A new endeavor

I have decided to become a blogger. The intent of this blog is to keep you--my friends and family--updated about my adventures in graduate school and beyond (my serendipitous wanderings). And just to clarify, I will be keeping this blog in British English. My thesis must be in this form, so I am going to adopt it for most other forms of written communication in order to develop consistency.

In regard to the questions of where I am going and what I will be doing: I will be reading for a master's degree at the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England (not Cambridge, Mass). The programme is nine months in length and the subject is early modern history (this will make me an Early Modernist).
...now you know about as much I do!

The picture to the left shows the Emmanuel House at my college. This photo is from the college website, which can be reached at: www.emma.cam.ac.uk. In the Cambridge system, each student is a member of the University, a college, and a faculty. My college is Emmanuel College (Emma) and my faculty is history. The faculty functions as the centre of academics, and is housed in its own building. Members from all different colleges will be part of a faculty. The college functions as a social network and controls housing and board. Each college as its own MCR or Master Commons Room, which functions like an ASB for grad students. The MCR has its own hall--with a full bar, this being a good British institution--and arranges all sorts of events (even dances with Oxford kids!) I will be living in graduate housing close to campus--which is also the centre of town--with a few other Emma grad students.

I leave on 26 September, so I have a little under a month to finish preparations. I am currently still in Santa Barbara, but maybe only for a night more. Departure is coming quickly and my excitement is growing!

More to come...