It Has Begun

Well...it has happened. I have now successfully defended my dissertation proposal, and so have the green light to move forward on my project. The most interesting or amazing thing about this process is that by the time the proposal is defended and accepted, and, in fact, through the process of dialogue surrounding the proposal defense and its acceptance, the proposal itself becomes instantaneously outdated. I have been tempted to post the proposal itself in the interest of the free exchange of ideas, but, in the process of discussion and research, I fear that the exact words on the page and even some broader issues will turn to dust and ashes, but, at least, out of those ashes a new formulation will arise that bears some resemblance to its former instantiation.