So just a quick update that yesterday afternoon I fulfilled the requirement of holding a “successful” Thesis Completion Seminar – basically, a one-hour presentation and Q&A session which is a hurdle requirement in order to become eligible to submit the thesis for examination. So: hurdle jumped.
I wanted to thank all the folks who came to lend moral support during the presentation (you guys didn’t all have to hide in the back, though, you know 🙂 – they would have let you sit up front 🙂 – but seriously, it was really good to have you all there).
Because this is a new requirement, I hadn’t known what to expect. It didn’t help that a certain sometimes commenter around these parts led the way with an absolutely terrifying presentation of their excellent research. I had been planning to speak much less formally – and, in fact, I did speak much less formally. But I spent several hours worrying about how bad a decision that might have been, having rocked up to the event intending to ad lib a presentation, rather than giving a formal paper – because the opening formal paper was, in a word, perfect.
That said, perhaps best in that context not to do something too similar… 😉 So when it came my time, I basically stood up and ranted at everyone for half an hour. I felt like something out of a Zizek video… The questions were extremely generous, giving me an opportunity to expand on many points that by rights probably should have made their way into the original rant… The atmosphere was extremely supportive – a really nice way to bring the project publicly to a close.
Now for the actual completion – which, in true dialectical fashion, unfolds as a process that follows the presentation of its results… ;-P
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Rough Theory 
Congratulations – or pre-congratulations, as the case may be.
lol – yes – definitely pre 🙂 One of the questions asked at the seminar by our head of research was, basically: all students want at some point to deviate and lose themselves in some vast theoretical project – it’s usually not a good idea – but I seem to have done it anyway. She wanted to know how I had “succeeded” at this. I pointed out that I hadn’t yet succeeded. To which she replied, after a long pause, “Well… that’s true… but you probably will…”
So here’s to probably… 😉 (and it is a relief to have this hurdle – however kind a process it was – out of the way – it was unlikely that something could go wrong, given the character of the event and the persons who attended – but it’s still always good to watch it, in fact, not go wrong…)
Now if I could only work out who’s going to examine the thing… 😉