Fall Semester Shake-down

Some of you have expressed a curiousity about what courses I'm taking this fall at Columbia. Others of you may have such a curiousity, but have chosen not to express it out of politeness. The majority of you probably don't care.

But ah well.

Officially, I'm enrolled in the Islamic Studies M.A., a Liberal Studies program within Columbia's Graduate School of Arts & Sciences (GSAS) - that is, the academic wing, to be differentiated from Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) - a practical/policy institute for recent graduates and veteran professionals alike.

Now, due to the nature of my particular program, I am allowed to take basically any class I want - in GSAS or SIPA - so long as I can make an argument that it is related to "Islamic" studies, or in some way relevant to my upcoming (and still not formally declared) M.A. thesis.

So I'm a kid in a candy store, and the only treats I'm not allowed to touch are the bland ones. This does make narrowing the field a bit difficult, but with a thesis focusing on Central Asia in the 19th and 20th centuries... well, let's say I may have over-represented just how much of the goodies are within arm's reach.

Still, it's never hard to put together a good semester when you only need 4 classes to win, and here's what I'm looking at for the next 3 months:


SOCIOLOGY - State & Nation in Multi-Ethnic Societies
Doesn't sound like a shoe-in, I know. In fact, I attended the first day of class just out of curiousity, wondering if I could somehow adapt what I might learn to fit with the topics I'm working on (Central Asia is a confusing region for "ethnology." Technically, most modern countries contain one ethnic majority, but that's not always the one afterwhich the country is named, and all such categories are Russian inventions from the 1920s).
Much to my surprise (and I think basically all the sociologists & SIPA kids in attendance), this is a class on historical sociology, specifically one that considers the multi-ethnic empires like Russia, the Ottomans and the Hapsburgs. Not only am I already familiar with some of Prof. Barkey's work, I've actually based a term paper on it. Home Run.

HISTORY - US, the Middle East, and the Cold War
When I came to Columbia, I was hoping to focus on the Non-Levant (Israel) Middle East in the mid-20th century to present; basically, Egypt-Iran-Iraq-Gulf during the Cold War. As it turns out, my attentions & curiosities led me in other directions, but I wasn't going to pass up the chance to take a course with Prof. Khalidi, especially not 4 months after he just published a critically-acclaimed new book on the subject. I must admit I do feel a little guilty - the class was more than double-booked (40 students for 20 spots), and there are a lot of very qualified students who would sacrifice a kidney to get my seat. But what do I need a 3rd kidney for?

INTERNAT'L AFFAIRS - Elections & Political Development
To be honest, this class has very little to do with my thesis (as it stands now). This isn't so much about learning more stuff as it is being able to apply some of my experience from this summer. Having been an active witness to a "semi-democratic" fixed election in Kyrgyzstan this summer, I'm eager to put my "on the ground" experience to academic use. As an added bonus, the course is taught by Prof. Lincoln Mitchell, who is actually one of the people I interviewed this summer while he was in Bishkek. Should be a great opportunity to hone my observations and put together a paper of real weight - at least, within the heavy subject matter of Kyrgyz democracy promotion.

HISTORY - Central Asia: Imperial Legacies, New Images
What seems like the most obvious choice on my schedule was actually the last, and least likely, addition. In the entire GSAS-SIPA matrix, there are a total of 4 courses that exclusively deal with Central Asia. Two are taught each semester by Prof. Rafis Abazov and Gulnar Kendirbai. Last fall I took Abazov, last spring Kendirbai. Due to the minimal level of student interest, all four courses are essentially introductory to the material, though with some different focuses and directions. As a result, I wasn't initially too excited about taking a second course which will cover 70% of the same material. But then I got thinking. While introduction to new concepts and new authors is an important part of grad work, I'm going to get to take this class (mostly full of undergrad seniors with no background in Central Asia) with the benefit of just a little personal experience, and frankly a lot of background knowledge. There will still be a lot of reading, but since I'm already familiar with the historical contours, I should be able to relax a little and take it all in like a book on the beach. At least, that's the theory. Plus, I can make the paper as new/challenging as I want. And I needed a 4th class.


Other options which I declined for various reasons (which I won't go into now) were:

"Post-Soviet Politics & Markets," "International Politics of Iran since 1979," "Mughal India," and "Political Identity, Civil War & State Reform in Congo."

It's a rough life.

Weber
::(lame) Texpatriot

Wedding Biz Update

As those of you who follow the personal details of my life already know quite well, I am getting married to my long-time girlfriend Shelley in January. I proposed in May, and then promptly left for Kyrgyzstan for the next 2 months. Not the best way to bask in the post-proposal glow, btw.

While I was abroad, Shelley was not adequately preoccupied - professionally or otherwise - and decided to go back and visit family in Houston, just a (very long) stone's throw from our wedding site in San Antonio. Whatever the chemical formula for (Shelley) + (time) - (distractions) is, it needs to be plastered in all places of employment right alongside the beloved Choking Ahogo placards.

By the time I returned to the states, Shel had virtually the entire wedding planned. Venue, menu, reception, officiants, flowers, cake, even her dress was done. What remained were those items designated as my responsibility: Invitations, Music, and Groom's attire.

So how's all that coming?

Let's just say that (Ryan) + (time) tends to = (distractions).

What can I say? I'm a curious little critter.

Or, as I like to say, "Hey, I already did the proposal..."

But progress has been made, and without giving anything too juicy away, I thought I'd post a few whatnots for anyone who might be curious.

This is what our Save the Date looks like (go go VistaPrint) when tacked to my bulletin board - a constant reminder that I have a girl I love even when she's far away - and a helpful reminder that even happy things like weddings still have deadlines.

If you haven't received one of these yet... well, I don't know what to tell you. It's either lost in the mail, we simply don't have room even though we love you to death, or we're just jerks.

The invitations themselves will be printed in San Antonio - hopefully by a former business contact... if he'll ever get back to me! We scoped out a lot of wedding invitation specialists, but most of them wanted to do much fancier details than we cared about ("will that be Letter Press, or Thermography?"), and all of them were beyond the budget we set up.

So we just designed it ourselves. We could have gone with a pre-made design - there are certainly lots that look excellent - but what's the point of having a working knowledge of Photoshop and a very talented Graphic designer as a close friend if you can't pull off something custom when the occasion warrants? (btw - Thanks to Laura Glaess, for creating our key graphic element).

Here's a tasty teaser for what the Back of the invitation and response card should look like.

While we sort out the specifics of getting the invitations printed, preparations continue on the other miscellany of sending out an old-fashioned snail-mailing to 150 of your closest friends/relatives/etc. We've been checking, double-checking, (and no small amount of fretting) over our invite list, confirming spellings and getting addresses. Then there's the issue of envelopes.

Finding and purchasing the right ones was no big deal (thanks to paperandmore.com), but they all still need to be addressed, including return addresses. Lots of wedding stationary people will print this info directly on the envelope for you... for a price.

But I'm marrying a former elementary school teacher. "Why don't we just buy a custom rubber stamp for $10?" Most useful M.A. degree ever?

With the addition of a black ink pad (for the "soft orchid" return envelopes) and some super-cool silver ink (for the main "deep purple" envelopes), I was in business.

Pronouns switch from "we" to "I" because at this point Shelley left New York for a 2 month tour based out of San Antonio, and thus my responsibilities became exclusively mine to achieve.

I won't bore you (further) about the difficulties and delicacies of working with silver ink, attempting to maintain horizontal stamping, or finding enough work space to lay out 200 envelopes to dry in a New York studio apartment. Instead, I'll let the visuals (and results) speak for themselves:



And how are we/I coming with the music and Groom's attire...

I'll have to get back to you on that on. But I'll promise not to watch the ink dry, if you promise not to hold your breath.

Weber
::(lame) Texpatriot

New to Newark

As some of you know, since January I've been fortunate enough to be gainfully employed as a part-time assistant to Phil Schaap, Curator of Jazz at Lincoln Center. My Phil-duties are varied, and rely much more on my knack for figuring out new things than on any particular professional experience I happen to possess. The thrust of our efforts thus far has been into the realm of independent Jazz book publishing. In fact, I'm quite proud to announce that our first book - a republication of This is Ragtime by Terry Waldo - is just being released and we're very happy with the end result. I guess I should probably post something more formal about it, but for now you'll just have to live with this link to our sales portal (soon to be rebuilt for the 21st century).

With This is Ragtime now on the shelves, my duties swell to include marketing and academic/library sales, but my core job is still book layout/design/research/production. Our next project is a biography focusing on the early period of Duke Ellington by the late Columbia professor Mark Tucker.

Part of bringing a book (that never existed digitally) back into publication is reassembling the original material. For text, this means a lot of scanning and copy-editing. For music scores this means new transcriptions. For images, it usually involves either access to the author's personal collection, or digging through one of only a handful of nationally-recognized Jazz archives.

One is at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in DC, and another is the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University, Newark NJ.

And so last Wednesday, with the author unfortunately no longer around to help us reassemble his sources, I set out on a field trip to the distant (mythical?) land of Newark.

For those not familiar with the geography of NY/NJ, they are separated by the Hudson river, but not actually very far apart. In fact, WBGO, one of the biggest Jazz radio stations in the world, is broadcast from Newark into New York (it's cheaper). If commercial FM radio can reach, you understand the limited distance we're talking about.

To accomplish this travel (one-way) required in total 10 minutes of walking, 20 minutes on a subway, and another 20 minutes on the NJTransit Northeast Corridor train. Grand total: $6.25

When the NJTransit train emerges from under the Hudson, about 4 minutes from NYC, you are immediately struck by the transformation. Grass! Space! Sky!

While I got the impression that Newark wasn't exactly the pearl of New Jersey (if NJ has a pearl...), I must say I was struck by how nice it looked in my brief time there. Newark Penn Station (left) is great, and the downtown area was thriving - if only 10% as manic as Manhattan.




Rutgers University is located practically within downtown Newark, so I had another short walk on a beautiful September afternoon - no sweat there. Much like the city in which it is enveloped, Rutgers is a great campus. In the dead center of it is the Dana Library (at left), on the 4th floor of which you will find the famed Institute of Jazz Studies.


IJS is a storehouse for a variety of Jazz archive material, from sound recordings and photographs to physical documents like concert posters, personal correspondences, and even musical instruments played by famous musicians. In the world of Jazz Miscellany, IJS is a very humble but holy Mecca.

My task was to locate 5 photographs from the Driggs Collection which were featured in the original publication of my Tucker project. To achieve this, I was handed two piles of photographs, and I got to flip through them - carefully - until I found what I was looking for. Unfortunately, the effort was only a partial success. By the end of the day, I left with digital scans for 3 of the 5 I needed, and one potential alternate photo to replace another, in case I wasn't able to find the original. That's progress, but it leaves me with few options to find the remaining images - - looks like I might be DC bound in the near future.

So long as I was in Newark - and enjoying the lack of noise, crowds, and general NYC grime - I decided to have dinner and explore downtown more thoroughly. It was really wonderful, though I suspect Newark is only a wonderland to those looking to escape New York. I happen to be just such a person.


when it was finally time to go, I got another $4 ticket back to NYC, boarded a slightly-less upscale train, and braced myself for reintegration into the press of humanity. Newark was in no way like "going to the country" or any other true escape from the metropolitan mash, but it was certainly the type of excursion that makes one want for more excuses to do archival research.

Weber
::(lame) Texpatriot