I once knew a girl, in the years of my youth
Obligatory school post. TL;DR behind the cut. In other news, my laptop got a virus, which I eventually healed it from. I'm thinking it's got post tramautic stress from its death and subsequent resurrection (Dean y/y?)
Queer Identities: TJ and I both have this class and I would estimate that our classmates are about 80% women. At least 2 other people from our Sex & Society class are in it with us. (I miss super-hot Elroi!) Our professor is an Olympics junkie and played her new ringtone, the NBC Olympics theme, on the first day. Graded on a long-ish paper about what types of alternative sexuality information was available at certain times in the recent past, about 16 short writing assignments based on our readings, and participation (like, 20% of the grade!). Seems like it will be interesting.
Lit Theory: Subtitled "Literature and the Specter of Desire". All of our readings for the semester are "ghost stories", although in most of them it is arguable whether or not the ghosts actually exist or if the protagonists are just crazy. Reading Shakespeare's Hamlet, Joyce's "The Dead" from Dubliners, James' The Turn of the Screw (on which the fantastic movie The Innocents is based), Morrison's Beloved, DeLillo's The Body Artist, and watching Hitchcock's Vertigo and Lynch's Mulholland Drive. I like any lit class that involves film analysis, but we've spent almost two whole classes talking about the essential negation inherent in language and the "unreality" of human symbolic existence. It feels like this was the professor's thesis statement and the rest of the course will be the supporting evidence. Graded on two (?) papers and participation (25%!)
Popular Culture: Lauren and I both have this class, and I know there are at least two other fangirls in it with us since in the first day introductions we had to give either our favorite book, tv show, movie, or band, and in addition to my Gaiman's American Gods and Lauren's Supernatural mention, there was a Dr. Who girl and a Buffy girl who has seen Dr. Horrible. I later saw the Buffy girl talking to a girl with a golden snitch attached to her bookbag and whose shirt read "Siriusly?" I am a bit disappointed that as of now, the Henry Jenkins article in our textbook ("Star Trek: Rerun, Reread, Rewritten" on fanfiction) isn't on our syllabus, but there are TBAs on several dates in our sexuality and gender section, so I remain hopeful and may even ask the professor about it. Graded on two response papers, a critical essay, a group presentation, and participation (25% again!)
Shakespeare - Earlier Works: In my infinite wisdom, I'm taking a 4000 level lit class before having any 3000 classes, so I really don't knnow if I'm in over my head or not in regards to my writing skills. I mean, I literally scored a 100 on my final paper from my last lit class (American, on the portrayal of nature in short stories by Willa Cather and Jack London), but it was just a 2000 level and I really don't know if the grade was because my professor was easy or if the paper was actually good. :/ Reading As You Like It, Part I of Henry IV, Much Ado About Nothing, Julius Caesar, Venus and Adonis, and Hamlet, and watching Kenneth Branagh's adaptation of Much Ado. Graded on two papers, and a final essay exam. My classroom is a closet about 4 yards wide and maybe 6 long with 30+ people in it and is taught by an old Jewish man from Brooklyn, which amuses me for what are probably politically incorrect reasons.
Religion, Morality, and Film: A class with about 50 people in it in one of the bigger rooms in Sparks Hall. Had to buy about 10 books for it (almost none of which seem to have much to do with religion or morality just going from their titles and Amazon descriptions) and rearrange my work schedule to be off on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but it will finish off my Religion minor, and it seems really interesting. Gonna watch lots of movies both during classtime and in special screenings that the professor has arranged on Thursday evenings (which will pretty much kill me watching the first half of season 4 in real time, but you do what you have to). Graded on weekly film and reading responses and participation (25% again!) On the first day professor wore an almost-but-not-quite powder blue suit with a caramel brown shirt and a dark blue patterned tie, which, as you can imagine, was an awesome combination. Films include D.W. Griffith's Intolerance, Kurosawa's Ran, Chaplin's The Kid and The Gold Rush, Riefenstahl's Olympia and Triumph of the Will, Mae West's She Done Him Wrong, Audrey Hepburn's Breakfast at Tiffany's, Hitchcock's Psycho, David Lean's Doctor Zhivago, Cecil B. DeMille's Sign of the Cross, Welles' Citizen Kane, Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, Zemeckis' Contact, and Deren's Divine Horsemen.
Queer Identities: TJ and I both have this class and I would estimate that our classmates are about 80% women. At least 2 other people from our Sex & Society class are in it with us. (I miss super-hot Elroi!) Our professor is an Olympics junkie and played her new ringtone, the NBC Olympics theme, on the first day. Graded on a long-ish paper about what types of alternative sexuality information was available at certain times in the recent past, about 16 short writing assignments based on our readings, and participation (like, 20% of the grade!). Seems like it will be interesting.
Lit Theory: Subtitled "Literature and the Specter of Desire". All of our readings for the semester are "ghost stories", although in most of them it is arguable whether or not the ghosts actually exist or if the protagonists are just crazy. Reading Shakespeare's Hamlet, Joyce's "The Dead" from Dubliners, James' The Turn of the Screw (on which the fantastic movie The Innocents is based), Morrison's Beloved, DeLillo's The Body Artist, and watching Hitchcock's Vertigo and Lynch's Mulholland Drive. I like any lit class that involves film analysis, but we've spent almost two whole classes talking about the essential negation inherent in language and the "unreality" of human symbolic existence. It feels like this was the professor's thesis statement and the rest of the course will be the supporting evidence. Graded on two (?) papers and participation (25%!)
Popular Culture: Lauren and I both have this class, and I know there are at least two other fangirls in it with us since in the first day introductions we had to give either our favorite book, tv show, movie, or band, and in addition to my Gaiman's American Gods and Lauren's Supernatural mention, there was a Dr. Who girl and a Buffy girl who has seen Dr. Horrible. I later saw the Buffy girl talking to a girl with a golden snitch attached to her bookbag and whose shirt read "Siriusly?" I am a bit disappointed that as of now, the Henry Jenkins article in our textbook ("Star Trek: Rerun, Reread, Rewritten" on fanfiction) isn't on our syllabus, but there are TBAs on several dates in our sexuality and gender section, so I remain hopeful and may even ask the professor about it. Graded on two response papers, a critical essay, a group presentation, and participation (25% again!)
Shakespeare - Earlier Works: In my infinite wisdom, I'm taking a 4000 level lit class before having any 3000 classes, so I really don't knnow if I'm in over my head or not in regards to my writing skills. I mean, I literally scored a 100 on my final paper from my last lit class (American, on the portrayal of nature in short stories by Willa Cather and Jack London), but it was just a 2000 level and I really don't know if the grade was because my professor was easy or if the paper was actually good. :/ Reading As You Like It, Part I of Henry IV, Much Ado About Nothing, Julius Caesar, Venus and Adonis, and Hamlet, and watching Kenneth Branagh's adaptation of Much Ado. Graded on two papers, and a final essay exam. My classroom is a closet about 4 yards wide and maybe 6 long with 30+ people in it and is taught by an old Jewish man from Brooklyn, which amuses me for what are probably politically incorrect reasons.
Religion, Morality, and Film: A class with about 50 people in it in one of the bigger rooms in Sparks Hall. Had to buy about 10 books for it (almost none of which seem to have much to do with religion or morality just going from their titles and Amazon descriptions) and rearrange my work schedule to be off on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but it will finish off my Religion minor, and it seems really interesting. Gonna watch lots of movies both during classtime and in special screenings that the professor has arranged on Thursday evenings (which will pretty much kill me watching the first half of season 4 in real time, but you do what you have to). Graded on weekly film and reading responses and participation (25% again!) On the first day professor wore an almost-but-not-quite powder blue suit with a caramel brown shirt and a dark blue patterned tie, which, as you can imagine, was an awesome combination. Films include D.W. Griffith's Intolerance, Kurosawa's Ran, Chaplin's The Kid and The Gold Rush, Riefenstahl's Olympia and Triumph of the Will, Mae West's She Done Him Wrong, Audrey Hepburn's Breakfast at Tiffany's, Hitchcock's Psycho, David Lean's Doctor Zhivago, Cecil B. DeMille's Sign of the Cross, Welles' Citizen Kane, Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, Zemeckis' Contact, and Deren's Divine Horsemen.