Emergent Adult and the week following.

This time last week I was at The Emergent Adult conference at Homerton College, Cambridge University run by Maria Nikolajeva and her team. It was a brilliant conference with some excellent and fascinating strands.The two key note speakers - Meg Rosoff, the author, on the Friday and Shirley Brice Heath from Brown University, USA - were outstanding. Both of whom spoke at length on subjects that were relevant to my PhD. Meg Rosoff was discussing the concept of 'throughness' which I have spoken about in previous posts and relates to the idea of becoming completely connected with your writing. Whilst Shirley was talking in part about the need for vicarious experiences for teenagers and how books can fit in with this. An idea that is very pertinent to my PhD.Even my own paper on my research into risk taking behaviour by teenagers and how it relates to my PhD went down very well and I was delighted with the response it received. The conference was also eased along by being in good company - Lucy Christopher and Teri Terry - who both made it a delightful weekend full of laughter and some serious conversations even.

The week that followed was full of good times too. Both Prof Jen Webb and Prof Nancy Rosoff visited Winchester University and I spent a delightful few hours discussing a wide range of subjects including some things pertinent to my PhD as well as some not such academic subjects with both of them as they are not just academics but good friends too.

Everything at the moment seems to be focused around my PhD, I think probably because I am heading towards the end. I received feedback on the first hundred pages of the creative piece of my PhD. The feedback was useful and good. There were even large chunks with no comments on at all which was hugely satisfying. This further reinforced the positive feedback I had received in Scotland and gave me a great sense of confidence about my work - both the critical and creative aspects. There is still a mass to do but it is something I am really looking forward to. This is how I intend to use this blog from now onwards. It is to be a diary of how the final few months of my PhD go - both the good and the bad.