This quarter has been a roller coaster. One with so many downs, but equally as many ups. One filled with growth and learning. One in which I have been able to be reflective and perspective.
First Impressions
Hearing mixed “reviews” on Humcore, I did not know what to expect coming in. It sounded like an urban legend, with people on the sides whispering, “well some say the class was…”, equipped with a whole range of different opinions. When hearing that the theme for this year was Empire and Its Ruins, the class seemed like it would be a fusion of english and history. Now, to be honest, this mentality lead me to think: “wow, great more work!”. At this point, I wasn’t exactly sure what I was looking towards and whether or not I should be looking forward to taking the daunting Humanities Core.
My perspective on Humcore has definitely been challenged this quarter, being shaped and altered gradually through every lecture and seminar class. Being able to connect concepts from lecture to the modern world and everyday life has been an interesting way in which Humcore has found its place in my mind.
Experiences
After going through the first reading, “The Politics of Knowledge” by Said, I was second guessing my decision to take the course. As I sat in my dorm room, rereading lines and lines of the work, nothing was processing. Seriously. Nothing.
I felt extremely challenged and overwhelmed by the reading, unsure if I was going to be able to keep up or even understand the material half the time. Going into lecture that first day, I was relieved when Professor Lazo told us that the reading was suppose to be challenging and was suppose to be difficult. Lectures have been an informative way in which we link the readings to the overarching theme on a larger scale—bridging the “ancient” world to the modern world. I have become more open to formulating different interpretations and looking at readings from different angles. Looking at ruins has been an extremely insightful part of this first quarter, connecting it to paintings and addressing them in our essays.
The first essay that we worked on was a learning process, a time to become more in tune with writing again after the summer. Getting the words to flow and the ideas to paper were definitely a challenge at the start. As I sat by my desk, what sat in front of me was a blank document with my name in the corner: MLA format. I was there for a while, which is an understatement, but from there I was able to learn. Learn how to formulate arguments and create substantial claims drawing from the peer edits and class activities. The discussions we had during seminar in small groups and as a class have been extremely helpful in sparking conversations and ideas around our topics.
Looking Forward
As the quarter comes to a close, I am reflective of all that I’ve learned through Humcore through the past 10 weeks. It has been hectic trying to balance a number of differing classes, but Humcore has been a great growing experience. It has allowed me to contemplate on my accomplishments and anticipate my capabilities.
Exploring Empire 