This past July, I ventured out to Lawrence, Kansas, home of the University of Kansas (even though they say KU out there). I traveled with Kevin, and this was our second conference to attend together. But UC was also represented by Tom and Jewel, making UC the most represented institution at the conference. This trip with Kevin was much more successful than our last one, which was at Texas Tech (Lubbock, TX). For starters, we were not in a college town situated in a dry county. Furthermore, we felt safe walking the streets of Lawrence without the possibility of being assaulted or shuck and jived.
The conference offered a good selection and variety of papers. The attendees were collegial and offered good questions and suggestions at the end of presentations. By the end of the conference, we made contacts and friends, and look forward to seeing each other at future national conferences.
Turning to my presentation, "Defining the Early 19th-century Grand Symphony," I found myself in unchartered waters preparing for this conference. With much of my attention and focus on my dissertation proposal through late May, I was not able to work as dilligently as I would have liked until the proposal was finished. It passed by the way! One week from when I was scheduled to present, my research was complete, but not one word had been written yet. Trying to organize the information into a coherent and clearly understandable string of arguments proved challenging. I wrote my paper up until the night before I had to fly out. During this process, thoughts of not going passed through my mind, but I am glad I did not give in.
I received some good and helpful comments, and the discussion and interest in my paper continued further outside the recital hall as the day went on, showing it at least provoked some ongoing thought.
All in all, the experience was good, the conference great, and Lawrence was surprisingly cool for early July.
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