Title and major works

"The Printed Triumph in the Renaissance" is my working title. I need to have several ways of answering, "so, what is your dissertation about?" Right now, the two sentance version of my thesis, for colleagues, is: The new technology of the long horizontal multi-block prints become associated with triumphal processional imagery in the early 16th century; this media and subject matter were intertwined and spread across Europe. My study, focusing on the way artists adapted or parodied the multi-block triumph, will illuminate Renaissance attitutes towards antiquity and the exotic.

The main works which will structure my dissertation are:
Titian's Triumph of Christ
Jacopo de'Barbari's Triumph of Men over Satyrs
Erhard Schon's Triumph of Fools
Burgkmair's Exotic Peoples
Pieter Coecke van Aelst's Manners and Customs of the Turk

How do you make italics on blogger?

ABD

As of last week, I am all but dissertation--that is, all I have to do to graduate with a Ph.D is to basically write a draft of a book. In order to achieve this goal, I thought of marking my progress semi-publicly through a blog. If my posts are short, that means I am spending most of my time on research or actual writing. I hope that ideas aired here will help prime the pump, chart my progress, and invite encouraging words from friends and family. A dissertation can only be completed with lots of support--it is a process that will take at least two years and probably more. Wish me luck, fortitude, consistency, and inspiration!