Week 8 comes to a close...

Only 2 weeks left in the Winter quarter. I still have so much left to do, it seems. I just finished reading War Under Heaven: Pontiac, The Indian Nations & The British Empire by Gregory Dowd. I thoroughly enjoyed it, actually. It was a very interesting take on Pontiac's Rebellion. Next up is Benjamin Carp's Rebels Rising: Cities and the American Revolution. We have a short reaction paper due on that as well as an outline of our paper due for the writing seminar. I still have to work on my final papers as well and grade my students' papers. I feel overwhelmed, but at the same time, I'm not entirely concerned. I feel pretty confident that I'll get all of this done in time. Not that I have any choice anyway.

New Day, New Challenges

Either Bella* (my sweet and darling deskmate) has returned some of her books to the library, or she's arranged them differently because I actually have space to move around! I can't complain. If I had all my books here instead of on my floor at home, she'd be in the same predicament! Currently I have 26 books checked out (and for some reason the library gave me another copy of a book I already have, even though I didn't request it; gotta love the library system) and I'm not even at the Generals phase yet. My advisor worries that I'm taking on too much and that I'm pushing myself too quickly. I'm trying to slow down and trust her instincts. After all, she's been doing this longer than I have. I have a very busy week ahead of me, but there's only a few more weeks to go in the quarter. Than I get to take a very lovely break to Texas to watch my brother and bestest Kyle graduate from AIT and spend a week with my grandparents and the lovely friends I have there.

I also received word this morning that I was awarded $250 from the College of Arts and Humanities to fund my trip to New Paltz in June. This will be matched by the department for a total of $500, thankfully, which should cover my flight/hotel for the most part. This is a huge relief. Now let's see if I'm as lucky when it comes to the departmental scholarships.

*name has been changed for privacy.

My panel at the OIEAHC Conference, June 2011

Session 17:   Sixteenth-Century Intercolonial Interactions

    LC 113

   

    Chair: James D. Rice, State University of New York, Plattsburgh

 

    “To Trade or Not to Trade”?: The Effects of Piracy and Privateering on 16^th-Century International Trade Relations in the Atlantic World

                Jamie Hager, Ohio State University

 

    The Search for Roanoke: A Visit to the Lost Colony through the Mixed-Up Memory of Gerónimo de la Cruz

    Joseph Hall, Bates College

 

    “Symerons” and Sultans: Narrative Descriptions of Francis Drake's Personal Diplomacy

    Ignacio Gallup-Diaz, Bryn Mawr College

It's the simple joys...like online publication

My book review for OSU E-History!

Early America is consuming my soul

I've decided that this is far more appropriate/useful than Tumblr. While many may find this blog boring, I plan to keep track of my weekly assignments, progress in my research, professional accomplishments, etc. I just passed back my students' midterms and I was actually pretty pleased with their performance. One class averaged 85 and the other averaged 80. My mid-quarter evaluations were also fairly positive overall. Many of the concerns addressed were actually out of my control (as in problems with the lecturer, format of the course, etc). But I have a busy week ahead of me. For my Colonial American readings course I have to complete Jon Butler's Becoming America as well as T.H. Breen's article "Baubles of Britain: The American and Consumer Revolutions of the 18th Century" (which I read last quarter for my Early American survey) and Harry S. Stout's "Religion, Communication, and the Ideological Origins of the American Revolution." This gets followed up by the readings of my Early Modern Violence survey: Stuart Carroll's Blood and Violence in Early Modern France, Bob Davis' "The Renaissance goes up in Smoke" and "Better Occasional Murders than Frequent Adulteries" by Paul Sant Cassia. Luckily all I have to do for my Early American writing seminar is print an article, the table of contents from the journal it's contained in, and the publishing guidelines for submissions to the journal.

My research hasn't gotten very far lately. I've checked out a number of books that I think will be useful, but I haven't had the time to read through them yet. Although I have submitted my application for the Arts & Humanities small travel grant to fund my conference trip to New Paltz. Now I just have to complete my Bradley Fellowship application as well as get my materials together for the various department award applications. With enough funding, hopefully I can make a trip to Europe for a few days this summer.

I also still have to figure out a way to get my car back to Columbus from Cambridge, put together my desk, unpack, rearrange my room, and make football shaped cookies for this weekend's Super Bowl party. And right now I have a headache. All I want to do is go to bed.