The experiences of this professor...

I've been in the professor business for a year now.  In fact, it was one year ago today that I officially received my Ph.D. at Penn State, right at the same time that I was starting as a new gig as an assistant professor at the University of South Carolina.  (Actually, I defended my dissertation in June, which signals the end of the Ph.D.-quest; but that's the kind of thing I can talk about here.)

I thought I might use this space to think out loud about what it is I do.  Professors are supposed to teach, do research, and provide service.  What does "Teaching, Research, and Service" really mean? 

I happen to be teaching a course called "University 101" this fall; a course designed to help new students make the transition to university life.  There are, of course, some parallels to becoming a new professor and even though I am in my "sophomore" year as a professor I think teaching this course might spur me to think about some interesting (at least to me) issues to talk about.

Maybe after trying out this blogging approach for a while people can stop asking, "What is it that you do?" (probably to be replaced with, "Seriously, that is what you do?").  

So, let's see how this goes...