The Finished Product

It's very satisfying to see my master's thesis in hardcover. Also not too shabby was getting my department's Excellence in Research award for this project. 

See My Magazine Feature Story...

The spring 2013 edition of Perspectives Magazine has a story about my thesis research on page 6. This is the one that I was interviewed for last fall. Having spent a number of years in journalism myself, I was a little nervous about what the end result might be, in that doctors-make-bad-patients kind of way. But I'm rather pleased with how it turned out. And the reporter, photographer, and editor were all wonderful to work with. Click the link, go...look on page 6. Enjoy! 

Officially Official

It's officially official--my thesis is done! The final copy has been accepted by the graduate college and everything has the green light for graduation in a couple weeks. Now all I have to do is teach and grade papers for the rest of the semester.

It's been a wild ride. I'd been to renfaires before, and I enjoy them or I would never have attempted this project. But just as with anything in life, when you start examining the minutia of something in a new way, it takes on whole new meanings. And of course, whenever you run something through a slew of social theory it always comes out sounding both impressively complex and ultimately simple at the same time...at least for me. 

No spoilers on the findings in the final paper. However, as per my university's policy, it did get uploaded to OhioLINK and should show up on a Google search by some time later this year. (I still get a weird feeling in my belly every time I think about that, like my butterflies aren't sure if they're going to be sick.)

No pirates were harmed during this research project...although a few did ask to be flogged later, because they like it. 

Thesis Defense

My thesis defense was this afternoon, and I passed. There are still a few minor tweaks that the paper needs to be perfect. But the important thing is that I survived the process. And no, it was not the torturous grilling over red hot coals that so many people have described to me. There were a few tough questions, but that's the point. It's been nice to work with a committee--and especially the professor who has been my committee chair--who want me to succeed at this. Now, to fix those bits that still need seeing to before the end of the week so I can get this turned in and graduate on time. 

No pirates were harmed in the defense of this thesis paper. (And you thought there was no way to mention pirates in this post.) 

Lots o' Loot

Alpha Kappa Delta
Sociology Honor Society

I had to try to get some kind of pirate reference in there, even if it is just the title.

This afternoon was the Awards Gala for the Sociology and Anthropology Department here at Ohio University. Lots of really awesome people got some recognition for some excellent work, both in research and teaching, as well as hard work done by undergraduate and grad students. And, as you can see, I was inducted into the Alpha Kappa Delta Sociology Honor Society.

And there's more good news. I have been awarded the Shelly Fund, a research grant set up by Robert and Ann Shelly to support sociology graduate students in the collection of original data for their master's thesis. This award, which is for $900, will go toward covering the costs of travel and other related expenses as I start my field research. It's not nearly my whole budget for this project, but it sure helps! And I'm honored that they chose me and my research.

Speaking of field research--it starts in just two weeks! June 2 is opening day for my first faire site in this project. I'm pretty excited. I want to be more excited, but I still have more than two weeks of classes left this quarter, and the requisite papers to write, projects to complete, and tests to grade (for my GA gig), not to mention getting ready to teach my own SOC 101 class starting June 18. This is going to be one epic, nerdy summer for me. And I like it.