It's been a good couple of weeks for life here in Bristol. Last Tuesday night at the Chaplaincy, a professor of neuroscience from the university came to give us a talk on stem cells, an event that's been in the works since our pro-life society got started last term. The professor presented in a very accessible manner the science behind embryonic and adult stem cell research. Encouragingly, even pro-choice scientists in this country and elsewhere are beginning to recognize that embryonic stem cell research is not nearly as promising as was thought a few years ago, and as alternative, non-life threatening methods have been developed to achieve identical ends, these same scientists have begun to class embryo destruction as unethical, independent of any particular religious ideas.
I don't think I've written specifically on the blog before about some of the scary research that will in all likelihood be authorized by Parliament not long from now. Here's one particularly upsetting proposal: legalizing the creation of embryos that would be 99% human, 1%...not human. That is, a human nucleus would be implanted in some sort of animal egg -- cow, sheep, gorilla, whatever -- and a new being would be created. What exactly this mostly-human would look like would never be known, because by law all such embryos would have to be destroyed within two weeks, in the process of being plundered for stem cells (such a strange hybrid would probably not be viable in the long-term, anyhow). Sound ethical to you?
It's amazing to me that the vast majority of the British public is content to let this sort of legislation pass into law unopposed, and that there is equally little objection to the state-funded embryonic stem cell research already ongoing. I'm relieved that things have not gotten so far in the States, and I hope encouraging even a small group of students to sit up and take notice of affronts to life in the UK will make a difference here in the future.
Friday 22 February 2008
Friday 15 February 2008
I've got nothing but time, Part II.
I want to revisit a topic I blogged about a couple of weeks ago. I wrote a pretty intense post about how having an unusually light schedule, and a lot of unstructured time as a result, was really freaking me out. Over the years, I have become convinced that you are what you read, and that post proves the point in my case. My thoughts about time have been heavily influenced and directed by reading a lot of St. Augustine and forming my dissertation topic around this very issue. For Augustine, the clock is always audibly ticking away the minutes and seconds of his very finite time on earth, at the same time reminding him of the hope of eternal joy and the terror of eternal suffering. The decisions we make about how we spend even the smallest portions of our days determine towards which one of these polar opposites we direct ourselves and others. In short, I'm not sure Augustine would be a fun guy to go on vacation with.
Augustine's thinking on time strikes me as both utterly terrifying and resoundingly true. Both of these reactions have led me to develop a plan for a dissertation examining the sense of urgency resulting from his conception of time that pervades his writing. I'm taking as my starting point one of his early works, On Christian Teaching, a treatise in two parts on how one should first go about learning to read and interpret the scriptures and then begin to instruct others towards understanding them. One reason I've chosen this topic is that it presents me with an unusual challenge: to become a ruthlessly efficient time manager as I research and write. Augustine's big on practicing what he preaches, and if I continue in my usual time-wasting habits I'll simply and blatantly be missing the point of my research. Staring for hours at single lines and paragraphs, taking facebook and tea breaks when I'm meant to be reading, getting sleepy at the library and coming home for a power nap -- these will all have to go. If I find myself falling into my old ways, I'll see Augustine shaking his finger down on me.
As I write this, I fully anticipate the usual comments about Catholic guilt and needing to lighten up a bit. I also see the potential pitfalls of becoming highly personally involved in a topic, to the point where academic objectivity may become difficult to maintain. These are occupational hazards of being a Catholic writing on patristic texts that have become both a challenge and a joy to grapple with on a daily basis. It is true that I am constantly overwhelmed by my own frailty, inadequacy and sinfulness as I read early Christian texts. It is also true that I have been just as overwhelmed by a sense of peace and liberation at being so frequently humbled, which I am sure has made me a much better student. Augustine reminds me every day that learning simply for the sake of becoming knowledgeable is nonsense; even more, he warns me away from the danger of becoming "puffed up" by knowledge that I obtain through God's grace alone. I am so often surrounded by academic vanity that sucks the wonderment out of learning, and I am always grateful to have my own wonderment preserved when I am reminded of my own ignorance and insignificance. It makes feeling stupid (a regular occurrence) feel less frustrating and more purposeful, and it helps me to respond with gratitude to little successes. Really, everything I know about being a happy and effective student I learned from St. Augustine.
And now I've gone and gotten all heavy on you again, and on a Friday night! Sorry if this has been a little on the intense side, but it really is a snapshot of a lot of what's been going on in my brain for the past year or so.
In a last-ditch effort to inject some fun into this post, I'll do a quick Valentine's Day report. I honestly can't remember having a more fun February 14 (and it got more fun once it turned into the 15th). Here at the chaplaincy, Laura made a fantastic dinner of paella and two different kinds of cakes. The two significant others of our coupled housemates were there, and it was an especially festive meal with 15 of us crowded around the table. Afterwards, the girls switched into party mode and mixed some pink martinis, broke out some strawberries and peaches and whipped cream, and played truth-or-dare Jenga while simultaneously having one of our patented dance parties. Then we headed out to Thekla for my favorite indie club night and danced our rear ends off 'til the wee hours. Here's a picture that pretty well sums up the night:
Augustine's thinking on time strikes me as both utterly terrifying and resoundingly true. Both of these reactions have led me to develop a plan for a dissertation examining the sense of urgency resulting from his conception of time that pervades his writing. I'm taking as my starting point one of his early works, On Christian Teaching, a treatise in two parts on how one should first go about learning to read and interpret the scriptures and then begin to instruct others towards understanding them. One reason I've chosen this topic is that it presents me with an unusual challenge: to become a ruthlessly efficient time manager as I research and write. Augustine's big on practicing what he preaches, and if I continue in my usual time-wasting habits I'll simply and blatantly be missing the point of my research. Staring for hours at single lines and paragraphs, taking facebook and tea breaks when I'm meant to be reading, getting sleepy at the library and coming home for a power nap -- these will all have to go. If I find myself falling into my old ways, I'll see Augustine shaking his finger down on me.
As I write this, I fully anticipate the usual comments about Catholic guilt and needing to lighten up a bit. I also see the potential pitfalls of becoming highly personally involved in a topic, to the point where academic objectivity may become difficult to maintain. These are occupational hazards of being a Catholic writing on patristic texts that have become both a challenge and a joy to grapple with on a daily basis. It is true that I am constantly overwhelmed by my own frailty, inadequacy and sinfulness as I read early Christian texts. It is also true that I have been just as overwhelmed by a sense of peace and liberation at being so frequently humbled, which I am sure has made me a much better student. Augustine reminds me every day that learning simply for the sake of becoming knowledgeable is nonsense; even more, he warns me away from the danger of becoming "puffed up" by knowledge that I obtain through God's grace alone. I am so often surrounded by academic vanity that sucks the wonderment out of learning, and I am always grateful to have my own wonderment preserved when I am reminded of my own ignorance and insignificance. It makes feeling stupid (a regular occurrence) feel less frustrating and more purposeful, and it helps me to respond with gratitude to little successes. Really, everything I know about being a happy and effective student I learned from St. Augustine.
And now I've gone and gotten all heavy on you again, and on a Friday night! Sorry if this has been a little on the intense side, but it really is a snapshot of a lot of what's been going on in my brain for the past year or so.
In a last-ditch effort to inject some fun into this post, I'll do a quick Valentine's Day report. I honestly can't remember having a more fun February 14 (and it got more fun once it turned into the 15th). Here at the chaplaincy, Laura made a fantastic dinner of paella and two different kinds of cakes. The two significant others of our coupled housemates were there, and it was an especially festive meal with 15 of us crowded around the table. Afterwards, the girls switched into party mode and mixed some pink martinis, broke out some strawberries and peaches and whipped cream, and played truth-or-dare Jenga while simultaneously having one of our patented dance parties. Then we headed out to Thekla for my favorite indie club night and danced our rear ends off 'til the wee hours. Here's a picture that pretty well sums up the night:
More pics on my photo site if you're interested, some picturing the guest of honor at our V-Day celebration, Mr. Darcy. OK, that's it for now. Thanks for reading, and happy weekend!
Tuesday 12 February 2008
Please disregard the following advice.
Today, instead of our usual departmental seminar, we M.A. students had a group meeting with Bristol's Writer in Residence, who had agreed to come in to give us some tips on writing essays. I will admit my snobbishness up front: I have a firm set of ideas about essay-writing that have been working quite well for me, and I was skeptical about how useful the session was going to be.
Unfortunately, not-helpful doesn't even begin to describe the advice we got. A few of the major points Bristol University is paying this man to teach its students:
1. Don't use the passive "tense". (This is being picky -- but if the university expert on writing can't get it right, where are we?)
2. What's the best way make your writing compelling? Use more polemic. If you don't really have much ground to stand on, just be really aggressive and offensive and at least you will shock your reader. (I'm quite sure this is the only time I've ever heard the word polemic used in a positive sense.)
3. The key to writing a successful conclusion: introduce new problems. E.g., "As I have shown, Augustus was the greatest emperor in Roman history. But...what about Constantine??? The End." This is an important tip because, "if you just state your thesis and then make your argument, well, that's a little boring, isn't it?"
4. "As someone famous, whose name I forget, once said, 'Kill your babies.'" (Again, maybe a little picky: but "Kill your darlings" is one of my favorite writing mantras, and I think it's fair to expect a novelist to get it right. His version just sounds like Swift without the irony. Watching a roomful of people copy it down made me want to eat my pencil.)
I'll quit ranting now because it makes me feel like a jerk. But, I care a lot about good writing, and, seriously: it's bad enough when people are allowed to graduate from college not knowing how to express themselves in print, but when this is the sort of thing we get from the professionals hired to solve the problem, we're really in a state.
Unfortunately, not-helpful doesn't even begin to describe the advice we got. A few of the major points Bristol University is paying this man to teach its students:
1. Don't use the passive "tense". (This is being picky -- but if the university expert on writing can't get it right, where are we?)
2. What's the best way make your writing compelling? Use more polemic. If you don't really have much ground to stand on, just be really aggressive and offensive and at least you will shock your reader. (I'm quite sure this is the only time I've ever heard the word polemic used in a positive sense.)
3. The key to writing a successful conclusion: introduce new problems. E.g., "As I have shown, Augustus was the greatest emperor in Roman history. But...what about Constantine??? The End." This is an important tip because, "if you just state your thesis and then make your argument, well, that's a little boring, isn't it?"
4. "As someone famous, whose name I forget, once said, 'Kill your babies.'" (Again, maybe a little picky: but "Kill your darlings" is one of my favorite writing mantras, and I think it's fair to expect a novelist to get it right. His version just sounds like Swift without the irony. Watching a roomful of people copy it down made me want to eat my pencil.)
I'll quit ranting now because it makes me feel like a jerk. But, I care a lot about good writing, and, seriously: it's bad enough when people are allowed to graduate from college not knowing how to express themselves in print, but when this is the sort of thing we get from the professionals hired to solve the problem, we're really in a state.
Sunday 10 February 2008
This one's for the girls.
The girls of the Chaplaincy, minus twoLiving with a ton of great girls was one of the best parts of my undergrad experience, and I'm realizing more all the time that I've been incredibly lucky in the same respect this year. There were six of us up to a week ago, but now we have a seventh, an Italian girl who lived here last year and is back indefinitely while she looks for work. Getting to know these girls, hanging out with them, and simply knowing they're around all the time has been one of the best parts of my year here.
A group of girls living together, I think, is always like a little family, even when there are guys in the house, too. There will always be at least one "mom" -- for you Sellardites reading, the Maria of the group who will iron your skirt, give you hugs and backrubs, and most importantly, has an extraordinarily high tolerance for whining. There will be the party girl(s), the quiet one(s), the chatty one(s), the high maintenance one(s), the no-nonsense one(s) and the slacker(s). There will be pairs and little groups that have especially strong connections, often among personality types you would never put together. Despite these differences and various relationships, if you're lucky, there is a larger, inseparable Girl Unit. You may only really notice it every now and then, maybe when the going gets tough for a couple of its members or when the weekend rolls around, but you always have the comfort of knowing it's there.
I asked a male friend one time whether he was glad he was a guy or would rather be a girl. He shocked me by answering he'd never thought about it. Maybe it's something girls are especially given to pondering. Some days it would be a lot easier to be a guy, for all kinds of reasons that don't need enumerating. But I also think it would be lonelier, and for myself, I wouldn't trade. I've never seen a guy bring another guy a cup of tea and a plate of biscuits because he's had a bad day, and I've never seen a group of guys out having cocktails on Valentine's day to celebrate their singleness. I'm sure there's a certain satisfaction in being macho, but I think real guys' guys miss out on a lot.
So, here's to my girls, near and far. I don't know what I'd do without you.
Thursday 7 February 2008
Providence, indeed.
There have been some big updates on my calendar this week. First, I have a date in Rhode Island in mid-March, and more importantly, I'll be back in Kansas for Holy Week and Easter! How lucky can I get?
It's also been one of those weeks where a few great people have appeared to provide inspiration, encouragement, and just plain happiness exactly when I needed it. Like Monday night: I was hosting my pro-life meeting in the chaplaincy, as usual, and none of my few regulars showed up, for various reasons. I was feeling pretty down until a new friend came along, a guy who isn't quite ready to take a firm anti-abortion stance but cared enough about life to come along and talk about the issues. He turned out to be just the right person to help me set aside a lot of frustration and get re-focused, and he completely turned my day around, right out of the blue.
Yesterday, I walked down to the city centre for my appointment to apply for a National Insurance Number, which I'll need in order to get a job. It turned out to be the highlight of my day. Two people interviewed me, one woman and one older man in his first week on the job who was sitting in as part of his training. They had to take information from a whole pile of documents I'd brought in, and the process should have been dry and bureaucratic, but it turned out to be relaxing and fun. The man told me stories about his other jobs as a part-time engineering lecturer and his travels in the U.S., and when another woman came in to look over my paperwork we all got to talking about how lovely Edinburgh is and how she and I have the same name (which should always be spelled with an "e" at the end). I felt like I'd made three new friends when I left.
Tonight I cooked dinner for the house plus the younger sister of my housemate Laura, an adorable red-haired second-year named Emily who has become my adopted little sister for the year. I very courageously made beef stroganoff (a new and fairly complicated recipe for me -- I actually marinaded steak strips in white wine), which was a big hit, although I practically destroyed the kitchen. It was a fun, sociable dinner, and I got to have a nice chat with Emily as she helped me do all the masses of washing up.
So, those have been the high points of the week, and I'm happy to have a couple more to look forward to in the weeks to come. Back to the books, now, to see what further inspiration I can dig up.
It's also been one of those weeks where a few great people have appeared to provide inspiration, encouragement, and just plain happiness exactly when I needed it. Like Monday night: I was hosting my pro-life meeting in the chaplaincy, as usual, and none of my few regulars showed up, for various reasons. I was feeling pretty down until a new friend came along, a guy who isn't quite ready to take a firm anti-abortion stance but cared enough about life to come along and talk about the issues. He turned out to be just the right person to help me set aside a lot of frustration and get re-focused, and he completely turned my day around, right out of the blue.
Yesterday, I walked down to the city centre for my appointment to apply for a National Insurance Number, which I'll need in order to get a job. It turned out to be the highlight of my day. Two people interviewed me, one woman and one older man in his first week on the job who was sitting in as part of his training. They had to take information from a whole pile of documents I'd brought in, and the process should have been dry and bureaucratic, but it turned out to be relaxing and fun. The man told me stories about his other jobs as a part-time engineering lecturer and his travels in the U.S., and when another woman came in to look over my paperwork we all got to talking about how lovely Edinburgh is and how she and I have the same name (which should always be spelled with an "e" at the end). I felt like I'd made three new friends when I left.
Tonight I cooked dinner for the house plus the younger sister of my housemate Laura, an adorable red-haired second-year named Emily who has become my adopted little sister for the year. I very courageously made beef stroganoff (a new and fairly complicated recipe for me -- I actually marinaded steak strips in white wine), which was a big hit, although I practically destroyed the kitchen. It was a fun, sociable dinner, and I got to have a nice chat with Emily as she helped me do all the masses of washing up.
So, those have been the high points of the week, and I'm happy to have a couple more to look forward to in the weeks to come. Back to the books, now, to see what further inspiration I can dig up.
Sunday 3 February 2008
Shakin' it.
As promised, I've been making the most of my cushy new schedule this teaching block and having some fun this weekend. I reached a milestone this week by doing what I always made fun of the business school kids and Greeks for doing at KU: I began the weekend on a Thursday. Shock horror. We went to a very cool indie-electro night at this club called Thekla, which is actually a ship in the floating harbour. On Friday we switched it up and went to Brazilian Beatz, a monthly event featuring a capoeira troupe, carnaval dancers, and reggae music upstairs.
Brazilian Beatz night
Girlies at Thekla
Just to keep up appearances, I guess I should write a little about non-bar-related activities which, believe it or not, are still occupying most of my time. I started the unit I've really been looking forward to, "Classics, Myth and Modernism," this week. The professor is one of the most genuinely intimidating people I've run into in a while, but she's not actually hostile (although not one of those just-a-teddy-bear-underneath types, either). That's OK -- it's always a good thing to be kept on your toes. I've been revisiting lots of the modernists, with a heavier dose of theory this time, and reading lots about myth and psychoanalysis. I'm currently failing to be convinced by Joseph Campbell's argument that all religions and mythologies are oh, all just the same thing, really, but at the same time enjoying reading lots of good stories about gods eating people, etc., in The Hero with a Thousand Faces. And, in a burst of naive optimism, I've re-begun Ulysses, which (let's be honest) will probably be flung at the wall sometime in the next 12 to 24 hours and set aside for another 2-year cooling-off period.
I don't have too much else to report on at the moment, but here are a few pics of some recent fun times. Happy weekend to all!
Brazilian Beatz night
Girlies at Thekla
Just to keep up appearances, I guess I should write a little about non-bar-related activities which, believe it or not, are still occupying most of my time. I started the unit I've really been looking forward to, "Classics, Myth and Modernism," this week. The professor is one of the most genuinely intimidating people I've run into in a while, but she's not actually hostile (although not one of those just-a-teddy-bear-underneath types, either). That's OK -- it's always a good thing to be kept on your toes. I've been revisiting lots of the modernists, with a heavier dose of theory this time, and reading lots about myth and psychoanalysis. I'm currently failing to be convinced by Joseph Campbell's argument that all religions and mythologies are oh, all just the same thing, really, but at the same time enjoying reading lots of good stories about gods eating people, etc., in The Hero with a Thousand Faces. And, in a burst of naive optimism, I've re-begun Ulysses, which (let's be honest) will probably be flung at the wall sometime in the next 12 to 24 hours and set aside for another 2-year cooling-off period.
I don't have too much else to report on at the moment, but here are a few pics of some recent fun times. Happy weekend to all!
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