San Diego conference

new room
Originally uploaded by angie cat

Here is the view from the room I've been staying in for the conference in San Diego. Great view, no? SD is a great place and it has certainly been fun having the time here. I presented my paper Thursday morning at 8.15. I think it is always a bit stressful when the paper isn't presented until the dying days of the conference - it kind of weighs. Still, the session I was in went well. There were three other speakers who were addressing aspects of interview in qualitative inquiry. My paper was on transcription. The third speaker was an old friend from PhD days. Kathy (Roulston) is now an academic at the University of Georgia, Athens. We caught up afterwards and managed to talk for several hours over coffee. Since Kathy was also supervised by Carolyn Baker and does CA and MCA, we had a lot to talk about.

Oh, btw the paper was well received. The discussant said some kind things and a few people came up afterwards wanting a copy of the paper. I think my instinct about transcription has been a good one - there is plenty to be said and written about it from the perspective of qualitative research.

There have been a number of highlights for me at the conference. One was meeting Gordon Wells. I have long admired Gordon's work, particularly The Meaning Makers, the book he wrote about young children's talk at home and school. Another was hearing Eisner share his thoughts on his past work in the session "If i knew then what i know now". Eisner's words were very touching and reminded that conferences should be places where you think and share, rather than just present.