Today I gave a presentation on my research so far. It went quite well, I'm proud to say. There were only seven attendees, but I wasn't realistically expecting overwhelming interest into the American whaling industry during the 1800s. We had the room for an hour, so I talked for 40 minutes and took questions for the rest. Then a first-semester MA student interrogated be for another hour about all sorts of things, from "how did you pick a topic" to "how can I teach a class without the undergrads ignoring me."

The questions for the last 20 minutes of the main session were a mix of requests for more information (e.g. the role of women in the industry) and suggestions for how I might extend the project and what additional questions I might ask. The only problem was that my adviser was there. One of my data sources was logbooks kept by the Seaman's Institute in New Bedford. The Institute included a church, the Seamen's Bethel. My professor suggested that I see if sermons from that church had been preserved, as so many sermons were in this period. Now, she's probably right, that if I can find those sermons I can get some great stuff for my project. But it's not like I'm swimming in free time. I have no idea how I'm going to make time to read a century of so worth of weekly sermons! I almost hope they have been lost. It's unlikely, though, since the Bethel was famous during this time period, and it survived, so its records probably survived too.

UPDATE: I've gotten lots of compliments from fellow students, which was nice, but we're a pretty friendly group. Today, though, the professor in attendance told me that she was very impressed. That was quite flattering to hear.

Posted by: Boviate at 07:16 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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