Assessing the Spring Semester - Part IV (Final Update)

Dear Readers:


During the last update with respect to my final semester as a graduate student at the University of Houston, I recounted some of the tumultuous events that transpired as the academic session waned. Even though stress dominated these days and the hours seemed to stretch into years, my graduation day finally arrived. The ceremony began at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, May 11, 2012, at the Hofheinz Pavilion at UH. Although the ceremony was extraordinarily long, it was really awesome to be hooded for my doctoral degree by my wonderful director, Dr. María Elena Soliño.

Here I am with Dr. Soliño immediately after the ceremony.

From left to right: Dr. Bencomo, Sylvia Morin, María Perez, Laura Garza, and Dr. Soliño

Albert and I after graduation; I am thrilled to have received such lovely roses!

Once the graduation ceremony was over, we went to celebrate by having lunch at Brasserie Max & Julie once again. Of course the food was delicious, but the best part was savoring my recent successes, which of course were only possible because of the love and support of family and friends.

From left to right: Dr. Soliño, Sylvia Morin, Michelle Cohen,
Jovita Morin (my mom), and Adrian Morin (my dad)

From left to right: Dr. Soliño, Albert DeJesús, Sylvia Morin,
Michelle Cohen, Jovita Morin (my mom), and Adrian Morin (my dad)

I do appreciate the time you have dedicated to reading my blog, and I ask you to consider following my blog. 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 

Assessing the Spring Semester - Part III

Dear Readers:

As I mentioned in my previous post, the weeks immediately following my trip to Rhode Island were intensely busy and difficult on many levels. I finally settled on a title for my entire dissertation, "Silent Sirens and Reticent Revenants: Reconceptualizations of the Femme Fatale in Twentieth Century Spanish and Mexican Women's Fictions". Furthermore, I had to incorporate significant changes to the first chapter of my dissertation, "The Siren's Hybrid Lineage of Body and Text in Adelaida García Morales’s El silencio de las sirenas". I had included a section that discussed the links between essentialist conceptualizations of femininity as it relates to fascist ideology and how that might be a critique that the author develops in view of the recent fall of the Franco regime in Spain at the time that the novel was written. However, I must admit that this particular section, which explored fascism and Luce Irigaray's essentialism through an analysis of Elana Gomel's article "Hard and Wet: Luce Irigaray and the Fascist Body", required greater emphasis and elaboration. As a result, this idea had to be cut. In the future, I do intend to go back to that and at least write an article on the subject. 

In addition to those changes, I also streamlined the introduction and the conclusion quite a bit. My dissertation committee members really helped me during this tedious process and helped to keep things in perspective. After all, a dissertation is only the first step or rather a rough draft of what will develop into one's first published book. Still, it was difficult to delete those meticulously written paragraphs that had taken weeks and months to write. Finally after enduring a great deal of anxiety, my defense date was set for Wednesday, April 18th at 10:00 a.m. Dr. María Elena Soliño, my director, coached me in preparation for the big day. Surprisingly, I actually slept fairly well the night before. I arrived early with my mother and Albert, who were there to support me. I am also very happy to say that my friend and colleague Elisa, from Tercets, and my friend Danielle Michel-Chich and her husband also attended my defense. I am very blessed to have such a wonderful family and such caring friends!! 

At the conclusion of my defense, which was successful, my emotions got the better of me, and all I could do was sob! 

From left to right: Elisa Garza-Leal, Danielle's husband, Danielle Michel-Chich, Sylvia Morin

Signing the documents to make the completion of my defense official.
From left to right: Dr. Pedro Gutiérrez, Dr. María Elena Soliño, Sylvia Morin,
Dr. Christina Sisk, Dr. Anadelí Becomo, and my mother, Jovita Morin

From left to right: Dr. Pedro Gutiérrez, Cristián DeJesús, Dr. María Elena Soliño,
Sylvia Morin, Dr. Christina Sisk, and Dr. Anadelí Becomo

Finally smiling, Cristián DeJesús and Sylvia Morin

A successful collaboration: Dr. María Elena Soliño and Sylvia Morin

Dr. María Elena Soliño, Sylvia Morin, and Dr. Christina Sisk
Dr. Sisk was instrumental in the streamlining of my dissertation.

Success at last: Sylvia Morin and Albert  DeJesús   

After a grueling and emotionally exhausting morning, Albert and my mother went to lunch to celebrate. We ate at one of my favorite restaurants, Brasserie Max & Julie. After a delicious meal, I decided that it was best not to go in to work; I was totally drained. In the afternoon, I went to have a much needed massage and went to bed early. This was the beginning of my recuperation, a process that I still think is ongoing right now.

While all of this academic craziness was going on, my grandmother had become quite ill. In fact, on the day of my defense, my mother was worried that she might not be able to accompany me because my grandmother was at the hospital. Luckily, one of my aunts remained at my grandmother's bedside during this time. In the days following, it was difficult to experience a real sense of happiness given that I knew that my grandmother's condition was deteriorating rapidly. Unfortunately, as one of my friends reminded me, life sometimes isn't always a state of happiness and health; however, difficult cycles will ultimately come to an end and new ones always start again. The cyclical nature of death and rebirth may be challenging, but it is in fact the very essence of life itself. Sadly, my grandmother María Isabel Tamez Cavazos passed away on Thursday, May 3, 2012, a few months shy of her ninetieth birthday. Her funeral was on Monday, May 7, 2012. I will miss her very much, but I am certain that I will hold on to all those cherished memories that we shared. I also know that I carry her life and legacy in me, and I am extraordinarily thankful for the sacrifices she made for her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. 

My grandmother, María Isabel Tamez Cavazos,  and my grandfather  José  Tomás Tamez Alaniz

A more recent picture of my maternal grandparents

Not only will I miss my dear grandmother, but my grandfather, who is now 94, will certainly miss her very much as well. Even though I was overcome with grief, I am thankful I had my grandmother for so long. My paternal grandmother is also still alive and lives in the Valley. I hope that I can visit her before the end of this summer. 

I have one more update to share before moving on to a new topic; I certainly don't want to bore you. I do appreciate the time you have dedicated to reading my blog, and I ask you to consider following my blog. 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

Assessing the Spring Semester - Part II

Dear Readers:

As I mentioned in my previous post, I wanted to share a bit more about what we did in Providence when Albert and I were not at the conference sessions. One of the places we visited was The Providence Athenaeum, which was the successor to the Providence Library Company founded in 1753.

By European standards, 1753 is not very old, but for Americans this type of historical building really brings to mind our fairly recent colonial past and the birth of our country. So of course, Albert and I were very excited and spent some time walking around the library. It is rather small and has a damp, wooden smell, but that certainly is part of the charm. Even though the library's dimensions limit its capacity to have an extensive book collection, I was very impressed to see Herencia: The Anthology of Hispanic Literature of the United States edited by Nicolás Kanellos. Its inclusion certainly has a great deal of symbolic significance, given the Hispanic legacy in the United States, as well as pointing to the growing influence of Latinos in the U.S.

Here are a few more pictures of us while we browsed.

Albert and I at the library. Notice that Herencia is the bright yellow book  in the  upper right.

Engrossed in reading!

Posing next to the Egyptian Elephant Folio Cabinet, 1838-40.
Click  on The Providence Athaneaum Art Collection to learn more about this piece. 

An exterior view of the Athaneaum.

Just to wrap things up, here a a few final pictures of Providence.

A view of Fleur-de-lis Studios.

A view of the Brown University campus.

The conference ended the first of April, and we returned to Houston that same Sunday. I gained a lot from this experience, and it was a refreshing break from the hectic routine of the past few months. Upon returning home, I concentrated on making corrections to my dissertation, and I anxiously waited for a date to be set for my defense. During these first few weeks of April, my maternal grandmother also became quite ill, and I spent time visiting her as well. In my next update, I will give you more details about those turbulent times. 

I do appreciate the time you have dedicated to reading my blog, and I ask you to consider following my blog. 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