Hi everyone! Okay, I'm ashamed to say that it's been more than two months since my last blog entry. It wasn't until one of my hallmates reminded me to update that I even remembered this blog! Apologies to all.
So it is now the fourth week of classes here at Vandy and second semester is fully in swing. Campus is a busy little hub right now; we've got Student Government elections coming up, our basketball team is winning big, and many student organizations are already gearing up for the 2008-09 school year (shout out to VUcept!). Not to mention that with April getting closer and closer, I've seen more and more high school students walking around campus either on tours or on their own. I am especially excited by this because I'm a tour guide, and we're coming up on our really busy season pretty soon. I hope everyone who has visited campus so far has had a great time! And if you've not yet had the pleasure of checking out our beautiful campus, make plans to visit soon!
Okay so classes this semester are awesome. That's not to say that I didn't like my classes last semester, but seriously, I have a great schedule right now. Let's do a quick run-down of my courses, shall we? I'd like to share them with you all so you can see the kinds of classes you can take at Vanderbilt.
1) Sociology of Education (Schools & Society): M, W, F from 10:10 to 11.
-Alright so this class is definitely one of my favorites. I have this really engaging and hilarious professor who makes every class worth getting up for. We've so far covered the history of American education, theories behind education, sociological concepts associated with education, different types of schools, etc. I look forward to going every day.
2) English 210: Shakespeare (the Tragedies): M, W, F, from 1:10 to 2.
-Let me just start by saying my professor is from New Zealand! He is awesome and has the best British accent you've ever heard. He really knows what he's talking about, too; the guy reads from Shakespeare and his voice literally booms. I've always had a hard time appreciating Shakespeare and he's slowly but surely helping me to understand the brilliance behind the poet. Right now we're reading Titus Andronicus which is pretty much the bloodiest play I've ever read.
3) English 273E: Starcrossed Lovers: T, R (R=Thursday) from 11:00 to 12:15.
-This class examines the problem of the "starcrossed lovers," a.k.a. two people who fall in love but are thwarted when they try to be together. Classical and contemporary literature are full of these characters. So far we've read Ovid's Metamorpheses as well as the story of Tristan and Isolde; I'm looking forward to reading Romeo and Juliet and watching Casablanca.
4) American Studies 295: History, Memory, Narrative: T, R from 1:10 to 2:25
-So this class is basically an undergraduate seminar (seven students) in which we're examining the theme of the American narrative and how historical events are remembered in American culture. I really like it because a lot of it is discussion based and most of our work involves reading novels and watching films. Yay for small classes.
5) PoliSci 245: American Presidency: T, R from 2:35 to 3:50
-Basically what it sounds like. I don't enjoy political science classes all that much, but I figured that since 2008 is the big election year, I might as well get informed, huh? We spend most of our classes learning about the history of the presidency and how the role of the president was crafted at the Constitutional Convention, but we also have scheduled in-class debates where students talk about topics such as the Electoral College. My professor is a really knowledgeable political scientist who wrote all of the books for the course; and not only is he really wise and experienced, but he is amazingly nice and reminds me of Mr. Rogers :)
Okay so that's the schedule. Five classes, 15 hours total. I hope anyone who has read this now has a basic idea of what a course load at Vanderbilt can entail! Unfortunately I have a lot of schoolwork to do, so I'll now have to conclude this post, but give me some feedback if you like the kinds of things I'm writing about! I'm thinking of having an upcoming entry in which I discuss the best classes/profs I've had at Vandy so far.
peace outttt
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
i think you should post about cool places around campus. like what are the really chill places around
I really enjoyed reading about your classes. I would love to know more about professors and interesting classes. I also had a question.. if I am looking to take a difficult math course (required) and it is not my strongest, should I combine that with more elective courses so it can be more of a focus..or what would you suggest? sorry that got a little lengthy haha!
to the person above,
I am curious what your study focus is going to be, if you have an idea yet?
about the math, i would recommend that for your first semester you choose one or two classes to focus on and choose easy other classes, and do the same second. After your first year it hits you how hard you have to study and you sort of realize that
1)everyone at vandy is smart, and given enough time we could all make a's
2)given (1), they see who does best by overloading you and squeezing us a little. This sucks, but once you get out you are uber efficient at time management and focusing :)
however, i have come to realize that not having those skills when i first came to vandy is what actually hurt my gpa. The first few semesters were what hurt, and i have been trying to build it back up since.
To wrap up, thats why i say go easy your first semester or two while you learn and experience college ;)
hope that helps a bit
~c
Post a Comment