Well, let’s be honest, I was the very opposite of “adventurous” in Chicago this past weekend, but it was a good trip. This was the big to-do political science conference I’ve mentioned before, where I got to present my first solo paper in front of people who may one day be on a committee deciding whether to hire me (or, possibly, whether to give me tenure).
The Midwest Political Science Association meeting is a really big deal, particularly for a young doctoral student like me. There were more than 3,000 political scientists (and wannabees) at the Palmer House hotel for four days, giving papers, schmoozing (which I am HORRIBLE at doing), and generally having fun. I was the only student from my program (regardless of tenure in the program) who actually prepared and presented a solo paper at this conference. There were two others who attended with papers, but one didn’t finish in time and the other isn’t technically in my program. I was also there as a coauthor on a paper with my mentor, which was a fantastic experience.
On the whole, the experience was a net positive. I was disappointed that the discussant on my panels had no helpful critique/advice about my paper, which is unfortunate given my unease at branding myself as a presidential scholar (which is where this topic would take me if I pursued the topic as a dissertation). So, although I didn’t get any advice from the discussant (which aggravates me), I did decide to pick another topic for my (eventual) dissertation.
Anyway, I didn’t see much of the city, which is unfortunate as well, but it *was* rather cold and I got an awful lot of good stuff accomplished there. {shrug} Maybe next year?