Day 6 - 18 -- Looking through a Different Lens

Temperatures fell overnight to -18C or less. The walk in was manageable without much breeze. By afternoon when I walked across campus to a seminar, it had warmed a bit to be in the minus single digits. The seminar brought great insights into explaining some of my research thoughts through Aristotle of all people <smile>. The seminar opens space for feminist researchers to present completed projects or works in progress. Mine will be one of the latter and occurs next month. I'd never gotten to a full seminar since they began in October. I was away once, got to the wrong room the next time (two rooms with same number at opposite ends of the building) and to what should have been the middle of a presentation but was one that ended early. Today everything went according to my plan <smile>. Being able to participate today helped me to understand the format and group norms. That was my main goal so I understood how to focus my paper. Today, I found interesting bits from both presentations -- unexpected learnings.

Learning from scholars in other disciplines informs one's knowledge and ability to communicate findings in different ways. One of the best pieces of advice I received when undertaking a doctoral program was to pull methods or frameworks from other fields of study when developing research questions and methods. It worked very well then and ever since. Enriching traditional ideas and methods in this manner adds depth and not only breadth to understanding research findings. Sharing in such a forum as the seminar today enhances discussion of findings from various perspectives.

A song that flew through my mind today comes from an older musical. The title and much of the lyric deals with my main goal for attending the seminar today. Many covers exist. I've chosen one by an amazing voice. Enjoy!

Getting to Know You -- Julie Andrews