I finally went up to the Univ. to find out what’s going on. I was lucky to have run into the other photo prof. since he’s not teaching on the main campus this summer. At any rate, the other prof. and dept. chair, who I saw a bit afterward, both told me they are really happy for me to be teaching on this campus. And, that they support my ideas and have given me the possibility to teach a course of my choice. I have been interested in teaching an interdiscplinary course in photography & writing for a number of years and the chairperson told me she is currently seeking approval for the course to be taught. AND, that course, being interdiscplinary, was one of the main reasons I was offered a contract. They really seem to embrace the idea that education shouldn’t be partitioned off into little domains without a way to integrate an education into a total package. At least that’s the way I think.
Some of my undergrad work was independent study work. All of my master’s work was independent study, self-designed, and perfect for me. It allowed me the opportunity to bring together different part of my creative production that would be very difficult in traditional coursework. I integrated, photography, sculpture, performance, writing, and hypertext into my thesis. Every paper I wrote during the program came back saying that I had exceeded the expectations for master’s level work. Needless to say, I was amazed but very pleased. I knew how to write but my grad work confirmed that I should become more involved with writing, and I have.
I have had multiple successes with grant writing, press releases published in entirity, and a few article published, served as editor for NTU newsletter and Miamiartexchange.com. I feel good about my writing, even though it’s not easy by any means.
Not that death is on my mind, but I feel I have so much more to do during my lifetime and I feel the pressure is on with all the deaths I’ve seen in the past few years among friends and family. I best stop here so that I don’t get sad over recent events. Besides, I have to get to work on my web design…