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February 20, 2006
dissertating again
It's time for me to start contacting (*gasp*) real live famous composers. Maybe I'll start tomorrow. I feel a little intimidated. I had an awkward experience at a conference last year when I was just starting to define my dissertation. I set up a meeting with an important scholar who knows a lot about my topic (but again, I was just starting to formulate my topic in my head). I thought I had some clear questions for her, but when I actually met with her, I came up with some lame, vague question. I don't know if it was that lame, but the way she responded made me feel like a bumbling novice. *sigh* I don't want to be a lame scholar.
I'm also trying to find ways to get more experience teaching. I've been TAing music appreciation for the past 3 years, and I really want to sink my teeth into teaching and designing my own class. If my grant applications don't pan out for next year, there's a chance I can teach as adjunct faculty since I'm ABD. Or at least find some other way (any creative ideas?) to get teaching experience.
dissertation | By Tim and Jo | 10:42 AM
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Comments
maybe you can find teaching opps at a community college. send out your cv w/ a cover letter to every institution in yr area with a listing in the college of music society directory.
Don't be nervous about contacting composers! They're real people, too. And if you ever talk to one, just write down your questions first. They won't mind if you're reading questions from a tablet: that's what journalists do (i think). Anyway, whenever I've interviewed anyone (the few times) I read from a notebook, and nobody ever minded, and often once the talking got going, we got beyond the notebook.
I think you have a cool, viable project, and anyone will recognize that.
Posted by: Jeannette at February 20, 2006 01:09 PM
Are you a member of the College Music Society, Jeannette?
Posted by: Jo at February 20, 2006 11:40 PM
No, but the music lib ought to have the most current directory.
I've thought about joining, but there's SO many academic associations to join, and it didn't really seem worth it.
Posted by: Jeannette at February 21, 2006 09:40 AM