Anya’s Thursday was centered around getting well, which means resting (watching Netflix, braiding hair, a perhaps a little math but no online English course yet).
My Thursday was centered around Knut’s Maasai research project, the prestigious grant from the state of Norway. I took the bus to MHS and joined in the Hebrew reading session, which wasn’t expected of me, but I figured it was good to keep in the Hebrew text. Knut added quite a bit of commentary on textual criticism, which was very informative and filling a gap for me, so I really am glad I participated. We worked through three verses!
The next two hours were discussing Vincent Donovan’s book, Christianity Rediscovered, which is his autobiographical reflections on first-contact evangelism with the Maasai in the Loliondo area in the mid-1960s. The discussion included integration into our PhD projects and other research projects. It was good conversation and gracious challenging to stretch our thinking.
At the end, I asked Knut for his reflections on the PhD defense from yesterday, and if he were her coach, how would he have coached her. There was quite a bit of discussion about the challenges of multi-disciplinary disputations, as you need opponents who can speak to the multiple aspects of the dissertation as there are probably not individuals who are equipped to address them. He gave examples of a dissertation from Oslo that compared the “science of theatre” with liturgical practices, so you needed experts in liturgy and experts in theatre.
The wake up call for me was that Knut suggested that a committee for me and the other Maasai projects could include an anthropologist who has studied the Maasai. This would be interesting, as the typical anthropologist (or at least the stereotype) is pretty antagonistic to religious practitioners who aren’t indigenous. However, I did clarify that there is a report that the committee of opponents writes, which gives a sense of where some or most of the questioning will go in the defense. So, at least I won’t be going in “blind.”
Sidenote: In traditional Norwegian houses, there is a threshold between each room. Not only would this be limiting for a Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner, it would be difficult for those with walkers or wheelchairs. However, none of these are in our life currently. I am glad that I can and I enjoy walking, as I walk to the bus, to the bank, to the store, to the school.