Showing posts with label conference. Show all posts
Showing posts with label conference. Show all posts

9.22.2011

New Things.


While the summer was spent mostly enjoying post-grad life, certain things loomed on my calendar. Some good, some terrifying. The maelstrom of activity swept in quickly and furiously and soon I found myself immersed once again in academic stuff. The first thing was the advent of the Fall semester and my professorial debut. This work is extremely satisfying for me. I get to read and write all day and then perform my results four times a week. I have to work hard on finding a balance between how I learned and how to communicate it in a less intense and fun way. It's a challenge, but one that I am well prepared for (thanks Tufts!) and overwhelmingly happy to have before me. 

After waiting six months to see it, Christian Marclay's The Clock finally arrived in Boston. How lucky I am to be here. Alex and I attended the first 24 hour screening last week and it was more than magical. Read his marvelous account of our late night stalking through the MFA: "How We Finally Saw The Clock."

Incredibly, there were clips from my somewhat obscure favorite movie, Sid and Nancy, during the big midnight sequence. Of course I was nearly jumping out of my seat. YES!! It was hard to leave, but we did around 12:30 knowing that we'd be back. We had to get to part two of the evening's adventure: Saus: Belgian frites and waffles. Just what you want for a midnight snack while wandering Boston in an inspired daze. Yum. The elation from our museum experience was potent. I've been walking around with a dopey grin for days, so good.

San Sebastian

The final event of the season, on my calendar since March, waits for me across the ocean. In just a few days I will present my musings on the abbey church Santa Maria de Ripoll, internationally. That's right. And then I will actually get to see the church in person. I'm afraid I might pass out in the monastery, overwhelmed. 
The final draft of my conference paper has been approved by my third advisor, a dear colleague, and my biggest supporter, Alex. The powerpoint is packed with fun images and I am ready! but still, Yikes. 

Kursaal Palace, where you'll find me next week.

There are so many presentations that I want to see:

Rivero Gil's «Aleluyas de la defensa de Euzkadi»: Comic Strip Images of Spain's Civil War and the Education of a New Citizenry Donna Southard, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, USA
Theatre and the Action-Image: The Interaction between Image and Action in Theatrical CommunicationRichard Murphet, School of Performing Arts Faculty of Victorian College of the Arts and Music, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
Images in Anatolian Carpets Lect Ayla Canay, Fashion Design, Anadolu Univercity, Eskisehir, Kadir Sevim, Turkey
Evaluation of the Symbolic Expressions in Anatolian Seljuk Tiles and Ceramics in Terms of Clothing Culture Ece Kanışkan, Fashion Design Department Industrial Design School, Ece Kanışkan, Industrial Design School, Fashion design department, Anadolu University, Eskişehir, Zehra Cobanli, Fine Art Faculty, Anadolu Universitesi, Turkey
In Search of “Aura” and “Immanence” in Telematic Art Dr. Matthew Burtner, Interactive Media Research Group Department of Music, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, USA
Overview: Presentation of a theoretical research paper: In search of “Aura” and “Immanence” in Telematic Art preceded by a multimedia performance of excerpts from the author’s telematic opera “Auksalaq.”
Making Embroidery Speak: Images and Words in Miao Embroidery Zhaohua Ho, Textiles and Clothing Department, Fu Jen Catholic University, New Taipei City, Taiwan
The Unstable Image: Contingent Entropic Zones Alan Dunning, Media Arts +Digital Technologies Programme / Department of Computer Science, Alberta College of Art and Design / University of Calgary, Prof. Paul Woodrow, Department of Art, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada
Open Wholeness: Architecture as an Identity Carrier of Cities and Regions Dr. Beate Niemann, NIEMANN + STEEGE Ltd., University Leipzig, Urban Development Institute, Duesseldorf, Schaedler Priscilla, Düsseldorf, Germany



3.20.2011

"I am pleased to inform you that your proposal has been accepted."


Greatest news ever! Now I will spend the entire summer in the library preparing my paper for peer review and possible publication in the affiliated journal. I am so incredibly excited to be a part of this.

Spain has everything I need. The conference is located directly, exactly in between two of the most important places (Ripoll and Santiago de Compostela) relative to my paper. Fate?

San Sebastián: in the Basque region of Spain, known for being one of the best food cities on earth. It has more Michelin stars per capita than any other city, even Paris. YES!

Abbey Church of Ripoll.

Santiago de Compostela

The prospect of visiting these places: magical. The prospect of having to present at my first conference, in another country: petrifying.


Oh, AND the conference is being held in conjunction with this film festival which will work magically with my topic. Hooray hooray!!

3.10.2011

Mid Semester Scenarios


It's time to descend into the piles of books (only 29 this semester!). I have a rough draft due in...nevermind. The object of inquiry is an Armenian folio that has no previous scholarship. No state of the literature. It's all up to me. Next to Cambridge, in Watertown, we are lucky to have an Armenian Library and Museum (ALMA). This is where several pages (including mine) from what may have been a Gospel Book were donated. Watertown, or as I like to call it, Armenia, is also the second largest Armenian community in America. One of my favorite things about going for a visit is checking out the food shops. The best feta cheese and other Middle Eastern treats.


I am excited to get into this, my last project here at Tufts. In addition to my research this semester, I am working with our Africanist as a Graduate Teaching Assistant. For their first paper, many of the students have chosen to write on masks. I especially like this one: a 19th or 20th century Mukudj Mask from Gabon.

Ripoll
Today I graded fifteen papers and submitted a proposal for a conference that takes place in Spain, close to where my beloved Ripoll stands! Productive, exhilarating day. It would be just fantastic if I were to receive an offer to present. It's a long shot, I know, and the first of many.

Thrilling, nonetheless.