theyellowhobbit

I got an A- in Death and an A- on my Jewish Studies paper. I supposedly have an A- for the 2nd semester of the anthro thesis, and something for the Bronze Age, but neither of those are up.

On the one hand, I feel like that thesis deserves an A. On the other hand, Ben is being very generous with the Bronze Age, so that makes up for it.

So all in all, a good semester, and a good college career. I got my honors. I get to graduate. And I have proof to the world that I'm a smart, well-educated individual.

Ben spent most of our last meeting today talking about the Dos and Don'ts of Harvard. For example, when a professor asks me who I am, I should say I'm Rachel Adler, I went to Penn for undergrad, and I'm interested in studying the archaeology of purity in religion[s]. It's all about the key words, since I get about 15 seconds, and if I say I'm not sure what I'm interested in, I'll disappear into that mass of undecided students. And I don't want to be labeled as strictly Judaic studies, since I'm more interested in the archaeological and anthropological aspects of purity, and now I'm out to study other religions.

Of course, if someone asks where I am religiously, I'll say I'm Jewish. If they want more than that, things become difficult to explain. the other div students will be sympathetic to the whole post-denominational thing, but if I only have 15 seconds to explain my religious affiliation, I'm not sure what to say. People will try to categorize me, and I don't fit the categories. I guess "halachic egal" works best here.

I have cookies if anyone would like one. Chocolate chip m&m.

Ben also talked to me about how archaeology is a very male-dominated, "patriarchal" field, and some people think that women should not run digs. However, this is changing. Zahara, where I'm digging this summer, is run by Susan Cohen. Yotvata, where I otherwise would have been, is run by Jodi Magness and Gwyn Davies. Katy Galor ran Appolonia last year, although she's not excavating this summer. Liz Bloch-Smith had a team of her own at Dor, although she does not run the entire excavation. Trudy Dothan ran the excavations at Tel Miqneh (Ekron). Etc. So someone will fund me and let me find shiny miqva'ot.

And even though I'm "done" Ben told me to read Susan Cohen's thesis on the Bronze Age. It's in my backpack now.