Chapel-Hill-Coug's Intro:
 

I'm finally getting around to realizing that I haven't introduced myself to the board, so here goes:

I'm originally from Sanpete County, Utah.

I was homeschooled until the 9th grade (no lie).

Served an LDS mission in Texas, Fort Worth (English Speaking) from '94 to '96.

Did my undergrad at BYU in Classics and Political Science (double major), where I read a ton of Greek and some Latin and Hebrew.

Entered a Ph.D. program in Religious Studies at UNC Chapel Hill. Currently, I am taking time off from school, but have finished my Masters degree and all coursework toward the Ph. D.

I am now managing a business that my wife and I own and she operates (in Lindon). I also participate in the business, offering one of its services. Between this, I am able to stay home (I live in south Utah County) and take care of my 4 year old daughter. When she goes into first grade, I plan on pursuing any teaching opportunities I can find, though I'm probably limited to Utah Valley for those opportunities. Whether any of this means that I write a dissertation and finish my Ph.D. is still undecided.

My academic interests are Early Christian and Jewish history, LDS history, and the history and methods of Science.

My personal interests are Photography, Hiking, Movies, playing video games now and then, and Poker.

Let me know if there is anything I left out that you want to know.

How much do you hate Coach Krzxyxyzrkkyxrkyxyky and Duke?

It's nice to officially meet you, Chapel.

My husband was homeschooled, too (no lie).

I understand your mission was English-speaking, but I hope you picked up some Texan while you were there.

[Note to Gerdy: If you ever work in Texas, the proper way to predict precipitation is with the phrase "fixin to." As in, "It's fixin to rain."]

LOL, yes, and the proper way to announce that you are about to do something is: "I'm fixin' to have to _insert task_". While knocking on doors I heard a lot of "I'm fixin' ta have ta go to work, so I can't talk to you boys."

I was thinking about that, but I think that if I used words like "fixin'", I might be shunned as an intellectual by my peers, I've heard that Weather Scientists aren't all that bright and they feel threatened when people start talking above them.
________
xLove2SQUIRT

I also like the past tense: "I done did that already."

During our time in Texas, I was amazed at all of the conjugations/variants of ya'll.

ya'll
ya'll's
all ya'll
all ya'll's

etc.

You must not have in Texas long enough...the apostrophe actually goes after the y. :)

As in: All y'all guys.

Pardon me. It's been a long time.

Like the word/concept "chez" in french, "y'all" is another term that would be useful to have in English.

vous? or chez?

Chez. Like Chez vous, or Chez nous, or chez vous autres (for you quebecois fans in the audience, and forgive the lack of proper punctuation). These terms just don't translate directly into english without extra words, and are very handy. Just like Y'all.

As you may have noticed, it was also supposed to be a comment on the language that y'all speak in Texas (I know you're not from TX, but go with me here).

You know, I spent my whole growing up thinking it was spelled y'all. Then I had some English major convince me it was ya'll, and I changed it. I shoulda known to trust my roots. :)

The history of y'all, per Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y'all

CHC, after doing all of that work why would you even consider not finishing that PhD?

talk about a thread hijack of epic proportions we have a scholar and religious aficionado gracing us with his presence and all we can talk about is the correct spelling of Y'all?

I am surprised Seattleute is not on here chastising all of you.

That's really cool about your school work! My father just finished his PhD at the age of 46 and he feels like a new man. As you can imagine after a bachelors 2 masters and now his PhD. Good luck on finishing it! What your business and what is the service you do?

Well, writing a diss is really no small matter. It'll probably take a full-time chunk of about 2.5 to 3 years to finish. I'm not one of these that can whip a dissertation out in a year to a year and a half. The second issue is that if I can teach what I want to teach without playing the academic games (research > publishing > tenure) I'd be more than happy. In fact, the view from the inside of academia was kind of scary at times, and I question whether becoming a prof would be good for my family in the long run. Third, even if I wished, I don't have much of an opportunity to play the academic game in Utah Valley. UVSC would pretty much be my only shot and that is a small basket to put your eggs in. And if I'd like to keep my family intact, which I do, and allow my wife to live her dream, which I do, then this is where it's at for me. Oh, and fourth, I can't and/or won't teach at the Y. Not religion, anyhow. And there are too many Mormons doing real classics programs to have any hope of a career in the classics dept, I think.

But hell, I'm just glad to have gotten the education I did. It changed my life for the better, for a huge number of complicated reasons involving both myself and my family, and I'll be forever glad I did it. Teaching NT, Early Judaism, and OT lectures and recitations was one of the highlights of my life as well. But, who knows, anything can happen, and time will tell.

A really stupid question, but with your credentials, would teaching at a prep school be of any interest, or do you intend to enter the dirty field of business, making your millions to retire to become a gentleman skeptic and intellect?

I didn't see anything in your statement about not wanting to teach seminary though. I hear Springville High School may be looking for a release-time teacher next year. Plus CES has great medical benefits - a real drawing point for a self-employed young family with small children.

Plus there may be a killer donut stipend.

Yes, I'm open to the possibility. The main thing for me is that I'd like to teach what I know from a historical perspective. I can't do that teaching at the Y, or in CES.

PS - For bluegoose: I'm way too much of a skeptic and spiritually dead to be teaching in CES. I've been approached about teaching on a trial basis at the Y (which is how they hire all their teachers) but at this point I just make it easy for them by letting them know they probably wouldn't want me ;-).

Well, actually you're doing us a disservice by not teaching. We need all perspectives.

However, a well-healed prep school might be fun, if you could teach advanced placement classes. For example, my son is thirteen but he'd much enjoy classes you could teach, but he's not in Utah.

This is what my friend has decided to do. He's a PhD in math and just finished his first year teaching at a residential high school somewhere back East. He was trying to avoid the headaches associated with university faculty-status, but he's found high school has a different set of headaches. Archaea's right, though, it's an option to consider.

I agree. How can you be so selfish?

A few years back I would have thought this. But then I received a summer research fellowship at BYU (this was 3 summers ago I think) where I and a few other LDS grad students from around the country worked closely with the top ranking profs from the Reli department, and a couple from FARMS.

Without getting into the nitty gritty, let me assure both you and Archaea that the "disservice" is not on my part. That seminar confirmed what I had suspected but that the idealist in me didn't see, namely, that the dept will never be anything other than a glorified seminary program. The historical-critical approach to sacred texts is NOT welcome there, beyond a very touched up, patronizing version of it. This could change but it will take a long time.

I was actually kidding, trying to poke Arch a little. I say do what ever you feel like doing, without running afoul of the church spies (of course, need I even add this?).

I actually dropped out of seminary. Maybe that's my rpoblem.

One of them, creek. One of them.

Good point. Thanks for keeping me where I need to be (my wife will be glad to know that someone fills her spot during the day).

Couldn't one smuggle oneself, act the part and then gradually ease the good stuff on in?