Let me introduce myself: my name is Dr. Olson. I defended my dissertation on March 14 and now have just some final editing to do before making a bazillion copies and turning it in. Thursday was the first chance I had to actually take a deep breath since the defense. Right afterward, I had to rush around getting ready for a trip to New York for the CCCC convention. It was an interesting time to be in New York, what with bombs beginning to fall on Iraq. New York felt quite safe, though, in a paranoid sort of way--emergency equipment positioned throughout the city rather than hiding away in stations and cops very visible--about every 25 feet. The conference was great, and so was the chance to see two amazing Broadway shows: 42nd Street (which knocked my socks off) and Les Miserables (which was also amazing). I wish we'd had time to do more, but the conference sessions had priority, of course. I made a presentation about--what else?--my dissertation topic: MOOs and Bakhtin, but focused more on rhetorical agency in computerized writing environments and less on rhetorical invention. The session (which I organized, btw), was reviewed by Will Hochman for Academic Writing, which was kinda cool. I got less space than the other two presenters, but they are more widely known. My next project, as soon as I finish final editing on the dissertation, will be to prepare another paper for Computers and Writing in May. Never a dull moment ....

posted by Annie 12:45 PM

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