Blank pages

I am determined to actually write something today on the dissertation; I’ve spent the balance to time so far determining methodology (which is actually what I will write about today) and reading all manner of supporting literature.
I’m not actually performing the major research aspect of my dissertation till later this month; however, I’m getting a bit edgy not having anything down on paper as yet. Arguably it is difficult to write something concerning the research before gathering the material itself!

Academic writing is problematic for me. I can sit down and write many words without difficulty; but the whole interwoven research/analysis bit is much more demanding. It will come together—positive thoughts—positive thoughts.

Interviews

I had a job interview last week (rather suddenly; I am looking but was not expecting to start interviewing this early. It’s in a very keen energy consulting company; I’ll know in the incoming week whether I’ve the position).
I’m not entirely sure what it was; but there seems to be a marked difference in the tone of interviews here (in Scotland). While it was demanding on a professional level (it took me some time to complete the application; for the interview, I was expected to make a presentation and do some on the spot writing), it was more significantly focused on what kind of person I am rather than my technical qualifications. I wonder if there is a shift from skills focus to something more essential to who people are and how they interact with others. Part of it may be this company in particular; they have an open organisational ethos (not especially hierarchical) and some of it may just be the position I’ve applied for (which would involve working day to day with internal and external communications).

It is something I would like to explore a bit more (If I get the position, I’d like to sit down with the HR manager and discuss it). As we become more interchangeable in technical skills (e.g. many people are able to use similar software, etc.) there is some fear that people themselves will become interchangeable. However, I dare say that it’s just the opposite; as technology advances, the people and their personalities will be able to manifest themselves more and become integral parts of the whole.

Dissertation Proposal v8

Here is another version of the Dissertation Proposal (for all of you eagerly awaiting the updates).
Dissertation Proposal v8

However, since writing this, I’ve received some more excellent feedback from my supervisors and will be revising once again this week. Most of the revisions now concern technical points on the methodology and data compilation.

I’m planning to gather much of my data through semi-structured interviews at the Big Tent Festival later this month. I met again last week with Lord Ninian Stewart who continues to offer an array of ideas and suggestions for how to hone things down. (I may have to just stop meeting with him as it gives me too many ideas to work with!)

This week with mainly be more literature review and contacting folk for interviews; so much of dissertation work is just the logistics of finding and processing data (whereas one assumes the balance of one’s energy will be devoted to the writing itself; I think that will almost be an automatic thing once I have all the information to work with…or maybe I’m hoping that).

Saving Paper

I have recently devised an innovative way of saving printer paper—make printing documents a convoluted involved process! Earlier this year I salvaged an old Apple Laser printer from the bin at school; the test page said it had printed only a bit over 7000 pages (which is nothing for a laser printer). However, it uses the old AppleTalk networking standard which is incompatible with my shiny new laptop. So, it sat patiently under a table in my room biding the time till its re-awakening. Last week I spotted a (truly ancient) Macintosh in the bin at school and brought it home. I plugged it in and it booted right up with the happy Mac sound (its 18 years! old and I found it sitting out in the rain; the last time a file was modified on it was 1996). But it connects right up to the printer and everything works in harmony now; the only hitch in the system is that I have to convert the document I want to print into a .pdf, save as a raw PostScript file in Adobe Acrobat, put it on a floppy disk, open it in the old computer and print it from there. I think this will ensure that I consider carefully what I want to print before doing so. But, I saved some working stuff from the landfill and got a decent laser printing set-up for free (and the old computer is so quaint looking sitting here by the desk—I might just write some of my dissertation on it’s tiny little black and white screen—or, no, that would not be such a great thing on second thought).

Parts and pieces

I spent a good chunk of the day yesterday thinking through how to organise and parse and compile and collate and collect the data for my dissertation research. I’ve looked at several word processing programs (as I detest Microsoft Word and don’t think I could be compelled to use it under any circumstance). I’ve actually used Apple’s Pages program for several assignments this year; however, it’s not really up to the task of a dissertation length work. After trying out various demos, I think I’m smitten with Scrivener it seems to have all the necessary components to organise large amounts of material and aid the writer. It’s not exactly a word processor, the layout and typesetting is handled by a separate program (thankfully it exports to LaTeX, so I will probably export to TeXShop where I can have detailed control over the fit and finish). Will report on how all that progresses.
One of the aims of my research is to make it accessible to others; I’ve set up a simple wiki here to make available my research. Perhaps, after I’m finished with the research, it will grow into a larger collaborative effort.

Also, I’m going to start a new weblog category for “Stewardship” to set apart entries pertaining to the dissertation.

Now I need to make another cup of tea and go back to reading; it’s raining today in Glasgow and perfect for book perusing. (Of course, it’s raining most of the time—no wonder there are so many Scottish writers!)

Dissertation Proposal

I’m preparing to begin dissertation work in earnest; this is the latest draft of my proposal (which will evolve as I begin research and writing). I’ll post a little excerpt and here is the full document as a .pdf
“We violated nature and, therefore, if nature is going to be set to rights we would begin by setting it to rights in our own domain”.
—Sir Roy Strong

Working title:
Defining Stewardship: Human Accountability and the Care of Place

Abstract:
The subject of land stewardship (and the broader topic of “environmental stewardship”) is a primary social and environmental issue. This dissertation explores the historical understanding of the word “stewardship” in the context of land management in Scotland. Further, the work examines the implications of the word and concept in the 21st century regarding individual and collective responsibility.

Scope:
This dissertation shall examine the history and current understanding of the word stewardship as it relates to land “under human care”. The primary consideration shall be who appoints stewards and to what end is their mandate for stewardship (e.g. are stewards appointed communally or self-selected from people who are concerned for the land under stewardship? Do we have a choice to become stewards or are we all, of necessity, stewards at some level?)

The secondary considerations are: What are the responsibilities of humans in relation to the land? Who are the benefactors of stewardship? What historical baggage does this word carry (specifically in Scotland)? How has the Christian concept of “dominion” shaped our current understanding of stewardship? How does one’s belief system inform the activity of stewardship? How does this play itself out in a multi-cultural, multi-faith society? How is the concept of stewardship evolving in the 21st century? With whom are we stewards (e.g. with only fellow humans or are we, in some way, co-stewards with the environment itself [ref. Gaia Theory])?

The topic is vast and will need careful paring for the limitations of this dissertation; it will only tangentially examine the secondary considerations listed above (though each of them could probably become a book-length work). I propose to mainly examine one’s personal obligation for stewardship and how that relates to a community.

Hell and High Water coming swiftly on

Later this month Alastair McIntosh will launch his new book Hell and High Water: Climate Change, Hope and the Human Condition. Alastair is one of my professors. I have not yet read the book, but from the snippets I’ve seen and what he has spoken of it, I think it’s going to be a significant contribution to the discussion on what state we are in.
Click here to read a brief on the book and its introduction.

Several months ago, Alastair spoke at the Centre for Human Ecology AGM concerning the book; I recorded the lecture and you can listen to the MP3 here.

Update: Here is another book lecture he presented at the Big Tent Festival on 26 July 2008.

Non entry

I am so aware that I’ve not written anything here for some time! I’ve finished classes last week and now back in the States for the BuildaBridge Institute—so I’ve been quite busy and will post an update next week when I have some moments to reflect on the past several weeks.
Though there is so much despair and sadness in the world and I have seen some part of it, I know there is life and hope; what else can be said?