I began work on the first of two 600 word papers I have to turn in next week. I got all of the content down, I'm just working on editing it back down to 600 words or so. I ended up about double that, but I think there was some redundancy in what I said.
I took a little break from that to meet with some of the other grad students to discuss having future discussion or reading group meetings. When done with that, we walked down to a cafe on Maple street, someplace called Fresco. I've noticed something unusual about conversations I've had here. I can get away with calling myself an anarchist with the other grad students. It's still a conversation starter, but it doesn't lead to standing in the middle while everyone else attacks positions I haven't even asserted. Instead, I've had two very interesting conversations (not even debates, I mean conversations) which have helped me put a few of my views into perspective. So, it can't be as simple as the word being some kind of taboo.
So far, I like the atmosphere at Tulane. The other grad students seem pretty nice, and the general impression I get is that the faculty leave us to mostly pursue our own interests. The result of that is that there are a number of grad students whose interests don't fit perfectly with those of the faculty, but that's basically ok. For political philosophy, the Murphy Institute is a helpful connection, so I'm actually in a pretty good spot here. Now, none of this is to say that I wouldn't rather be somewhere like Irvine or Hawaii doing something entirely different, but the bottom line is that I can get work done that I want to get done (namely work through some of my politics in a more intellectually rigorous environment), so I don't have to feel like I am wasting my PhD.
Beyond all of that, I still need to do some reading for Epistemology, so I shouldn't spend too long writing this. Also, I quit my job. I just needed the extra time to keep up with the workload. I've got a lot of reading to do just for next week, and having to work not only means I lose some time out of each day; it also means I have to go to bed earlier on a couple of nights so I can't burn the midnight oil as much. Now, it's not an issue. The extra money would have been nice, but my fellowship does cover the bills, and I think I will still look for an adjunct next semester. Teaching just occupies a different sort of time frame than processing books, and I think I could handle the combination of teaching and taking classes better than taking classes and working an office-type job.
I took a little break from that to meet with some of the other grad students to discuss having future discussion or reading group meetings. When done with that, we walked down to a cafe on Maple street, someplace called Fresco. I've noticed something unusual about conversations I've had here. I can get away with calling myself an anarchist with the other grad students. It's still a conversation starter, but it doesn't lead to standing in the middle while everyone else attacks positions I haven't even asserted. Instead, I've had two very interesting conversations (not even debates, I mean conversations) which have helped me put a few of my views into perspective. So, it can't be as simple as the word being some kind of taboo.
So far, I like the atmosphere at Tulane. The other grad students seem pretty nice, and the general impression I get is that the faculty leave us to mostly pursue our own interests. The result of that is that there are a number of grad students whose interests don't fit perfectly with those of the faculty, but that's basically ok. For political philosophy, the Murphy Institute is a helpful connection, so I'm actually in a pretty good spot here. Now, none of this is to say that I wouldn't rather be somewhere like Irvine or Hawaii doing something entirely different, but the bottom line is that I can get work done that I want to get done (namely work through some of my politics in a more intellectually rigorous environment), so I don't have to feel like I am wasting my PhD.
Beyond all of that, I still need to do some reading for Epistemology, so I shouldn't spend too long writing this. Also, I quit my job. I just needed the extra time to keep up with the workload. I've got a lot of reading to do just for next week, and having to work not only means I lose some time out of each day; it also means I have to go to bed earlier on a couple of nights so I can't burn the midnight oil as much. Now, it's not an issue. The extra money would have been nice, but my fellowship does cover the bills, and I think I will still look for an adjunct next semester. Teaching just occupies a different sort of time frame than processing books, and I think I could handle the combination of teaching and taking classes better than taking classes and working an office-type job.
sophronia:
no i didnt like hero 