Assessing the Spring Semester - Part I

Dear Readers:

My last post was nearly two months ago, and truly I must apologize for neglecting this blog. When I last posted, I had just submitted my chapters to my dissertation committee, and I was waiting to hear back from them to know if I would move forward with my dissertation towards completion and ultimately graduation from the Ph.D. program. Before I tell you all the details, I would like to assess this past semester.

Let me begin by saying that it was an incredibly intense semester. Even though I only taught two courses, I also continued to work at the language lab at UHD. So, I still had quite a bit of administrative stuff to deal with throughout the course of the semester. The real challenge, however, was coming home after a long day and making myself work just a bit more on my writing. Weekends were extremely difficult, especially when I knew that my friends were enjoying themselves or the weather was lovely outside. I even opted to miss my husband's niece's quinceañeara, while I stayed home to write. I felt isolated, and the only glimmer of hope was the possibility of finally finishing up this semester.

Even with all of this on my plate, I was very fortunate to have been invited to attend The Friends of Women's Studies Table Talk 2012 Event."Table talk is a fascinating combination of conversations over lunch. Dynamic Houston women, of various cultures, professions, and experiences, lead the discussions at each table. Proceeds support the Women’s Archive and Research Center and Women Studies at the University of Houston." At my table, the conversationalist was Anna C. Dragsbaek, President & CEO, The Immunization Partnership. Anna led a great discussion with respect to the need for immunization and education for parents as to the benefits of immunization in light of a growing trend in the United States of parents opting against this for their children. 


In addition to the lovely luncheon sponsored the the Friends of Women's Studies at the University of Houston, my husband and I attended the Annual Meeting of the Comparative Literature Association entitled "Collapse/Catastrophe/Change" from March 29-April 1, 2012 at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. We both presented at the conference. Albert chaired a session entitled "Traumatic Postmodernity: Violent Introspection, Repression and Transgression in Recent Latin American Narratives" and presented his own paper titled "Abject Trauma: New Perspectives in the Representation of Violence in Recent Latin American Short Story". I was part of a session called "Kairos and Qualia, or the Voices of the Undead" and the paper I presented was titled "Transfiguring Revenants and Transforming Discourses in Ana María Moix's Las virtudes peligrosas". I learned so much from the fellow presenters, and it was a wonderful experience intellectually. Providence also proved to be a lovely city, and perhaps there will be an opportunity in the future to spend more time there, especially when the weather is warmer. We stayed at Edgewood Manor, a lovely bed and breakfast while we were there.

The antique decor was delightful and breakfast was great everyday!

The buildings that both comprise and surround Brown University are absolutely amazing. We loved it there!

I was also very fortunate during the trip to meet a colleague I have been working with for some time via Skype. Johannes Angermüeller from Germany is one of the project leaders for discourseanalysis.net. He happened to be doing some research at Harvard, and we met up for lunch when we arrived in Boston and then he joined us for dinner in Providence.

From left to right: Cory Hahn, Albert DeJesús, Sylvia Morin, Johannes Angermüller

I will tell you more about Providence, and the rest of the semester in my next post. I promise it won't take so long for me to write as it did last time. I do appreciate you reading my blog, and I ask you to consider following my blog as well. If you look on the left hand side of the blog, you will see a link that says "Join this Blog". I would truly appreciate your support!!

Best,

Sylvia