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Conference Abstract—20% Write a 200 word (maximum) double-spaced description of an imagined presentation you wish to make that identifies a philosophical or theoretical problem, articulates a purpose or thesis statement, and from that point describes how you will respond to the problem.

Well, 'meeting' #1 of my PhD journey is done! As this is a seminar course focussed more on empowerment and conversation, our prof likes to call our weekly get-togethers 'meetings'. Ok.

As is standard in the first introduction to a course, there was the typical conversation about the course outline and where we would be headed and such things....

This is the version of my concept analysis which I submitted for assessment.

• Rev1: Added instructor feedback in red.
• Rev2: Addressed instructor feedback in red.

By this time next year, I need to have zeroed in on a research agenda for this PhD.

Here are my thoughts as of now...they're a little rambly, so bear with me.

Tonight marks the fourth meeting of our class exploring discourses in education at UVic. We are a fairly small class or 14 new PhD and 3 MEd students who meet for 3 hours per week. We are a diverse group with people from Tanzania, Nigeria, Brazil, Mexico, Australia, Barbados, Canada, and other countries I can't recall. Many of the group have moved themselves and their families from far-off places to study in Victoria, and at least one is still unsure about being able to secure a study visa. It's an expensive prospect.

The primary focus of this paper is a discussion of what seems to be a controversy about how and when to teach ethnography to under-graduates. As such, it's a little peripheral to my needs right now, but there are some very interesting examples of ways to get students thinking ethnographically that I found compelling.

Inclusion and cultural acceptance of LGBTQ students and staff is still a problem and this article highlights some of the challenges faced by members of the LGBTQ community infinding support, promoting acceptance in public, and avoiding 'outing' those who need confidential support but who may be harmed if the broader community is aware of their identity.

As I get into this course and seek strategies for writing while I read, I'm finding that this blog is a decent spot for doing that. It is one thing to doze your way through readings and presume that you have caught enough of the argument to have an intelligent conversation in class, but it is another to actively consider prompts and questions (conveniently provided by our prof) and write responses that can be exposed to a wider community who might actually respond!

Here is the first prompt for this article:

Why/how is knowledge about (un)familiar school cultures important?

This post is just a lot of thinking out loud. There is no coherent argument found here. Consider yourself warned.