in a dorm room (though with my own efficiency kitchen).
- We're in a foreign country, and participants have varying degrees of knowledge of the local language
- There are many interesting excursions planned for the group.
- There is homework.
The first week was packed with group activities, both those put together by the organizers, and those we came up with on our own. These activities have also meant that many of us finished week one with the sense that we really hadn't done nearly enough work on our major projects. In fact, last night, I gave away a ticket I had purchased to a really excellent cultural event because I felt rising guilt that would have prevented me from enjoying myself anyway. So I stayed home and worked -- which turned out to be the right decision, at least for me.
Anyway, these are general observations. I'll let you know how I feel about this at the end of week two, which I consider to be my first "real" work week. And I'll leave you with a cool picture from one of our excursions:
 |
| faith never sleeps |
*The one major difference? I'm sober enough to remember the experiences I'm having.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Seminar Begins Tomorrow...
...and I've been enjoying my role as helper/guide/ZOMG where do I buy a colander on a Sunday? answer-person for the new arrivals in Blarg City. And the accommodations are just ducky. And there's likely more to say, but I'd like to get to bed at a decent hour, since tomorrow is our first day.
So I'll just leave you with this picture of something that I was working with the other day in the archive. A scroll? Really? I now have lots of sympathy for all those folks who work in the rolls series...
So I'll just leave you with this picture of something that I was working with the other day in the archive. A scroll? Really? I now have lots of sympathy for all those folks who work in the rolls series...
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