Friday, April 28, 2006

taking a break

Well, as the silence might indicate, I have been very busy. It's three months until my thesis submission date and I have got to the point where I'm waking up in the middle of the night thinking about chapter four. (At present I feel as though chapter four will haunt me for the rest of my days, but I hope that's just paranoia). In addition, a colleague and I have been given the opportunity to develop and teach at least one (hopefully two) British history subjects in our department next year. Very exciting, given that neither of us has actually received our doctorates yet, but it's meant a flurry of work preparing course outlines. In short, I haven't had the time or energy for blogging and I think until the thesis is submitted that's unlikely to change. So I'll be dropping in occasionally, but not posting much. I hope to get back into it in August - until then, thanks so much for reading!

10 comments:

Stephen G said...

Are you still alive? Did the Ch.4 nightmares cease? I'm having Ch.6 trials - it all seemed so simple in the (detailed) thesis outline/plan I wrote out a year ago.

Joanna said...

Thanks for asking! I am still alive and the thesis is still progressing. Chapter four nearly killed me (it took WEEKS!) but is finally more-or-less finished. My supervisor just read my full draft and has been complimentary. Phew! Now I am wrestling with the footnotes. WHY are there so many editions of John Wesley's Works, and why did I not just use one edition from the beginning???
All the best with chapter six - it sounds nice and near the end!

Stephen G said...

It's all eschatological tension - already but not yet.

Chapter 6 a hinge in the thesis - connects the theology and technology in 2,3,4,5 with the ethical development in 7 & 8. It's a pig because it needs to seamlessly join the two bits.

My proofreader is gripped by it apparently. Just hope I haven't written a "Da Vinci Code" thesis in that case :-)

Trying to get into position to move forward vocationally, but still grinding out the thesis.

Stephen G said...

Sorry wasn't meant to discriminate against pigs in the last comment. Actually chapter 6 closely resembles a platypus at the moment.

Joanna said...

Yes, it's difficult to concentrate on plans for the future with the thesis still hanging over your head. My chapter four had a similar 'hinge' function - the encouraging thing is that once you crack that chapter, everything falls into place!

Ben Myers said...
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::aaron g:: said...

Good luck with all of this...I'm only in the beginning stages of my PhD so I can see that I have hell to look forward to!

Joanna said...

Thanks, Aaron - it's more like purgatory than hell, though - feels like it's achieving something! All the best with yours!

Meredith said...

Thanks for visiting my blog - is jo your real name? can you help me remember you from CISH? which session was it? i agree with your comments and like minds can be hard to find...

...and congrats on getting so close to the end of your thesis - i think anyone who can write and complete a PhD is amazing (i'm only half way through - and currently having my first bash at my chapter four!)

Simone R. said...

CONGRATULATIONS!! I heard it's in!