Two days in

to the post-funk, and life is busssssssy! The class I teach is improving weekly, and I'm beginning to see some real strengths come out in my students. Today, one kid raised the issue of historiography in the 1930s, and another one actually knew what he was talking about. Also, another one used the term "interiority." I don't only love smart kids, but yeah, I love smart kids.

But I don't love this new slate of responsibilities I couldn't say no to for the Historical Society. More on these folks, later. I'm too shell-shocked from the experience to formulate much. If you are of the praying sort, let me just go ahead and say...get started.

New opportunities

Exciting news! I have been asked to teach a class for the spring semester on curatorial research & planning. I'm going to start small--only one student, actually. We are going to learn all about locating and interpreting primary source material and using them to reinterpret a historic home owned by the university. I'm so proud of this particular student. This project--like all projects you could propose to me--need to be done. Everything about my job screams "do me now." Which sounds racier than it really is. Not going back to edit.

This kid reminds me of the student I wish I had been--and was, in some ways. She has these huge circles under her eyes, and always comes in with a scraggly ponytail, toting books by hand and backpack. Me, too. She also has all these plans that she can't yet articulate with sentences full of "I'm kinda thinking of..." or "Something to do with historic preservation and art. Maybe?" Yep--me again. While I don't think everything about my college experience was a wash (clearly), I hope I can provide her with some more focused guidance I wish I had been given.