environmental symbologist
Check out lindsaytan.wordpress.com for a preview of my move to a new domain name (and a new name). You will want to bookmark the new site for future blog updates. I’ll be transitioning between now and May 2010 and will keep you updated on that progress, both here and there.
For those interested in the symbolic typology, you need to go to the new site.
The Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA) is the accrediting body for interior design programs. Every six years, CIDA sends a team to evaluate the strength of its accredited programs based on their success in meeting a set of 16 professional standards. We estimate it took us a year and a half to prepare, though my involvement has only been significant in the last few months. That’s a long investment for a short (5 day) comprehensive evaluation; It’s like preparing for the NCIDQ Exam.
I’m sure we’ll pass with flying colors, but a certain degree of stress is to be expected as we wrap up today and tomorrow. It is no small consolation that K-State’s interior design program in the college of Human Ecology is #3 this year, as reported by DesignIntelligence, a periodical which annually ranks top interior design and architecture schools. We were #1 last year and have consistently ranked high for a while now. K-State interior design was also ranked in the top 16 International schools by a design magazine in Korea.
In other news, I submitted several proposals to IDEC and EDRA in October. All deal with major research initiatives from the past two years. My survey for the Pagan Home Studies doesn’t close until mid-November and I didn’t want to push that data too fast. I estimate now that I will have 250-300 respondents. Lots of data; some will be qualitative. That’ll take some time, eh?
It has been forever since I’ve had the opportunity to write. I finally broke down and typed this out over the lunch hour. Must make more time to keep in touch. I’ll post again soon.
This is the first week of classes, here at K-State. The new cohort of interior design majors is split between two morning sections of studio 1 and two afternoon sections of studio 1. As a result, I have sat it on two morning lectures this week to take notes and make sure we’re communicating the same information to all students. In second year, studio 2, I have some familiar faces and some with whom I’ve never worked. It’s nice to have a mix. This semester will be rather involved for them so I am very pleased to have the opportunity to work with a small class.
I can’t hope for such luck in my behavior course, in which enrollment has inexplicably jumped to 95 students (70-some last year). We’re using Team-Based Learning (TBL) to move the focus of class time from an hour of lecture to an hour of discussion and application exercises. TBL requires that I do a lot these first few weeks to get things running and get students committed to the method. Still, it is already more fun than prepping PowerPoint lectures. 
I am almost embarrassingly excited about working with these students, excited about all three classes for the unique opportunities each presents. I am also pleased with the preliminary results of my research study. I will report some early trends this weekend. Check back then or visit the website directly: http://paganhome.wordpress.com
On a personal note, we made spaghetti for dinner last night after a long day for both of us. There is nothing like a hot, homemade meal to bring the day to a close. If you are having a stressful week, try some comfort food!
My current research study is well under way. At the start of day 4, this morning, I have over 100 respondents. I have decided to release some preliminary trends. See the latest entry on Pagan Home Studies for more details. And it is really a pleasure to receive emails from people who are as excited about this as I am.
On the flipside of the academic coin, classes start next Monday. I am teaching three courses: Interior Design Studio 1 and 3, as well as the Behavior and the Designed Environment. I will be working on the behavior course today. I have to review the assigned readings and make sure everything is lined up for *at least* the first two months. The final section discusses environmental attitudes and I’m struggling to settle on a selection of readings that are a balance of informative, positive, and interesting to read. Luckily, that is a few months off; I’ll have a little time to figure it out.
I had a meeting with my department head recently to review my summer scholarship progress. We discussed an article I wrote (still pending publication) and the PHS research. She was very supportive of my work, but she did remind me of the importance of producing peer-review articles. For those of you in academia, or who wish to go into academia, make note: become a good writer, become efficient at time management, and become self-motivated. Research is easy; writing is a pain in the butt. Hear me now and believe me later, peoples.
Is it worth all the work? Absolutely. 
In just a few hours it will be my birthday (Aug 18th) and what better way to celebrate than with the launch of a new research initiative? Very exciting!! See http://paganhome.wordpress.com for more information. Frankly, it’s a little scary to have the thing live at last; a lot rides on the success (or, rather, mass quantity of responses) in this study. We’ll see if I get the valuable data for which I’m hoping.
Site launched and ready for final IRB approval: http://paganhome.wordpress.com/
It took most of the afternoon to tie up all the loose ends and make sure the thing functioned as a site should. Now all I have to do is sit back and… work my butt off to get the survey converted and web-ready. Sheesh. Still, very exciting times!
I’ve been active online lately, dabbling in social networking and discussion groups. I twittered. I commented. I blogged.
A few gems:
I have not invested with MicroPlace; I simply think it’s a cool idea. Also must mention that the recipe was a general post by @wilw. No relation. Those are your tidbits for the day. Tune in next time. Same Bat time. Same Bat URL.
It’s 9:52 am when I started writing this. I got up this morning, took a shower, fed the dogs. Somewhere in there I got dressed, too. I sat down at my computer. For 30 minutes I got caught up on a back log of non-urgent emails from the last month. For another 30 minutes I watched videos I had been forwarded, checked out websites that had been recommended, updated information that I was told was out of date. My coffee was cold. I added too much sugar, microwaved it, then threw it out because it tasted horrible. I made tea. Still too hot to drink. For 15 minutes I dawdled around online… clearly I was having trouble getting started on my writing.
Every day I write. I wrote a survey and IRB proposal that I turned in yesterday. I am four pages into the first draft of my next article – which will be my first article if I can get the damn thing out before my RQ piece is approved. Correction, if my RQ piece is approved. May not be the right venue. I’m also – and only the Gods can tell you why – writing a short novel. I can’t give you anything more than that, because frankly I’m a little terrified to be writing fiction again. My last… semipopular work was probably five years ago and that was only published online, as part of a competition. And… looking back, it was really not that good. Maybe it will end up in a file drawer at the end of the summer.
Tea is still too hot. And it’s under-steeped; you can’t taste the cloves enough. But I think I’m about ready to start back on the research article. I’m writing a section about the work of Carl Jung and next I have to talk about Erich Fromm, although I’m not sure how important he will turn out to be in the broader scope. He may end up in the file drawer with the stories, and the plans, and the ideas I have tucked away until the time is right.
It’s 10:04 am. The day is just beginning.
A colleague told me that your major line of research is known as the “Deep Well”, so called because it can sustain you for your whole career if you just keep digging. I heard that phrase echoed by my colleagues during my first year. What’s your Deep Well? they would ask. You have to figure out your Deep Well. That’s all fine and dandy to say, but as a freshman academic I have little more than a trowel and a dowsing rod. I have since applied myself to a broad range of… Puddles… but they failed to arouse the passion needed for further study.
I think what I am looking for is a Deeper Well, one that can not only sustain me but also contribute to a better world. And once I realized that, then it was pretty easy to figure out where to look. Over the last few years I’ve read a number of books that, put simply, propose that all real change happens first on the inside before we see that change in the world. If we want a world that is open and accepting of all people, we won’t achieve that by making it illegal to speak hatefully or wear bigotted sayings on our t-shirts. Instead, we can enact meaningful change by helping others to be more open and accepting. This kind of work takes time. It cannot be forced on one another and it cannot be sprinkled with Miracle Gro for instant results.
Research that is brought from the Deeper Well, then, may not be the work of one summer and one brief paper. I find myself a little intimidated at the thought; perhaps I’m not a good enough academic for such a proposal. I find myself wasting my hours away at the computer today instead of writing what I should be writing… maybe I’m just a little scared. Or maybe I’m lazy; maybe I just don’t want to put in the time it will take. It hurts my head to try to picture myself after retirement, wondering if I will be satisfied with my career or if I’ll be a collosal failure.
What am I saying, anyway? Who can live life based on the ripples it will create forty years in the future? In a little change purse in the back of my old rolltop desk there is a fortune that reads “you will continue to take chances and be glad you did”. I like to think that this fortune cookie may have been a little right. So, consequences be damned, here I go. Deep breath. Deeper well.
This last week I’ve had my nose in the books and my fingers on the threads of the Interwebz working on my latest research project, tentatively titled “Analytical sampling of neo-pagan living groups and influence factors in home”. Yeah, well it needs some work. I’ve compiled a list of Neo-Pagan Traditions (in progress) that will be part of the survey I’m conducting.
In local news, I spent the morning at the office and the afternoon at home to keep an eye on the dogs. Neil and Diana have bravely left their greyhound, Chief, with us for the weekend. You can see Chief Status for daily updates. It’s been raining all day. The sun came out about 15 minutes ago and puddles on the deck are slowly drying up. I think I’ll send them out to play.
Also, finally got a Twitter account: BadgerStew
Live. Grow. Build.