In the last week I’ve:

• been on four trains;
• visited London and Sheffield;
• given two presentations;
• re-evaluated my future career plans; and
• eaten some fantastic food courtesy of the AHRC.

Last Monday I travelled down to the British Library once more (but hopefully not for the last time) to hand over the final version of the catalogue and give a presentation on the project at the Asia and Africa Section’s Doctoral Open Day.

Then on Tuesday I headed north to Sheffield for a three day workshop hosted by the White Rose East Asia Centre. I had been invited to give a presentation based on my research and I chose to talk about the Arts Council of Great Britain’s exhibition Peasant Paintings from Hu County, which toured the country in 1976-7. You can read more in chapter 5 of my book –> a spot of shameless self-promotion there!

With regards to my future career plans, well, I’m finally coming to terms with the likely fact that I won’t now secure that elusive full-time, permanent academic post, and the way things are in the sector right now, I’m not sure I’d want it, to be brutally honest (though I remain open to offers!). A part-time teaching fellowship, with time to do some consultancy work, and a bit of research and writing on the side, would suit me down to the ground.

Image by Matt Cornock, used under a Creative Commons license.