“I’m glad you are going to these seminars,” his department chair told him. “It’s like a retreat for you. But when you come back, you should be mindful of where you are.” This was her way of broaching the subject of Lyosha needing to refocus his research. The 2012 department annual would not include his paper otherwise. “There is no future here,” Lyosha said to himself. He was not sure what this meant he needed to do now, but he knew that the phrase was true.
