I’m still trying to get my (possible) trip to Northwestern University organised. It’s been a little stop-start from the beginning, but despite the obstacle of limited time (it’s now less two months until I am supposed to go), I’m feeling relatively optimistic about the prospects of it happening.

I’ve been reluctant to post anything here related to it, partly because the proposal has never been concrete, but also because I don’t want to say anything which might prejudice my chances of being able to make it happen.

Regardless, I now seem to have Strathclyde in the right frame of mind about the whole thing: they are now happy to approve me going over, course choices permitting, now that they’re clear that I’m not actually asking them to do anything actively - just to rubber-stamp the proposal. I would need to defer taking my January exams until the resit period in August, but that’s no biggie, I think.

I’m waiting for various responses from Northwestern at the moment.

The rough plan is that I go in January and take 4 classes there during the Winter and Spring terms, and do research work for Professor Goldman and Spoken Word while I’m over there (unpaid most certainly - which is fine).

If I want to take Honours History or History as part of a Joint Honours course when I come back, I have to figure out a way of taking Strathclyde’s Historiography class remotely (not likely to be possible). But I’m leaning towards Politics anyway so I’m willing to forgo that option to make this all happen. I could also defer honours till the next year after I come back in order to be able to take that class in semester two next term and give me the history option.

If the visit happens, I’m sure it’ll be amazing. If it doesn’t, it will be very disappointing, as I’ve been trying to organise this for a while. But I have my eye on other things as well.

Either way, I’m going to buy myself a Core 2 Duo MacBook