The good news I received earlier today is that my article on John Webber's 1966 abridged translation of Verne's Around the world in eighty days has been accepted for publication in the online journal of Verne studies, Verniana. The peer reviewer has suggested some minor changes. So once the article in its final form has been submitted in the next few days, I will post a copy of it on this blog.
I am also translating, for the first time into English, some lesser-known fiction by Jules Verne (some of which was allegedly written and/or amended by his son Michel Verne), as part of a project being undertaken by the North American Jules Verne Society (NAJVS). I referred to this translation assignment in a recent posting, without specifying at the time, the exact nature of the literary translation work in question. I am currently reading, with fascination, the works in question, including a novella entitled Pierre-Jean by Jules Verne, and what is apparently his son's extended version of this novella, entitled La Destinée de Jean Morenas. I will be translating some critical materials on these works also. So lots to keep me busy for a while, in tandem with my job applications and thesis corrections, publication work, etc.
My book proposal is currently being studied by a scholarly publishing house, so this is an exciting time on the translational and publication fronts. At least having the article accepted by Verniana is, thus far, a hugely encouraging piece of news.
I've also been applying for French lecturing posts advertised in a number of smaller, and very interesting looking, USA liberal arts colleges and technological universities; one of the smaller colleges in question was founded by the Benedictine order and has an ethos based on that of St Benedict and his religious order, while another has an affiliation with the Lutheran church. As somebody who was educated here in Ireland, at primary and secondary school levels, by religious orders, viz. the Presentation Sisters, the Sisters of Mercy and the Christian Brothers, the possibility of returning to an educational environment which has a religious ethos, is tantalising. I think I would welcome the fact that I would be teaching and researching against a backdrop of certain moral, ethical and religious principles which should inform all of college life.
I notice that many of the USA universities to which I am currently applying, seek a 'Statement of Teaching Philosophy' from each candidate. One of the colleges had an interesting variation on this requirement, viz. in my application to them for a French lecturing and research post, I had to include an audio recording of myself speaking for a few minutes, in what they described as 'impromptu French', about my approach to teaching French. This had to be included on a CD-ROM (or an old-fashioned tape, but I managed to record myself on CD) and furnished by post as part of a 'hard copy' application, as well as registering with the college online.
Thanks to Mr Conor Sullivan of the School of Education here in DCU, I surmounted, without too many wounds, the technological hurdle of recording myself on CD. Conor kindly gave me a digital dictaphone into which I spoke in French for a few minutes, and he then sent it to various parts of my computer drives, e-mail, etc. and put it on a CD for me. So the CD and application has now been posted to the USA, and I have a copy of the recording to listen to again should I need to. Thank you, Conor!
What do others out there think about teaching philosophies? If anyone would like to share their thoughts on their own pedagogical approaches, or has suggestions as to what constitutes a sound philosophy of teaching, your comments would be very welcome. I tried to locate some reputable online articles for advice on drafting my own philosophy. The advice given in one reputable article was to think about your own approaches to learning, what works for you as a learner, and to think about the teachers and professors who personally inspired you over the years. What was it you liked about their teaching methods? Conversely, what didn't work for you? What have you learnt from your own experiences of teaching to date, however wide (or limited) that experience might be? Above all, the advice is to give copious examples from your own experience, rather than making aspirational, abstract (waffly?) statements. And have fellow students/supervisors, etc. look over your draft philosophy of teaching before you submit it. I drafted a philosophy, and tried to make it as honest and personal as possible, but I don't know yet how it would stand up to the scrutiny of an academic Search Committee or an education studies specialist. I will try to copy it onto this blog and ask for your comments and advice, which I would appreciate very much... Apparently I do have at least one reader out there (je vous remercie, Madame!). So if there are others, please drop in and say hi/or leave a comment... It's starting to feel decidedly isolated out here in cyberspace... Also, while I think of it, I kept a personal Reflective Journal of the PhD research process over the last two years. I will review it and see whether any of it might make for an interesting blog posting or two.
Finally, a fellow doctoral researcher in Literary Translation is currently visiting me for a few days here in DCU. His name is Humberto Burcet-Roja, and he is based at the University of Tarragona in Spain. His supervisor is Professor Anthony Pym. Humberto's research specialism is the study of Pacific literatures in translation, with a particular focus on the indigenous Maori literature of New Zealand. I will try to post further details of Humberto's very interesting work on this blog in future articles. He is due to submit his thesis in the coming months. I got to know Humberto last year, in August, 2008, at the CETRA doctoral summer school on literary translation and Interpreting Studies, where he was one of my fellow students and presenters of his research. Since then, many of us who attended that two-week summer school have kept in contact through group e-mail and Facebook, and this has proved to be a wonderful network of new Translation Studies scholars from across the world. CETRA has also started an online forum called TS-DOC, which you should check out at some stage. It aims to coordinate doctoral research in Translation Studies internationally.
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