In case someone wonders where I am, my face is in a book for about 75% of my waking hours. The harsh reality of my semester has just set in, though there’s little I can do about it if I want to graduate in May. At any rate, this is what I’m up to:
Anthropology 487: Tutorial in Archaeology—This is one of the two required “capstone” courses for majors in Anthropology. (The other will be in Spring in social anthropology.) Anyway, we’re studying and writing on our own chosen sites as well as learning about the professor’s site Pueblo Bonito in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. Very interesting site! My chosen site of focus is Cahokia in Illinois, just across from St. Louis, MO. As one of my many sources puts it: “Cahokia was the largest and most complex expression of Precolumbian Native American civilization in North America, a veritable city on the Mississippi” (from Cahokia: The Great Native American Metropolis, p.ix). So far the site is very interesting, and like Chaco Canyon, one I had never heard of! It is the largest earthen work in the Americas, originally at almost 100 ft, and it is linked to later sites all over the southeastern US, including Emerald Mound and Natchez Grand Village of Mississippi. Small papers and discussion points are due throughout the semester, though the class meets only on Monday nights. There is a ton of reading for the project, though not so much for the class in general. I don’t yet know what my focus will be on the paper, but of course the final paper will be posted in my “Academics” section.
Anthropology 320: Prehistory: North America—I also have a paper for this class, and chose Cahokia again, since I’ll already have all the resources ready. I have 8 or 9 books checked out and about 20 articles so far. The focus of this paper will be linking Cahokia and its political culture to the later culture in lower Mississippi at the time of European contact. What can we learn about Cahokia by first contact accounts of the Natchez? Cahokia had long been gone, but seems to have lived on in Natchez area, Moundville in Alabama, and quite a few other places. This of course is a far cry from the “savages” we learned about in our public schools of America-centric, “glorious are the whites who civilized the world” indoctrination. This paper will be a bit smaller in scope, but will need a lot of research.
English 333: British Romanticism—Nothing major here. I do have a paper due in a few weeks, and 2 more after that. This is an old-school class, where the paper topic is prescribed, and where we have exams—something I generally loathe for English courses. I do think they are useful in this situation though, and I enjoy the lecture-driven style which allows for but is not based on discussion. My experience with over-reliance on discussion is that we learn less from our well-educated professors and more from our classmates who often just like to hear themselves talk. So this class is great in that respect. I’m also enjoying the Romantics: Blake so far, Coleridge and Wordsworth will follow.
Political Science 405: Constitutional Law of the US—This is my final political science class for my minor. It’s offered through Continuing Education which means there are a few other adults in the class. It also means the instructor has more freedom in what we learn and how he teaches. So far he’s great, and the work isn’t a burden. There has been quite a bit of reading on political history that would bore most to death, but I like that sort of thing. There is a paper due toward the end of the semester, and a few open book exams. He wants us to learn and think about he concepts rather than simply memorize stuff for an exam. God bless him!
English 366- Independent Study—This covers my “web project” with Dr. Poole. Most of the work was done just before the semester started so the site would be up when class started. I will have to add a few things and work on a written study of sorts on how the site helped in the teaching of Shakespeare to incoming freshmen. The class was a new format: Freshmen English partnered with Shakespeare. The classes overlap and the instructors work together on curriculum. It’s a great idea, and I was glad to have worked on the course website this time around. I think I also inspired Dr. Poole to learn a bit about web-building so she can update and maintain her site. We’ll see how that goes. Anyway, not a lot of work here, but in the long run it was very meaningful.
Just in case you wonder how busy I am:
Fall 2005
COURSE CRED GT TITLE DAYS TIMES
ANTH-320-010 3.00 PREHISTORY:NORTH AMERICA TR 0930-1045AM
Instructor: ROCEK T
ANTH-487-011 3.00 TUTORIAL IN ARCHAEOLOGY M 0600-0900PM
Instructor: NEITZEL J
ENGL-333-010 3.00 BRITISH ROMANTICISM MWF 0125-0215PM
Instructor: FLYNN P
ENGL-366-106 3.00 INDEPENDENT STUDY TBA
Instructor: POOLE K
POSC-405-410 3.00 CONSTITUTIONAL LAW OF US R 0600-0900PM
Instructor: DEMETER B
15.00 TOTAL REGISTERED HOURS
Add to that full-time work and an hour’s travel (walking, a bus, and a train) each way, every day to campus—and all the usual responsibilities of an adult! Pass the rum! 😀