I think the
course goal I was most successful in reaching was learning how to “apply
foundational knowledge to approach texts critically, to design research
projects creatively, and to present [my] ideas professionally.”
I’m an
engineer. I’ve never been good at
reading and analyzing texts, or pretty much anything in the humanities in
general. I’m not terrible at it, but
it’s just not my forte. However, this
class pushed me outside of my boundaries.
It made me dig deeper into the texts than I once thought possible. The blog posts (although not my favorite
thing to write) were extremely beneficial.
Not only did they help me try to understand the text better to write
them, but being able to read other people’s blogs helped me see different sides
to the story. The different perspectives
allowed me to look from different angles, open my mind to the different ideas,
and analyze which one I thought was most appropriate. Furthermore, class discussions were
helpful. Even after analyzing the story
to write my blog posts, there would still be aspects of the story I missed or a
side that I had not considered yet. The
class discussions were helpful in tuning me into scenarios that I had once
found unimportant. There were many
things while watching The Big Lebowski that I thought were trivial at
first, until discussing them further and realizing they actually had a purpose to
connect throughout the story. Finally,
the application project that we are currently working on has definitely broadened
my horizons. It made me think
differently to see how I could help others understand the story better through
a different outlet than simply reading.
Also, the fact that we have to present our posters in the Library to the
public and not just our class is helping me to prepare better so I can present
my ideas to different people, and not people who already know what I am talking
about. Although I am nervous about
presenting, I think it will be a good experience and help me to achieve the
class goals.
I agree with this. It seems that the readings got much easier as the semester progressed. Being a slow reader, I'd never dreamed of reading a whole book in as little as a few hours (one such as The Physicists). And yet, I have done it with stupendous ease very recently, and I was able to give a creative analysis of it. The boundaries have been pushed and I find myself capable of more things.
ReplyDeleteI am surprised to read that you think you aren't good at analyzing texts. You came up with some imaginative and insightful readings this semester,and our class discussions benefitted from them.
ReplyDelete