Scholar-Wannabe Goes to Washington
What is Scholar-Wannabe going to Washington to see? A museum called the Smithsonian? A man in a White House?
No. Those who go to see those things are normal.
Then, what is Scholar-Wannabe going to Washington to see? Scholars-in-actuality.
Every year, about 10,000 people in my field grace one city with their presence, their intellect, and their tourism dollars (can you hear the arrogance of the ivory tower in me?).
This year it's D.C., so I'll be taking a quasi-vacation from the 17th to the 21st. I won't do any class preparations while I'm there, but between papers, receptions, and a meeting with the editor of the forthcoming book on women and the Good Book, I'll squeeze out some time to prepare for my comp.
I know, I know. Normal people don't consider conferences to be a vacation. And normal people don't listen to academic papers for fun.
But I never said I was normal.
4 comments:
sounds like fun to me! i always like conferences. as long as there are lots of people to talk to and you don't have to cook it's a vacation to me too! have a great time. : )
BW: People? To talk to?!?
Err, maybe an introvert like me doesn't want to go to this conference after all... (I thought that all I had to do was sit there and try to understand what the person at the front is arguing for! =) )
Normal. Absolutely normal. Just today, I called someone in my field to ask about an assessment that they've developed. The scholar called me back immediately, and I was so excited to find out that she is actually a KEY figure in her field, I left my wife waiting outside for 20 minutes!
Academic interests: completely normal.
W.O.: It's rather unclear to me whether you're affirming my academic interests or defending your own behaviour...
B.W.: your thoughts on the issue? =P
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