I just finished a very full and enriching two-week period. I had two conferences/consultations over the past 14 days. I’m tired, but my mind is also full of stimulating ideas. The Wabash consultation on race and biblical interpretation went well. I got good feedback on my paper. The group challenged me to go deeper in my correspondence between Gen 2-3 and the Japanese internment. As a theologian, I am being challenged to consider the similarities between Yahweh’s exercise of power in the garden and the U.S. government’s abuse of power during World War II. The correspondence is not clean or neat. There are, however, intriguing possibilities.
This past weekend, I was at the APARRI conference. APARRI is a too-long acronym, which stands for Asian and Pacific Americans and Religion Research Initiative. It is a conference on Asian American religions. I have many friends who attend the conference, most of them attend AAR. This year APARRI was held at McCormick Theological Seminary in Hyde Park. It was a rich weekend, full of good conversation, good food, and (some) stimulating topic discussion. I was on a panel that discussed the intersections of race, gender, and sex, and the dynamic of these aspects within a professional context.
I am now settling in to my ordination exam study. Sigh. Somewhere, I promised myself that I would take a break this summer. Beyond my week-long vacation (which was fantastic), I have not been too good about resting on my “summer break.” I guess that is what happens when you finish your dissertation. You have to get to all of those things that you kept postponing while you were writing. Something tells me, however, that this is what life is like as a professor. Maybe, I should get used to this routine.
Posted by Frank Yamada at August 10, 2005 04:11 PMPat Miller once told me that when he was in coursework, he used to say to himself, "Boy, when I finally get through these exams, then I can relax a little." Then it became "When I finally get this dissertation written...." Then it was "When I finally get a job...." Then it was "When I finally get tenure...." Then it was "When I finally retire, THEN I can relax a little." Judging by his post-retirement activities, I would venture to guess that now he may be saying "When I finally die..."
Posted by: Matt at August 11, 2005 03:54 PM