New Year, New Post

Well, the spring semester is upon us, and that means I'm one step closer to my graduation date of May 2011. So much to do before then, but I know that if I can just stay focused, I can get it done. I'll try to update my blog more often so I can keep track of my progress.

My plan for this semester is to dive into relevant readings on religious places. There is quite an extensive body of literature on religion and emotion, some of which I am already familiar with, but I certainly need to broaden my knowledge of the wider realm of these unique spaces. I also want to talk with several people who have completed case studies to get a sense of how such research is undertaken. Lastly, I'd like to explore several similar dissertations so I can become more familiar with the overall framework. If I know what is expected of me on an assignment, I generally (historically, anyway) do quite well. It's those open-ended assignments that always stump me! So hopefully, with the creation of some structured research questions and background along with regular meetings with my advisor, I can make some significant progress this semester.

This weekend, I'll be presenting research on religious hate crimes at the Florida Society of Geographers annual meeting. The research is, understandably, quite dark, and it was actually my original dissertation topic, building from research I completed as a undergraduate. It's certainly an area worthy of exploration - though not by me. (I can't even watch those crime dramas without having nightmares!)

So, until next week...