Well, it's something like week three, and I can officially declare my anthropology class as my favoritist. It was a close race, with my Composion II class putting up a valiant fight due to my natural interest in the subject matter and my professor's extremely effective teaching methods. There were three things that ultimately let Anthropology take the cake:
1) My professor is an elderly, yet still vibrant, raging badass of contradictory qualities that somehow mesh into a really awesome lecture experience. He seemes constantly short of breath as he speaks, yet is oddly powerful in his projection; he takes firm stances on things he dislikes (like our concern for materialism in this country), yet truly believes in unbiased appreciation; he makes clear points, yet somehow always makes you feel as if you reached said point, and so on. Also, he's insanely sincere and humble.
2) The subject matter, and the way he presents it, strikes an immediate cord. Anthropology, for those who don't know, is the study of cultures. On the first day, he passed out a little blue pamphlet he called our "passport" with questions such as: "What does it mean to be human? What can we as humans become? What is true, lasting, and ennobling?" He calls the course a journey, and engages in other fanaciful departures from the norm, yet seriously knows his stuff and still provides all the necessary scientific backing. It's like studying, systematically, how I can change the world.
3) He gives us awesome quotes every class to guide our dialogues (This is the word he demands we use, "dialogue." We are assigned into "sapitential circles" (sapien meaning wise) where we pass around a talking stick and discuss things he prompts us on. You cannot talk unless you have the stick, and are forced to listen to what the other peeople have to say. I don't think i've ever come across it's like in the academic world.) Here are two such quotes to give you a taste:
"In america we have improved means to unimproved ends."
"Great minds consider ideas, average minds consider events, and small minds consider people."
So, it is with a glowing smile and a queenly wave that I proudly present Anthropology 101 with the coveted title of Robbie's Favorite Class This Semester
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1 comment:
Sounds like a great class. I took anthropology 101 senior year, and I was better than I expected. We have a lot to learn from other cultures, and the class helped expand my thinking. I will now pass the talking stick.
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