Friday 23 October 2015

12th and 19th Oct: The End of the Beginning

Yup, these posts are definitely looking more fortnightly than weekly! I keep meaning to write some more specific posts, and get some images in - but hey, given some of the lengthy gaps in posts I had in the early days  (or, ahem, the first couple of years), I'll settle for getting an update in every couple of weeks!

It's a funny time of year. Every time of year is funny/odd/busy/exciting in some way, but Week 4 of teaching (for that's what this is here at Leeds) definitely stands out as one of the more unusual. I think of it as the End of the Beginning. Hence the post title.

See, the start of the year is busy: modules to be set, projects to be allocated and started, lectures given, teething problems addressed - all against the ongoing background of research. The end of this term and start of next will also be very busy: the end of year will be exceptionally busy. Of course it will: every level 3 and 4 student must be examined, every piece of coursework assessed, mitigating circumstances allowed for, marks aggregated by the Exam Boards or absolute chaos will ensue.

But this week is an interesting point: exams have been written, coursework set, projects started: all the early effort required to build momentum. And coursework hasn't yet arrived for marking. Just for a moment, there's a lull and this afternoon I actually ran out of things to do.

Which isn't to say there aren't things on my To Do list, but I've finished reading the Thesis I'll be examining next week; I've interviewed three prospective PhD students and got their research proposals finalised; I've finished reviewing papers for next year's  CWUAAT conference. There are plenty of things to pick up next week, but in the last chunk of Friday afternoon, there's no sense starting them.

Next week a raft of new things begin - research proposals picked back up; a paper to write; a journal article to review. Still, it's nice to appreciate the odd moments of calm when they come along.

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