1.29.2007

What Does a Weekend Mean?

First "Scholarship Weekend" is now finished and sitting in the "out" basket (out of the "in" basket, I suppose). Sport and I smoothed a grand total of two articles and one chapter. We were also able to read and comment on two of those articles.

The first place I ever encounted these kinds of intense write/revise weekends was at the University of New Mexico. A fellow graduate student, Bill Waters, held a "Scholar's Retreat" with Dr. Susan Foss (which I didn't attend), and later adapted it to a dissertation "boot camp" to get a stable full of dissertatin' fools like myself to finish up. It worked wonders, and I heartily recommend either going to one of these things, or sequestering or regimenting oneself in this particular way (I can blog about specifics, if anyone cares to know what I feel were the difference making techniques--just drop a comment).

The main difference between these boot camps and my current weekends has to do with the consciousness of the field. the consequences of doing slipshod work seem to get precipitously more dire as one tries to write for a field that will soon directly judge whether or not you get tenure. At least that is how I feel now...

3 comments:

LK said...

Here's what seems the most essential question about the logistics of such and endeavor: Eat out, take-away, or frozen dinners?

Doc Mara said...

Breakfast: Once in and once "out"
Lunch: "leftovers" once. Salad once.
Dinner: friends had us over once. Out the other time (sport had mussels, I had walleye chum--never order the "special" on Sunday).

Of course, we're baking right now. Something about a no-knead bread...

Anonymous said...

I would love more information about the dissertation boot camp techniques. Also, are there any other camps ABD's can attend? Thanks.