I was finally able to arrange a visit to the University of Wisconsin at Madison. I have been trying to get this done for a couple of weeks now. Being in Chicago and largely unemployed, this seemed like a great idea. Madison is about 150 miles from Chicago, a drive very like the drive between NoVA and Williamsburg. A little rough getting out of the city, sensitive timing, but really easy after that.
I got out of the house with lots of little scraps of paper around 9.45AM, anticipating a 12.15PM arrival, which would give me plenty of time before my 1PM appointment. No such luck. Everything took longer than I expected. By the time I got out of the city, through 4 tolls, and found parking (and a source of quarters to feed the voracious meter), it was 12.45PM. Grr. So I hustled into Vilas, where I just caught the grad students to follow to their class. Which is a good thing, because I never would have found my way through that warren of offices. As it was, throughout the day, I never managed to exit Vilas the same way.
I got to sit in on the Avant-Garde Theatre class, discussing Artaud and Witkiewicz. I know a little about Artaud, especially having taken Absurdism, which seems like the next major genre movement after the Avant-Garde. It was an interesting, if tangential lecture. Headed back to the office to get MORE quarters, skate to meter, forget juice, skate (it was a wee bit treacherous) BACK to Vilas to meet with the head of Graduate Studies and resident expert on Performance and Gender studies. He seemed very interesting and eager to talk to me. Unfortunately, their website is so thorough, I really didn't have a lot of questions for him. Afterwards, I chatted with two of the current PhD students, both women. They were very helpful and candid.
(a view of the capitol from Washington Ave)By this point, I was STARVED, having only eaten a bowl of oatmeal about 7 hours prior, and dehydrated because I left my juice and water bottle in the car. With a recommendation from the super-helpful grad secretary, I drove past the Capitol, down Washington towards 90/94/39 and stopped at Ella's Deli.
(my booth. comparatively tame!)It was so fun. Classic deli that loves tchotchke. The food was classic deli - corned beef melt and yummy fries. But as soon as my food arrived it started to snow. Grr.
At least I was fed as I drove home from Wisconsin in the snow. It was a little dicey, because it was largely just flurries and in an early state, but it made it hard to distinguish the WHITE lines between lanes. So I just tried to follow taillights and favor the left until I found rumble strips. I can't say I felt unsafe, but I was definitely glad I had food and water in the car, since I didn't have cell reception. The snow stopped as soon as I hit Cook County, but of course, that's when I hit traffic.
In the end, I saw Madison at less than it's finest - about 10F, with snow all over, lots of construction, etc. I didn't really get a tour of the facilities, but I saw the inside of the offices and classrooms I would probably spend the most time. I still really like the program, which seems like a good place for my interests and talents. They have PhD students actually teaching classes, they require production experience, and they have alot of specialty areas, a large and collegial grad population, and the money to fund 3 years.
But the more I hear about it and seriously approach writing my Masters thesis, the more petrified I become. Is it a bad sign if I already question why I'm doing this?
(I'll post some pix when I get home from work.)
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