feuervogel (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
feuervogel) wrote2018-11-17 09:31 am
feuervogel) wrote2018-11-17 09:31 am
Entry tags:
*dusts off blog*
I guess I haven't updated since before Readercon back in July. Wow. Between sorting through my stuff at Ben's house and coming back to Georgia and the semester, I guess I got busy.
This semester has been pretty good thus far. (It's almost over, but there's still final papers and stuff.) I have generative syntax (Chomskyan X-bar theory), Old English, and an online language acquisition class. I still don't believe that X-bar (or its successor, minimalism) are what is Really Happening in the brain when we speak, and I am definitely not a syntactician, but unless I completely screw up my final paper, I'll have an A in the class. I'm writing my final paper on let-passives (have in English) in German, Old Norse, and Old English, with modern English for comparison. (An example is "He had a house built.")
Old English is fun, but not as much fun as Old Norse. I'm kind of bummed I can't fit Beowulf into my schedule next semester, but there's nothing stopping me from reading an online edition on my own. Well, other than time and willingness to put in the effort (and not having a good dictionary). Whereas with Old Norse, I will fall down rabbit holes whenever I'm looking something up (like last night, when I was trying to find sources for the example sentences I used that weren't EV Gordon's collection/textbook).
The online class is a lot of work. Every week we have to answer a set of questions about the readings - and cite the readings specifically - then respond to 3 other people's answers. And there's a VoiceThread which we have to record an answer in (to a DIFFERENT question). And there's usually a quiz. And there are 2 papers and an article presentation. The second paper was due yesterday, and the article presentation is due after Thanksgiving.
But the most exciting thing is that I'm done with course work after this semester! I have enough hours, so I'm just going to audit one class I'm interested in (which means I don't have to write the final paper or take any tests), teach 2 classes (6 hours a week plus prep & grading), and write my thesis. On paper I have so much free time (i.e. time to write my thesis), but teaching always takes more time than I expect.
In other positive news, I will definitely be able to stay on at UGA as an instructor next year. I'll just need to do a bunch of paperwork because I won't be a student anymore. My plan is to work on my dissertation prospectus so I can apply to a program in Germany for winter 2020 (though I'd need to contact them to find out if it's possible to apply early enough for summer 2020 and defer for a semester, because I'd need to let the department here know if I'm staying or not by this time next year. I'd need to get them my prospectus by Aug 30 - so writing is a summer project.) Annoyingly, I need proficiency in another foreign language (my Russian is garbage, and I don't feel like re-learning it, so I have no idea what to learn.)
My to-do list for break is to finish the draft of my syntax paper, do my article presentation for language acquisition, and translate Old English. I should definitely read for my thesis, too. I also need to finish grading the tests my students took on Thursday. I'm going to a friend's for a potluck Thanksgiving, and depending on how ambitious I'm feeling, I might make a batch of spritz. I also need to go to the tag agency and register my car in GA now that it's insured here. I want to spend some time goofing off (watching TV) because I can.
This semester has been pretty good thus far. (It's almost over, but there's still final papers and stuff.) I have generative syntax (Chomskyan X-bar theory), Old English, and an online language acquisition class. I still don't believe that X-bar (or its successor, minimalism) are what is Really Happening in the brain when we speak, and I am definitely not a syntactician, but unless I completely screw up my final paper, I'll have an A in the class. I'm writing my final paper on let-passives (have in English) in German, Old Norse, and Old English, with modern English for comparison. (An example is "He had a house built.")
Old English is fun, but not as much fun as Old Norse. I'm kind of bummed I can't fit Beowulf into my schedule next semester, but there's nothing stopping me from reading an online edition on my own. Well, other than time and willingness to put in the effort (and not having a good dictionary). Whereas with Old Norse, I will fall down rabbit holes whenever I'm looking something up (like last night, when I was trying to find sources for the example sentences I used that weren't EV Gordon's collection/textbook).
The online class is a lot of work. Every week we have to answer a set of questions about the readings - and cite the readings specifically - then respond to 3 other people's answers. And there's a VoiceThread which we have to record an answer in (to a DIFFERENT question). And there's usually a quiz. And there are 2 papers and an article presentation. The second paper was due yesterday, and the article presentation is due after Thanksgiving.
But the most exciting thing is that I'm done with course work after this semester! I have enough hours, so I'm just going to audit one class I'm interested in (which means I don't have to write the final paper or take any tests), teach 2 classes (6 hours a week plus prep & grading), and write my thesis. On paper I have so much free time (i.e. time to write my thesis), but teaching always takes more time than I expect.
In other positive news, I will definitely be able to stay on at UGA as an instructor next year. I'll just need to do a bunch of paperwork because I won't be a student anymore. My plan is to work on my dissertation prospectus so I can apply to a program in Germany for winter 2020 (though I'd need to contact them to find out if it's possible to apply early enough for summer 2020 and defer for a semester, because I'd need to let the department here know if I'm staying or not by this time next year. I'd need to get them my prospectus by Aug 30 - so writing is a summer project.) Annoyingly, I need proficiency in another foreign language (my Russian is garbage, and I don't feel like re-learning it, so I have no idea what to learn.)
My to-do list for break is to finish the draft of my syntax paper, do my article presentation for language acquisition, and translate Old English. I should definitely read for my thesis, too. I also need to finish grading the tests my students took on Thursday. I'm going to a friend's for a potluck Thanksgiving, and depending on how ambitious I'm feeling, I might make a batch of spritz. I also need to go to the tag agency and register my car in GA now that it's insured here. I want to spend some time goofing off (watching TV) because I can.
no subject
Welcome back to the world of the blogger. :D It sounds like you're having fun; reading this entry made me miss being in school and having research projects and learning things.
(Funny that you mention Russian... I keep toying with the idea of trying to learn it. Alas, there are no classes around me and I don't know how far I'd get on my own. Not to mention if I want to do some independent brushing-up on languages, I should probably pickc one of the two I already have some knowledge of - and materials for.)
Congrats on good grades, and on staying as an instructor! Good luck on getting into the Germany program, too; I'll be jealous if you go, so be sure post about it! I lived there as a child and have always wanted to go back.
Enjoy your goofing-off time!