Introduction

Early in my doctoral coursework (March 2003) while participating in a Phenomenology colloquium, I recall Max van Manen-the visiting professor and renowned phenomenologist who led the colloquium-stressing something quite similar to what he had written a few years prior. Although I no longer remember the specific notes I wrote down in my notebook, nor the small-group conversation that followed, I do vividly remember how I found myself feeling, thinking, and being at that moment. I probably smiled.