As some of you know, I've been enjoying ESN blogger/mentor Kevin Birth's provocative Objects of Time: How Things Shape Temporality (Palgrave Macmillan, New York, NY: 2012). Augustine of Hippo wrote, "What, then, is time? If no one asks me, I know; if I want to explain it to someone who asks me, I do not know" (1997 [ca. 397-98], 256). The question stumps us for quite different reasons. We surround ourselves with cognitive artifacts to tell us what time is, and the time these artifacts represent is demonstrably … [Read more...] about “What, then, is time?”
time management
Who’s Afraid of Angels and Aliens, Alienation and Etcetera?
Socially speaking, as opposed to orations in solipsism, it can be quite alienating to bring up the promises and perils of alien life, especially in the middle of a serious conversation. By aliens, I do not mean our fellow human beings who rarely ever garner the support of rabid nationalists anywhere. Imagine the late Jean Marie Le-Pen breaking a baguette with a North African immigrant, not for the sake of a photoâ€shoot but out of a genuine sense of ubi caritas et amor. It is nearly impossible to persuade an … [Read more...] about Who’s Afraid of Angels and Aliens, Alienation and Etcetera?
What I Wish I’d Known: Managing Time and Having a Life In Graduate School
Before joining ESN as a writer/editor in 2014, Hannah Eagleson wrote her series What I Wish I'd Known About Graduate School just after finishing her PhD in 2011. Even with good coursework management strategies, semesters can feel overwhelming. Here are some more general tips for managing time and squeezing in a life beyond grad school. 1. Recognize that valuable things can be done regularly yet infrequently If you don't have time to meet with your accountability partner once a week, do it once a month. … [Read more...] about What I Wish I’d Known: Managing Time and Having a Life In Graduate School
Thanksgiving preparations
Yesterday, a physician challenged the Christian Medical Society (CMS)/CMDA at Penn State College of Medicine to intentionally engage family during the selfish time of Medical School. Although not currently a full time student, I too can become easily entangled in and distracted by perfecting must finish tasks, thereby taking away quality and quantity time with family and friends. Father forgive me. … [Read more...] about Thanksgiving preparations