I hesitate to say anything just yet because nothing is set in stone, but I’m so excited about the prospect, I can barely stand it. One of my scholarly heroes – an academician and all-around fantastic person who I fondly consider both a mentor and friend – might co-author a paper with me.

We will talk about it in more detail in the next couple of weeks (after finals!) and begin to hone in on a topic of mutual interest. What is so fantastic about this project – besides the chance to work alongside one of my favorite people – is that it tremendously boosts the clout, so to speak, for my work. The odds of getting published in an academic journal as a grad student writing solo are less than if you were to collaborate with a faculty member. (Ok, so I don’t have the stats handy, but I’m pretty sure the odds are slim. Someone should do a study on that, LOL!)

I shared some preliminary thoughts earlier this semester about my dissertation, and that general topic still interests me very much, but if we’re able to publish something in this new endeavor, then it may very well sway my dissertation plans. That’s all good, though … it’s still plenty early to mull things over and explore various topics.

The one thing two things that I want to keep in mind, regardless of the topic I choose, come from a critical comment that I read not too long ago about Public Administration as a concentration within Political Science, in general:

1) The field is under-researched.

2) Research must add knowledge to the discipline, not just rehash previous work.

I aim to accomplish both goals. Presenting at the conference last week was my first step toward Goal #1, and hopefully this collaborative paper will make strides toward both goals.

Seatbelts on … here we go!