12 Weeks Down: Thanks are in Order

It's Thanksgiving, and there is a brief lull in what has been an overwhelming semester. I wanted to take a moment to thank a bunch of people who have gotten me through the 12 weeks so far and who will (I hope) sustain me for the next 3.5 weeks (or at least be there to comfort me if I fall to bits).

Thanks to the friends I already had in Philadelphia. I couldn't have take the plunge and moved without Darren and Lisa's hospitality or knowing there'd be some friendly faces around town.

Thanks to Joel Nofziger and Devin Manzullo-Thomas, who got me writing history again and who will usually patiently listen to my half-baked proto-theses about Anabaptist history.

Thank you to my Eastern State Penitentiary family. I'll be leaving you all soon but don't worry, I'll be back. You have been as good a work environment as I could hope for, filled with genuine friends and role models. If I didn't know it before, the weeks since the election have made clear what good eggs you all are.

My professors at Temple have been wonderful! Thank you, Dr. Rita Krueger, Dr. Seth Bruggeman, and Dr. Hilary Iris Lowe, for throwing just so much information at us and being gracious when it didn't all stick. Thank you for checking in on our emotional well-being and also being totally frank with us about the bleak job market.

And then there's the "us": the cohort. Thank you to (in alphabetical order) Angie, Charlie, Chelsea, Cynthia, Derek, Derek, and John.* There are other folks in the wider History Department who have been an important part of my semester, but these kids are the real deal. They've also been blogging about Managing History and you should check out some of their work:

- Charlie

- Chelsea

- Cynthia

- Derek

- John

I am very, very lucky to have you all around me.

It's Thanksgiving, and I'd be unconscionably remiss if I didn't mention my family. I've enjoyed being just a train ride away from an overnight with my parents and I am very much looking forward to time with cousins and --at Christmas-- time with my far-flung sister, Justine. It's enough to make me break out the Tim Minchin a bit early:

In conclusion, thank you. I have missed many people in this accounting; thanks to all of those who've I've forgotten or elided.

*Angie isn't continuing with us but made an indelible impression in her time with us. We all miss her!