I think my thesis is coming along, perhaps a bit slowly, but it’s been wonderful thinking about it and working on it in small chunks. My major professor, Lisa Ede, continually reminds me to ground my theoretical work into material practice (what does this mean for my classroom, she asks). I love that I have such a great mentor who continually reminds me to be more grounded, that theory really means nothing unless it has some material reality.
We read excerpts of Althusser’s “Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses” for my literary theory class (it’s the third time I’ve read it), and I was struck in class when I re-read this: “the ‘ideas’ of a human subject exist in his actions.” I am definitely thinking about the material practice and grounding of my work.
Lisa suggested that I wrote from my own experience as a blogger and interrogate the theories I’m using from that perspective, and immediately various ideas and experiences I have had shot to mind. Exciting times….
