Dorm Life, Kalamazoo Style

Every May (or every other May, depending), I go back to the dorms.

No, wait: "Go back" is not quite accurate, because I never lived in the dorms as an undergraduate. But here, at Kalamazoo, it's sort of a ritual.

For those of you who aren't medievalists, the International Congress on Medieval Studies (sounds fancy, no?) is held every May in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on the campus of Western Michigan University. The school year gets out about a week or two before the congress, and then the organizers make a mad scramble to prepare everything, because one of the ways one can save money is by staying in the dorms.

Yup: I am writing this post under a buzzing florescent light, surrounded by whitewashed cinderblocks in a 10-by-10 room with two twin beds, two desks, a dresser, and one bathroom shared by adjoining rooms. So far, I have not been walked in on while using the facilities, but I figure it's only a matter of time.

I used to stay in the dorms as a grad student to save money: $35 a night, or less if you actually double up in the rooms (I don't). Since my earliest Kalamazoo presentation, my income has increased to the point where I could afford one of the off-campus hotels, but I choose to stay in the dorms anyway. Less money on hotels means more money for better food. Also, it's nice to be able to come back to the room between panels, change clothes, lie down for a bit, brush my teeth, whatever. I've learned to request a room in the hall that is perhaps furthest away from the action (not by much) but closest to the good coffee (though this time I'm at a room right above an area where people appear to be gathering to have a conversation just below my very window -- at this very moment, in fact. I must learn to be more specific).

In other words, I'm cool with dorm life for a weekend. And with several hundred of us here, it feels a little like camp. Though the accommodations do make me wonder about how undergrads staying in the dorm negotiate their more private assignations -- these dorm beds seem like anything but inviting.  I've even learned to think of the stiff towels that are provided as sort of drying and exfoliating all in one. But the blanket they provide... there is a certain sadness to those felt blankets, is there not? Thin, pilled, like dryer lint held together with ambient moisture and broken dreams.

But luckily I may be too exhausted to care. The conference is going well so far, and I have much to report already, but for now, I'm going to post this, sign off, and go to bed.

Just as soon as I walk downstairs and outside and tell those noisy kids to get off my lawn.

Kalamazoo blogger meetup(s)

Well. It seems that I went to update this post and accidentally deleted it. Crap. Well. Let's start again, with the updates.

First: I have discovered the way to beat the stress of ramping up to Kalamazoo: Play hooky a few days early if you can, and then spend a couple of days at the Michigan lakeshore. It helps to have a good friend (pseudonym pending, but I'm leaning towards "Smarty-Pants O'Mulligan") whose family has had a lake house for generations. Find one of those charming little tourist towns still in the off-season, and park your butt with a lovely latte and a house-made scone. Send e-mails. Block in your schedule. Breathe.

Second: the meet-ups! Another Damned Medievalist has gotten the ball rolling. She's got an evening one going Thursday night after 8:00, in one of the unused lounges in the Eldridge end of Eldridge-Fox. There will apparently be signage. This group tends to have a lot of early-medievalists, but interlopers (myself included, and also one of the greatest heroes of the Congress staff!) have always been welcome.

There's also going to be a less formal meetup going at Mug Shots Friday morning, with people drifting in and out between... oh, usually 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. By our Steve Muhlberger you will know us.  I've got breakfast with a friend that day, so will likely be showing up around 9:30, so I hope to see many people there!

Any other meetups scheduled? Leave them in the comments!

Thoughts on the Roundtable Presentation as Scholarly Format

I'm participating in a roundtable on gender at Kalamazoo. I really like the roundtable format because it privileges discussion over presentation. We "presenters" are simply providing a bit of chum in the hopes of stirring up a feeding frenzy of sorts.

It's also an interesting way of organizing my own presentation. It's a lot shorter, unfootnoted, with only a couple of references to specific works, and is more general musings and hypotheses than actual arguments. I'm taking a position that might be one of the more marginal -- sort of coming at the topic sideways.

The really beautiful thing is that I don't have to attach to being right; I just need to be provocative. But I can't just be provocative for its own sake; I need to actually believe in what I'm saying. And you know, I think I just might. But this is the first time that I've done such a thing, so I'll have to let you know how it goes.

Anyone else out there have thoughts on this?

Awesome Stuff on the Near Horizon

Today promises to be a grueling day: Two meetings, one of which promises to be filled with pointless and unproductive negativity, which suits me not at all. Worst of all, these meetings (one of which was called with less than 24 hours' notice) are being held right in the middle of my writing group. I thought I'd miss an hour of it; now it looks like I'll be missing the whole thing. For meetings.

Also, it's unseasonably hot, and dry, which means I'm cranky and have a nosebleed.

BUT... better things are on the horizon, for lo: I have a full summer to write! Even better: I have my mojo back. Two weeks ago, inspiration struck. After years of wrestling, I know what my next book is going to be doing. I pitch it to Dream Press at the 'zoo in a week. That's cool. But even cooler: I'm excited to write, and I actually have the time to do so.

Hell, yeah!

So bring on that meeting! Bring on two! Try to suck me down into the swamp of negativity, if you dare. I'll just be hanging out on shore, doing the butt-dance.

Procrastivity

Sometimes you just can't face the Thing that Must Get Finished. Usually, that Thing is grading. Today, some unseasonably hot and windy weather has sapped my will to do... well, anything. But certainly not grading.

This is the time for "procrastivity." I figure it's okay if I procrastinate, as long as I'm doing something, even if it's not the thing I'm supposed to be doing. So for the next 45 minutes, I will work on making a dent on the mess on my desk.  I think that will be sufficient.

Dark Ages, Nazis, and Media Relations

Hey, guess what? I just found out that our campus has a media productions team as part of its public relations team, complete with its own YouTube channel.  I found this out because I was contacted by the head of their team, referred by our Ancient Historian (who I now suspect has it in for me). This is possibly the most amusing inter-campus correspondence I've conducted to date.

First, hir query:

"Hi, Girlscholar. I was referred to you by Joe Venerable.  I would be very interested in talking with you about your research and knowledge regarding Ancient Rome, the Fall of the Roman Empire, and the subsequent Dark Ages.  I’m wondering what caused the Dark Ages? What can be learn from it today?  Is the advancement of technology without the equivalent moral and ethical advancement leading us to a similar end?  Also, is there a tie-in with Nazi Germany?"

For two days, my brain sputtered, trying to formulate a reply. A friend at another (research-oriented) campus suggested a try to turn the opportunity in my favor, so I counter-pitched the most audience-friendly ideas I could think of:

"Dear X, I'm intrigued by the idea, though I'm not sure I know enough about the transition from Rome to the Middle Ages (we don't really use "Dark Ages" anymore) to fill more than 5 minutes or so… However, if you're ever interested, I have expertise in medieval women, as well as the poly-ethnic culture of medieval Blargistan, and all sorts of unsubstantiated opinions about medievalism in popular culture (Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, etc), and I'd be happy to talk to you."

Nice, no? Measured, helpful There were even emoticons.  One will note that I tactfully left out any mention at all of Nazis -- Like a fart in church, I simply could not think of a polite way to address it. 

Then, I received a reply:

"Thanks for your response.  I think the topic is less about the Dark Ages and Rome - specifically…..and more about the reasons behind the fall of Rome and its possible parallel to Hitler’s Third Reich….was there any connection?  Could the demise of both governments be attributed to the advancement of power at the expense of the moral decay of the society?  Joe Venerable referred you, but if you don’t feel this subject would be one that you would be comfortable discussing, is there another member of your Department that you feel could address these kinds of questions?"

::sigh:: Thus endeth my first attempt at being a public intellectual.

Reader Query: Can I Change My Mind?

April 15. For those of us stateside, it's tax day. But for academics, this has traditionally been the deadline to accept or decline your offers to programs,[1] along with their attendant funding packages, if you're so fortunate.

But today, a comment from a reader on an old, old post raises an interesting question that I'm not sure how to answer,[2] so I thought I'd ask my readers -- if, indeed, any of you are reading. If today is hir deadline, chances are that the answers may come too late to do much good, but I'd like to hear what others think -- especially those of you who are at institutions with doctoral programs.

The query:

What are the unspoken rules about accepting a PhD program and backing out last minute? I got offered a position at a University which wasn't my first choice; I am afraid to walk away and I wanted to accept and let them know for sure closer to when the program starts. How bad would that be for my career?

As longtime readers know, my institution doesn't have a doctoral program, so I can only guess at the answer to this question. What I have below are off-the-cuff thoughts, not to be relied upon. Hopefully more experience readers will chime in.

(a) Would it be unheard-of? No. If you backed out, you wouldn't be the first person to do so. Things happen between April and September: Illnesses, financial catastrophes, family emergencies. And yes, some people simply get offers they can't refuse.

(b) Would it be bad for your career? That all depends on the faculty at the institution you're at. If they're grudge-holders with some influence in the field, then yes. If not, then probably not. And it may be that if and when the day arrives that you enter the job market, they will have forgotten all about some aspiring grad student they never met.

(c) Would it be inconsiderate? Well, maybe a little. Programs have limited places. If they're offering you one, there is likely some other applicant out there in the cold (or accepted by a less-preferred school when your suitor is their preference). Same goes double if your suitor has offered you a funding package. If you're in the sciences, advisers may have to make calculations way in advance as to how they're building their lab teams -- I don't know anything about that, personally, but it may be a more serious issue. If you back out down the road, it may be that the offer and/or funding can go to someone else. Or maybe not. But this brings me to a related point: The aspirant suggest that s/he might "accept and then let them know for sure closer to when the program starts." If I'm reading that right, that won't fly. You either accept or decline. There's no seat-saving in grad programs. And you'll also want to read the conditions of acceptance carefully: I've never seen contract-type language in an offer that specifies consequences for changing your mind, but if there's a financial offer in there then there just might be. If that's the case, then you want to tread more cautiously, because you may be signing something legally binding. Again, I've never seen such a thing, but it's been a long time.

(d) Is it a moot point? Perhaps. I'm trying to think of a situation where one school has their April deadline and another you haven't even heard from yet. There are only two: (1) you're wait-listed at Dream School and they've informed you of such; (2) the program you're waiting to hear from has a different notification calendar, so nobody's heard. If neither of those two obtains, then I think it's a fairly safe bet that the call isn't going to come, and there's no sense waiting for it.

Here's my thought: all academics should strive to be courteous and professionally considerate in all things. This includes not stringing along potential advisers and allies. On the other hand, all academics balance this with their own best interests, and sometimes this has professional consequences. Were it me, I'd accept the bird-in-the-hand offer, unless it were somewhere I really, really didn't want to be. And if Dream School came knocking later, I'd scrutinize that offer very closely and ask myself whether accepting it would be worth whatever consequences came my way -- remember that you don't have to accept an offer just because you have one, and the "safety" school may in fact turn out to be a better fit than the high-profile one you were aiming for.

That's my two cents. Again, pulled straight out of my nether regions, as is almost all my advice. So I defer to my six remaining readers: What would you tell a person in this situation?


[1] At least it was back in my day. But that day was a long, long time ago.

[2] Like that's ever stopped me.