Let me start this off by telling you that it is currently 98 degrees in Irvine. It has been in the 90s all weekend; I've just checked the weather forecast and it is supposed to cool off and be in the high 70s tomorrow. The heat is quite uncomfortable, more so because I am stuck in my apartment with a nasty cold. I have to write this afternoon, so this blog post is my version of a warm up.
All right, so I pleasantly surprised myself at the Midwest Political Science Association conference (aka, the Midwest). I actually had fun. At the conference. That's right, I had fun at the geek fest. I spent all day Thursday and Friday morning doing conference stuff. I was on 2 panels: one on Thursday afternoon and one on Friday morning. The original plan was to attend a panel on Thursday morning, and attend my own panels. Instead, (in addition to the original plan) I ended up attending another panel on Thursday afternoon, the Midwest Women's Caucus business meeting, and the Women's Caucus reception.
See, when I checked into the conference on Wednesday evening, I perused the phonebook-sized program containing a schedule of panels and found all these interesting panels pertinent to my research area. Let me refresh your memory: Panels are made up of about 4 papers (single authored or coauthored). There is a chair, who basically introduces the panel and the papers. There is also a discussant who offers feedback on each paper. Each author has about 12-15 minutes to present her paper. After each author has presented, then its the discussant's turn to speak and offer feedback. Then the floor is open to the audience to ask questions. Panels are scheduled to last about 1 hour and 45 minutes.
So, I attended a panel about Women and Representation on Thursday morning, and one about Motherhood and Politics that afternoon. Something surprising happened: I was interested, I actually introduced myself to the women on these panels, and I found that I had some interesting stuff to say. I think I started to network. Shockingly, I was having fun. The fun continued into the evening when I attended the Women's Caucus Meeting and reception. I got some good book recommendations, good feedback, and some great advice.
All right, so I pleasantly surprised myself at the Midwest Political Science Association conference (aka, the Midwest). I actually had fun. At the conference. That's right, I had fun at the geek fest. I spent all day Thursday and Friday morning doing conference stuff. I was on 2 panels: one on Thursday afternoon and one on Friday morning. The original plan was to attend a panel on Thursday morning, and attend my own panels. Instead, (in addition to the original plan) I ended up attending another panel on Thursday afternoon, the Midwest Women's Caucus business meeting, and the Women's Caucus reception.
See, when I checked into the conference on Wednesday evening, I perused the phonebook-sized program containing a schedule of panels and found all these interesting panels pertinent to my research area. Let me refresh your memory: Panels are made up of about 4 papers (single authored or coauthored). There is a chair, who basically introduces the panel and the papers. There is also a discussant who offers feedback on each paper. Each author has about 12-15 minutes to present her paper. After each author has presented, then its the discussant's turn to speak and offer feedback. Then the floor is open to the audience to ask questions. Panels are scheduled to last about 1 hour and 45 minutes.
So, I attended a panel about Women and Representation on Thursday morning, and one about Motherhood and Politics that afternoon. Something surprising happened: I was interested, I actually introduced myself to the women on these panels, and I found that I had some interesting stuff to say. I think I started to network. Shockingly, I was having fun. The fun continued into the evening when I attended the Women's Caucus Meeting and reception. I got some good book recommendations, good feedback, and some great advice.
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