Already getting burnout!

Anyone have any suggestions on what to do about burnout -- and I haven't even finished my 2nd course??!! I'm in the master's program in Humanities/Religion at Harrison Middleton University. The curriculum, self-designed, is based entirely on the Great Books and the KJV Bible. Maybe it's because I'm doing one "topic" in the program and not one or more authors and ideas like most students do. However, there is sooooo much reading, including from the Old Testament, New Testament Bible and the Apocrypha and so far it's very repetitive to say the least. I'm just getting tired of the same subject and the same ideas from the authors, over and over ad nauseum, and I'm quickly losing interest. This is entirely for my personal growth and not for any academic or employer purposes. I'm retired and have plenty of time but quickly losing motivation.

Anyone have thoughts or experience in this? Help or suggestions would be very appreciated. Maybe there's no solution but to take a break after I'm done with this 2nd course, which is what I'm going to do.

 

If you can slow down the pace of the courses upon completion of the second course I would do so. Perhaps even taking regular 1-month breaks between courses combined with physical exercise - even 30 minutes a day walking in a quiet area - might help alleviate the burnout. Since you are studying for purely personal growth there is no need to push yourself beyond a pace with which you feel comfortable. Now it could be that the subject, namely religion, is not sufficiently compelling, therefore, your motivation is waning. Selecting a complementary subject such as philosophy either in its own right or in conjunction with religion might help with the "just getting tired of the same subject and the same ideas from the authors."

 

When you discover that the breadth of a topic is repetitive then you need to go for the depth. Dig baby. Dig deep. That's where the fun is.

 

I would take a break in between course (that is what I have done). This helps a lot.

 

Thank you!!

Thank you all for such quick replies. I think taking a one month break between courses will be very helpful. The depth is definitely there, that's why it's so repetitive -- the reading detail is excruciating! The breadth is required, since for every topic the specific readings from the Great Books are not negotiable so there's no wiggle room on that.


I love the subject of religion (I've found most of the philosophers other than the Greeks to be abstruse and incomprehensible) and the topic I've chosen is fascinating to me, but the reading is same old-same old. Gaaaa! I think the breaks will help. I've also learned to skim a lot but the reading requirements are still quite odious. I guess that's what does on in graduate work, eh?!

Again, I am truly grateful for your most excellent advice.

 

It is a pleasure to read a post from a fellow student at Harrison Middleton University. I am enrolled in the institution’s Doctor of Arts program and have completed the cornerstone course as well as my first self-designed course.

I understand you are doing the HMU master’s program. I concur with Kizmet’s suggestion about digging below the surface of the text. When I worked on my M.A. in Humanities by distance from California State University, Dominguez Hills, I maintained interest partly by developing a new synthesis from the readings. This involved building a theory of the arts which I continued to develop from concepts lifted from the various courses, finally distilling my ideas into a thesis at the end of the program. Then I turned the thesis into a little book on the arts titled The Aesthetikon. (www.adiatha.com).

Without that kind of personal intellectual investment I imagine the coursework might seem a little repetitive. In any case, good luck with it all and feel free to IM with any questions.

 

Greetings Phillip, fellow HMU student! I was also in the CSU-DH Humanities M.A., choosing music history as my concentration. I really enjoyed it but dropped out about 3/4 through due to stress and work overload. I had already chosen my thesis subject and had the advisors lined up. My GPA was 4.0 so I was doing okay. Oh well. It was the journey that interested me.

So what is your subject of interest at HMU? I sure admire anyone who has the fortitude to enter a doctoral program. I'm really curious how different the PhD work is compared to the master's program.

I really need to complete this course (just one more "section") and then I'll take a month break.

 

Music history, eh? I recall a couple of fascinating courses on the topic. One was with David W. Bradfield; the other instructor I believe has since retired.
My own subject of interest was art and literature, and did my thesis on Henry James and language. I am advancing that topic in my current work, tracing the rise of abstration in language and other constructive materials of the arts.

I can't say how much the HMU D.Arts program differs from the masters. Judging from the outline on the institution's web site the approach is similar: I see you take the cornerstone course, a series of self-directed courses and then there is the final project. You indicated that the reading is repetitive. I see that the Syntopicon covers some pretty broad ground uder the great idea of "Religion" including some Melville, Dostoevsy, Tolstoy. Might be interesting to recast the program to emphasize more of the later writers rather than the Bible-- if the Masters program is that flexible in the readings you choose. By the way, does HMU mandate a particular Bible version? You mention KJV but is the New Revised Standard Version allowable?

 

Motivation is the issue. Drop out or get a goal.

 

Now that is short and sweet (well...not so sweet). You do need to find what motivates you to complete it. Focus on the why you want to complete the degree and enjoy the ride.

 

That's funny, all my music courses at CSU-DH were with Dr. Bradfield. He seemed to love my writing and always gave me an A+ on every paper. Kind of odd but nice.

My "topic" isn't religion, it's a sub-topic of my own creation -- God vs. Satan, the ongoing conflict between them and that effect on man, Armageddon, the final battle, end of times, that sort of thing. We are required to read everything listed for a sub-topic when we choose it for part of our course.

So I'm reading, in every course (most of my courses are in 4 parts), from the earliest Greek philosophers up to and including mid-20th century writers like Kafka. Thus for example, one sub-topic in my current course is from the "idea" Good and Evil, topic 2(b) – The divine goodness and the problem of evil. Every selection that's listed for "Good and Evil" topic 2(b) in the Syntopicon is required. It means the reading list is quite long and I really don't have time to do any "close" reading, just skimming.

The only "authorized" Bible in the program is the KJV. I use one that has four parallel Bibles, for easier translations in addition to the KJV. However, the school says they standardize on the KJV because when it's time for the discussions with the tutors, they will read what we have, in order to be able to converse, answer questions, etc.

 

Sorry for the whining! Summer (a very short one at that) is the only time we have to get anything done outside and I haven't finished this course yet. I'll stop sniveling now and go hit the books.

{slap}
Ah, I feel better now.

 

Which KJV do you read? 1611? 1769? 1850? 2000, etc.?

http://lookhigher.net/englishbibles/kingjamesversion1611/genesis/1.html

Perchance, how can the revisions be "authorised" if King James wasn't around to force the translators to use words he liked?

 

Dave Wagner, do you believe that Jesus is God and that He rose from the dead and that He will come again [physically] to judge the living and the dead?

 

Yep, so true, I'm not sure who would authorize King James's translations four centuries later!

I have two KJV Bibles, both are the only authorized version, 1611. Other versions, including the NKJV, are revised permutations and not called the "King James Version." I was employed by a Christian publisher for several years and we had more Bibles there for reference, when they developed children's curricula, than you could shake a stick at.
www.gospellight.com

This isn't a degree in theology, it's a degree in Humanities/Philosophy/Religion.

 

Thomas Nelson Publishers! That's who!

 

Not sure why you believe that. I have a Parallel Reference KJV/NKJV Bible by Thomas Nelson Publishers, looking at it right now. Nelson uses the original, one and only "KJV." The title page for the KJV says "Authorized King James Version" and that title page has all of the language from that era, including "Appointed to be read in Churches."

The NKJV is another story but Nelson as a publisher did not itself do the translation of the NKJV, that was done, seemingly at their instigation, by: "54 prominent Greek and Hebrew scholars of the Church of England who labored at Oxford, Cambridge, and Westminster to translate the King James Version, with the insights of over 130 scholars, editors, church leaders, and Christian laity who were commissioned to work on the New King James Version." That is a direct quote from the introduction to this Parallel Reference Bible.

Personally I think it's a great help, having parallel Bibles available when you need to read passages from the KJV, whose language is archaic and abstruse, although still lovely to the ears. It's what we use at my church.

 

There is no "one and only 'KJV'", which was my point in providing you with the link above. My intent is to inform, not confuse, as the 1611 KJV says in 1 John 3:17: "But who so hath this worlds good, and seeth his brother hath need, and shutteth vp his bowels of compassion from him; how dwelleth the loue of God in him?"

 

Dave, I thoroughly enjoy this thread (well, duh, since I started it!). I think we both are trying to say the same thing but perhaps our words aren't stating it with precision. THE King James Version of the Bible is THE authorized version by King James, there is no other authorized version or revision that is called the King James Version Bible (although he did authorize some revisions during his reign, so what we know as the KJV is the final version he authorized).

Any other so-called versions have "revised" or "new" or "American" or another such modifer in their title. Trust me on this, we had sooooo many Bibles and versions and permutations while working for Gospel Light, whose staff wrote their own Sunday School and Vacation Bible School (among other things) curricula. We also had a theologian on staff. That's when I discovered the joys of "concurrent" and "parallel" Bibles.

I did check your link and every listed "revision" of the Bible had a modifier in their title as I described. Thus they are not the KJV. However, I found the link quite interesting -- thanks for that! I normally use: http://www.biblegateway.com/ if I can't find what I need in my two parallel Bibles.

I've always been a member of an Anglican church which is liturgical, using the King James Version Bible in the service.

(This subject may be moved because it's getting off-topic. Apologies to our dedicated site administrators.)

 

It's no big deal deedle, we all wander a bit.