MDRW 15 - Thesis Week
Monday March 30, 2020, marked the start of the third week of virtual schooling for PCA students.
For MDRW students, Monday’s typically meant attending the Intermediate Theory and Methodology course, followed by the Thesis Writing course. However, just as all of PCA has had to adjust to online classes, professor Hiie Saumaa, who leads the Intermediate Theory and Methodology course, held her second week of Zoom class sessions, in which students discussed the articles assigned for that week’s reading, and the upcoming symposium, which will now be held online.
Professor Martin Phelps, who teaches the Thesis Writing course, has been busy electronically correcting students’ thesis drafts and holding individual meetings over Zoom. As the one-year Master of Arts students’ theses are due Monday, April 6, this week was filled with last-minute corrections and edits to make sure the paper’s follow PCA’s style guide.
Wednesday, MDRW students had individual meetings with professor Véronique Devoldère to discuss their semester projects regarding the Collaboration course. These meetings started in the morning, and lasted until lunch time, when all the MDRW students and Véronique met at 12:15pm to have a group session and catch up.
Following the group session, as a one-year MA student, I had a meeting with my thesis advisor to discuss the most recent version of my paper that I had sent him. The meeting lasted around an hour, as we looked through my paper and discussed points in which I could strengthen my central argument, as well as areas that didn’t necessarily aid in the overall answering of my research question and could be omitted. This meeting with my thesis advisor would be the last before the official turn-in of my paper the coming Monday.
Thursday at 5pm, MDRW students virtually gathered on Zoom to attend this week’s Professional Networking Series presentation, which highlighted Troy Therrien, a curator for the Guggenheim Museum. Troy explained to students how he began in the tech world, eventually getting a degree in architecture, and now currently curates for one of the most celebrated museums in the world.
His talk was inspirational but casual, engaging with students and even getting their opinions on the current state of the art world. This course ended the third week of online schooling for MDRW students, leading into a weekend of perfect weather.
Parisians are still allowed out to exercise alone within a one-kilometer radius of their homes. However, now, all exercise must commence before 10am in the morning or after 7pm in the evening, in hopes that the daytime hours become less populated. This means more sunset runs for fitness fans. Can’t complain.