Thesis Sharing: Ready or Not, Here I Come!

Back in June, I published a brief post announcing the commencement of my graduate thesis research. Since then, I've periodically and vaguely mentioned my thesis work on this blog. Other than these brief blog postings, however, all of my research and writing has remained between myself and my infinitely patient advisor, Stephenie Young. It has been a delightfully private process. In an exciting new turn of events, I will be taking my thesis research for a test drive in a slightly more public arena on December 3rd during a research conversation hosted by Salem State's Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. While it is intimidating to consider presenting my still-developing thesis ideas to colleagues and faculty, I am also very much looking forward to receiving feedback on my theories and research up to this point. I always benefit immensely from the guidance and perspectives of other scholars and educators.

Despite the fact that I feel somewhat unprepared to present my research, Salem State's marketing department has put this poster together. There's really no going back once a poster has been made.

Now the only thing left to do is ensure that there is actually some progress to present by December 3rd!

That escalated.

Remember that stack of thesis research books I shared in my post at the beginning of this semester? I'll remind you:

Well, now we're looking at something a little more like this:

I'm going to need some more shelf space.

And So It Begins

The time has come.  I am starting my graduate thesis, which is required to complete my MA in English from Salem State.  The expected tension, anxiety, excitement, and sense of impending discovery and possible doom is officially upon me as I begin compiling reading lists and brainstorming avenues of analysis.  I am finding this whole process so helpful in remembering and examining the experiences students undergo when we ask them to navigate new and uncharted academic territory.  The lack of direction, sense of disorientation, and feeling of potential inadequacy that I feel when approaching my thesis is not the least bit different from high school students' as they attempt their first research paper or a particularly challenging piece of literature.  The act of engaging in any real intellectual work requires courage, even at the high school level.  I hope to keep this in mind throughout the process of composing my thesis in order to better understand and guide my future students through their own intellectual undertakings.