Exactly half-way through my PhD timetable

Originally published on eve.gd on 3 April 2011.

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Today marks, by my calculations, day 548 of my PhD. I set myself a target to attempt to finish the thesis within three years (1096 days -- 2012 is a leap year) of the 1st of October, 2009; the length of full-time funding I receive from the Arts and Humanities Research Council. As a result, today marks the exact mid-point of that schedule.

I thought, therefore, I would give myself a motivational boost by listing how far along that trajectory I've come:

• I have written two thirds of my thesis consisting, so far, of two chapters of approximately 30,000 words each. These will, inevitably, need to be cut but I am hoping to arrive at a first draft by November this year.
• I have had one journal article and one book chapter firmly accepted for publication. Both are scheduled to be published before the year is out.
• I have two book chapters under consideration: one on Thomas Pynchon and terrorism and another on Open Access publishing and self-subversion within the academy.
• I have had two book reviews published and a third firmly accepted and forthcoming.
• I have been involved, or am involved, in the organization of four conferences.
• I have spoken at three conferences and have two further appearances scheduled in June.
• I have established a UK-based network for Pynchon scholars.
• I have taught my first undergraduate course.
• I am about to give my first undergraduate lecture on David Lynch's Lost Highway.
• I have achieved the status of Associate of the Higher Education Academy.
• I have taught workshops on the use of Open Access journal software for faculty and postgrads.
• I am about to teach a workshop on the use of Twitter in research for faculty and postgrads.
• I have established, alongside my peers, an Open Access postgraduate journal at my university.
• I have undertaken peer review for the prominent literary journal Textual Practice.

Cheers! Here's to the next 50%!