My lecture notes and seminar 'primary sources for discussion' are beginning to take shape....and the module outline is probably now publishable. Just lots and lots of reading of texts to do now to ensure I'm more on top of the subjects than the students.
In terms of the PhD, the focus is shifting ever more towards Eisenhower. Kennedy on space has been covered very well by a number of writers (notably John Logsdon in the last year), but Ike's space policy is still not understood properly and is still seen as a a response to Sputnik.
I'm addressing that to a degree in a paper submitted to 49th Parallel. I had the peer review report back over the weekend and was delighted to learn that, subject to minor revisions, it has been accepted for publication - another good step forward on the road to academe.
The key criticism was that it was a bit too short and didn't go deeply enough into Ike's pre-Sputnik actions nor address head on his space policy differences with JFK. I'd chopped some of this out of an earlier draft...so can revisit it. I'll also be looking at some of the more recent writing on Ike (though there isn't a whole lot this century!) to explore the lines they take. I actually think I've got a killer opening - but need to back my supposition with evidence, so will be diving back into my Abilene documents to back my hunch.
Anyway, between the module preparation and the article submission, I know what I'm doing for the next six weeks.
