Sarah Parkinson (Johns Hopkins) blunt and honest reflections on how her dissertation project evolved over more than a decade is a reminder that the field is supposed to change the scholar -- not always in ways that can be predicted in advance.  Parkinson discusses her evolutions, both in terms of methods employed and her social identification in the discipline.  There is something here that will be valuable to every young scholar, especially those considering work in areas adjacent to violence.  What does it mean to study the state from the bottom-up?  What do we, privileged observers, owe our most vulnerable subjects, really?  The second guest in the ARC (Advancing Research on Conflict) Consortium.