Enjoy your vacation time! I'm sure things are going to be hectic when you come back. Out of curiosity, what was your dissertation about (if you can bear to compress it into a few lines)? As for Dr. Saunders, we all wish she could come this semester (since the Romance class is this fall), but either way we're excited to have her. I'm enjoying my Beowulf class more than I anticipated, considering I have no Old English to speak of. We're trying to decide between three translations - the Heaney, Liuzza, and Tolkein (which apparently just came out). Anyways, I'm off to tackle some Marlowe for the weekend! Ciao!
All exams have long since gone, thank heaven! The MA is only the one year, and once my dissertation (only 12,000 words though) is submitted on Friday, then I'm done - I think I get about three weeks off before my three year Ph.D programme begins! Corinne is genuinely awesome - she's head of the Medieval department here, and when Prof. Reagan retires she's going to become head of the whole English department. She is an absolutely formidable scholar - without a doubt one of the world's foremost experts on medieval romance. She is also an exceedingly nice person. You should enjoy that talk - it'll be well worth listening to!
Hi Lok, I didn't realize you were already writing your dissertation. What year are you? Have you passed your qualifying exams already? It's just my first year here, so I don't have to worry about teaching or dissertating yet (thank goodness!). I too am taking paleography, though it's uncredited. I may do Latin as well for my language exams, but it may just be more convenient for me to try Italian, since I did it undergrad. Since we last spoke, my advisor mentioned that a medievalist from Durham is coming to speak to us next semester....I believe the name was Corinne Saunders. Do you know her?
Hello yourself! Things are a bit hectic at my end - my dissertation is due in seven days, but it's looking fine - there shouldn't be any problems with that. In terms of classes, maybe it's different where you are, but a Ph.D isn't supposed to take any. That said, I'm thinking of unofficially taking Latin, and possibly paleography and manuscript studies - I'll have more of a think when I've got this current weight off my shoulders! Your classes sound good though - perhaps I'll try and find something like that as well. My tutor has also been muttering something about getting me actually teaching next year as well, so time may be a bit of a factor! Hope the reading goes well! I'm having a few days holiday after submission before I get back in the mood!
Hiya fellow medievalist, How are things at Durham? I'm about to start my semester and I've been completely overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the reading lists my professors have sent out. I need some moral support, from another early fields type. I'm taking classes on medieval romance (which is a misnomer because we're reading - and watching films - of much more recent texts) and on revisionist versions of Beowulf. Anxiety aside (there's SO much reading!), I'm rather excited about these classes. How about you? You do OE and Norse stuff, yes? A bit different from my field, but I'm interested to hear about the classes you're taking.
