What I'm Studying This Year & What It Will Be Like

(Image from Queen's School of History)

People often ask me what I'll be studying this year and what it's going to be like. The honest answer is, I don't really know. I know my degree is going to be an MA in Modern History with a concentration in British History. "Modern History" here means "the 19th and 20th centuries, with special reference to the relationship between Britain and its empire." My focus will be on Britain's relationship with it's East African colonies and the legacy that has left in language and culture. Other than that, here's what I know:

Class Time
My class time will only be in the evenings. The prospectus says that "Most teaching is on Tuesday and Thursday evenings (6–8pm)," which makes me think that there will probably be special seminars or presentations on other evenings that I'll need to attend as well.

What Will Classes be Like? What will you be studying?
Here's what I know. The year will be made up of 5 components and is split into thirds. The first third will focus on two modules, the second on another two, and the final third will focus solely on my 20,000 word dissertation (I think, roughly 80 pages).

Components:
1) Research methods in history
2) Primary-source research
3) Historiography (aka the writing of history)
4) British History
5) Thesis (double-weighted)

Other than that, I don't know much. I'm assuming much of my time will be spent reading, writing, and doing research in the library. I'm hoping this will give me the freedom to travel to the north coast or to the Mourne Mountains for weekends to read/write/study away from Belfast and, thus, occasionally, get a break.

Breaks
I'll get two breaks during the year. 3 weeks at Christmas and then 3 weeks at Easter. My plan right now is to go visit my sister and brother-in-law in the Middle East during Easter break. She should just be having her first child and it'd be great to see the three of them! As far as Christmas break, I'm not entirely sure. I've got some friends I'd like to go visit in France - they live about 45 minutes outside of Paris and then another friend stationed with the army in Germany, so it'd be great to see them. The reality is, of course, that money is going to dictate how much I can do - so we'll just have to see how far the loans that I'm taking for the year get me.

Well, that's about all I know at this point. I'll keep you updated as it begins and let you know more then. Sorry I don't have more for you now. Let the adventure/gauntlet begin! :-)

Found Out Where I'm Going to Live

(Picture of 26-50 Mount Charles set of Queen's Houses)

I got word about where I'm going to be staying next year. In typical Queen's fashion, within a couple of days of sending in my 2 week late housing request, Queen's had responded to my application and I got my first choice of places to stay. Crazy!

Grandma made the comment today that it sure seems like God wants me to go to N. Ireland. I've found myself shaking my head over the last few weeks too - everything's come together so quickly and with such ease. It seems like there have been so many steps along the way where God could have closed a door and he hasn't. So, following through with what a wonderful lady who was a missionary in France for many years told me, I'm going to assume there's a green light until God shows me a red. :-)

Oh, so back to where I'm staying. I got into the Mount Charles set of Queen's Houses. There a lot like a townhouse. There will be between 7-8 in the house and I'll be sharing a bathroom with 2-3 of them. Wireless internet's included and I'll have own room. It's a great location - just around the corner from Villa Italia and the closest to downtown Belfast of any of the housing. So, needless to say I'm pretty stoked.

Just over 3 weeks to go - I'm starting to get butterflies about the move, the work, the transition, etc, but I'm also starting to get really exciting. 3 weeks and my whole world get's turned upside down...yikes! :-)

A Month To Go: Time for an Update

(Courtesy of CelticConnectionsRadio.org)

It hit me today that I leave for N. Ireland in a month.  Man, the last two weeks here at home have flown by!  By way of an update, here you go:

Loans/Funding

Great news here!  As of my last post, I was going to have to take out private loans to pay for this year - YIKES!!  When you're taking out nearly $40,000 in loans, the thought of private (vs education loans) is scary, to say the least.  Yesterday morning I got an email from the international office at Queen's that they were cleared to use US Federal Gov't loans for their US students.  Woohoo!!  So, Monday I've got to get on the phone with the FAFSA people and start moving ahead.

In the meantime, I'm in a financial crunch.  The housing deposit for Queen's is $600 and was due this week.  So, I've got to work on something this weekend for that.  So we'll see - I don't know if mom and dad will be able to loan me the money and I'll pay them back or if I'll need to take out a loan from my bank.  We'll see!

Departure

I don't know if I mentioned it anywhere else, but I have tickets bought for Sep. 15th.  So, I'll fly out of Memphis that morning and then arrive in Belfast Tuesday morning, the 16th.

Housing

Along with the housing deposit above, I have to decide on housing.  Queen's sent me a great booklet on all there housing.  Based off of the book, location, and the recommendation from a friend that was at Queen's this last year (Philip Londeree), I'm hoping to get into a set of townhouses that are across the street from Villa Italia.  For any of you that have been to Belfast with JBU, you'll remember this fantastic little Italian joint and know that it's right around the corner from the school.  It would be great!

What's Left?

So, besides funding, what's left is this:

1) Work out insurance for my car for the year

2) Sign up for absentee voting

3) Order a new harddrive and more memory for my computer (I decided to go this route, $200, instead of getting a new laptop, $1000.  I think, with these upgrades, my computer will make it through the year if not longer.)

4) Get Mohela Undergrad loans differed for the year

That's about it! If I can get that all done (and pack), I should be ready to go come Sep. 15th.  One month - here we go!

The Beginning

(Queen's University in Belfast homepage; www.qub.ac.uk)

In late June 2008, only two weeks after filing my application, I was accepted into the MA in Modern History program at Queen's University in Belfast (QUB). This blog is where I hope to share stories and experiences from my year at Queen's. Unlike my personal blog (dostendorff.blogspot.com) this one is exclusively focused on life at Queen's. Throughout the year I hope to post pictures, videos, paper excerpts, and stories.

I'm looking forward to the adventure. I leave on Sep. 15th for Belfast, N. Ireland. But, until then, I have work to do on getting loans taken care of and preparing to move overseas for a year. Just under 6 weeks and counting!