A Change in Routine For the past five years, I’ve held different assistantships at William & Mary. From course instructor to career coach, conference organizer to collections management assistant, I’ve served a variety of roles. These assistantships have provided opportunities to see my various skills applied to different contexts and imagine myself in different career… Continue reading This Year’s Non-Assistantship: Halleran Dissertation Completion Fellowship
Category: Research
Dissertation Work, April Update, Part II
At the beginning of the month, I shared what would be the first of two dissertation updates for April. As promised, here’s the second installment. Drafting Chapter 5 During the first half of the month, I wrote the initial draft of Chapter 5. As I prefer to do, I worked on the dissertation in the… Continue reading Dissertation Work, April Update, Part II
Dissertation Work, April Update, Part I
Last week I discussed the ongoing research I’ve been doing on the VMFA Artmobile. This week we’ll take a look at how I distilled that research into something manageable for Chapter 5. Given all the rich details I was finding in the archive, I decided that I needed to take a macroscopic view of my… Continue reading Dissertation Work, April Update, Part I
Dissertation Work, March Update
Last month I started telling you about all the things I’ve been learning about the VMFA’s initial artmobile program. Let’s see what I’ve been doing since then (spoilers: it’s a lot). The first thing I did was finish going through the archival documents I had photographed. I had about 100 or so document clusters left… Continue reading Dissertation Work, March Update
Roswell Revisited
“It’s nice to see you again too,” I grumbled as yet another dust-clotted gale threatened to shove me off the airport walkway. Who needs expensive facial treatments, I thought sardonically, when you can get sand-blasted exfoliation for free, courtesy of New Mexico’s relentless spring winds? I’d just flown into Roswell, where the gusts had become… Continue reading Roswell Revisited
#CAA2023
Last November, I posted about the conference goals I’ve been checking off since starting the American Studies Program at William & Mary. That post focused on my experiences at the ASA annual meeting, but that’s not the only large conference I’ve been wanting to attend. Last week, I accomplished my goal of going to another… Continue reading #CAA2023
Dissertation Work, February Update
Last month I talked about the on-site visits I’d made to the VMFA‘s archive to look at the materials on their first artmobile program. Since then, I’ve been reviewing the documents I photographed and taking notes. Let’s take a look at some of the things I’ve been learning. Most generally, I’ve been learning about the… Continue reading Dissertation Work, February Update
Finishing (and Starting) My Dissertation Journal
Last September I experienced a milestone with my dissertation. No, I haven’t finished drafting it, far from it, but I did finish something that, to me at least, is significant: I filled the last page of my dissertation journal. Between the covers of that journal are two years’ worth of ideas, outlines, maps, and above… Continue reading Finishing (and Starting) My Dissertation Journal
Dissertation Work, January Update
This month I started working on Chapter 5, which focuses on the first iteration of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Artmobile (1953-1994). Whereas my previous chapters have looked at outreach exhibitions staged in extant buildings such as libraries and schools, or repurposed homes or commercial venues in the case of the Community Art Center… Continue reading Dissertation Work, January Update
Dissertation Work, December Update
On Thursday, I wrapped up what has been a marathon semester of dissertation work. From September 1st to December 8th, I created outlines for two chapters, wrote both chapters, and did an initial revision on each. And I managed to do this while teaching Museums & Crisis, presenting at ASA, curating a new exhibit for… Continue reading Dissertation Work, December Update