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argurotoxosAfter not having updated for a while, one would imagine that I'd have quite a bit to say. But the fact is that, as I stare at this vast white space, not much is coming. It feels like I've done nothing but write for the past two weeks. Although not quite accurate, I have written a fair amount. I wrote my paper on Hephaistion (Ηφαιστίων) last weekend; the assignment was at least ten pages, but the amount of material I had took up fourteen, which I then managed to edit down to twelve. Then this weekend, I wrote my paper and completed my take-home final for Messiah, a total of thirteen pages.
I only have one final left - Hollywood and the Jews, Tuesday at 5:45 PM - which should be the easiest one. At the very least, it's multiple choice, meaning I'm done with writing for the semester. All of my other finals went well, or at least I thought so; Political Philosophy was last Thursday, Alexander and 17th and 18th-century Philosophy last Friday. Aside from the Messiah take-home final, 17th and 18th-century was the one I was most concerned about (I don't find Kant's metaphysics very easy), but the questions weren't as difficult as I had expected.
I vaguely remember complaining at the end of last semester about how tired I was of papers because I had two ten-pagers, both in the last month of the semester. I dare say that after writing an even sixty pages this semester, I can take that back. In a way, I'm just amazed that I actually wrote that much this semester.
Independent Study was my favourite class; we had a small group of smart, interesting people and I was able to study Spinoza and Hegel in some depth for the first time. Plus, it's our professor Samaras' last semester here and I'm glad I was able to take two classes with him this semester, though it does occasionally put me ill at ease that I'm not very good at social interaction, which is the style he teaches his classes.
Political Philosophy was partly what we did last semester in Ancient Philosophy, only with much more of a focus on government and Aristotle. Personally, I prefer Plato; like Ed, one of my classmates, says: "Even though Plato's metaphysics are crap, he's far more interesting to read." Still, reading Aristophanes' Ecclesiazusae on the second to last day of class made it all worth it. I haven't had that much fun in class in a long time. Or at least not since Samaras' Philosophical Football last semester.
17th and 18th-century Philosophy wasn't nearly as good as American Philosophy last semester, even though it was the same professor. Part of it was I'd already read two of the four philosophers in the course, unlike American Philosophy, which was all new. Part of it was that our professor didn't actually grade anything (he had a T.A. who did it). And part of it was just the different people who made up the class.
Messiah and Messianism was probably my most interesting class purely because I'd never taken a class like it before and didn't know very much about the subject. It's a fascinating topic and we covered a vast amount of material in the course, all the way from ancient Persia to the 21st century.
Alexander was . . . Alexander. Our professor taught by reading directly from the textbook and going off on tangents into other topics (a few of which were informative), so it wasn't very stimulating. I also discovered that I already knew more about Alexander than I had realized. Still, it did give me a chance to write about Hephaistion and gain more experience with the Classics department here.
Hollywood and the Jews was a very easy class. Probably the easiest I've ever taken, though a few of the movies we watched were pretty horrible. (On the other hand, a few were very good.) If anything, I learned that I am not a Woody Allen fan.
Finally, I'm not even sure if she checks LJ anymore, but I'd like to wish a belated happy birthday to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
under_the_rock.
I only have one final left - Hollywood and the Jews, Tuesday at 5:45 PM - which should be the easiest one. At the very least, it's multiple choice, meaning I'm done with writing for the semester. All of my other finals went well, or at least I thought so; Political Philosophy was last Thursday, Alexander and 17th and 18th-century Philosophy last Friday. Aside from the Messiah take-home final, 17th and 18th-century was the one I was most concerned about (I don't find Kant's metaphysics very easy), but the questions weren't as difficult as I had expected.
I vaguely remember complaining at the end of last semester about how tired I was of papers because I had two ten-pagers, both in the last month of the semester. I dare say that after writing an even sixty pages this semester, I can take that back. In a way, I'm just amazed that I actually wrote that much this semester.
Independent Study was my favourite class; we had a small group of smart, interesting people and I was able to study Spinoza and Hegel in some depth for the first time. Plus, it's our professor Samaras' last semester here and I'm glad I was able to take two classes with him this semester, though it does occasionally put me ill at ease that I'm not very good at social interaction, which is the style he teaches his classes.
Political Philosophy was partly what we did last semester in Ancient Philosophy, only with much more of a focus on government and Aristotle. Personally, I prefer Plato; like Ed, one of my classmates, says: "Even though Plato's metaphysics are crap, he's far more interesting to read." Still, reading Aristophanes' Ecclesiazusae on the second to last day of class made it all worth it. I haven't had that much fun in class in a long time. Or at least not since Samaras' Philosophical Football last semester.
17th and 18th-century Philosophy wasn't nearly as good as American Philosophy last semester, even though it was the same professor. Part of it was I'd already read two of the four philosophers in the course, unlike American Philosophy, which was all new. Part of it was that our professor didn't actually grade anything (he had a T.A. who did it). And part of it was just the different people who made up the class.
Messiah and Messianism was probably my most interesting class purely because I'd never taken a class like it before and didn't know very much about the subject. It's a fascinating topic and we covered a vast amount of material in the course, all the way from ancient Persia to the 21st century.
Alexander was . . . Alexander. Our professor taught by reading directly from the textbook and going off on tangents into other topics (a few of which were informative), so it wasn't very stimulating. I also discovered that I already knew more about Alexander than I had realized. Still, it did give me a chance to write about Hephaistion and gain more experience with the Classics department here.
Hollywood and the Jews was a very easy class. Probably the easiest I've ever taken, though a few of the movies we watched were pretty horrible. (On the other hand, a few were very good.) If anything, I learned that I am not a Woody Allen fan.
Finally, I'm not even sure if she checks LJ anymore, but I'd like to wish a belated happy birthday to
under_the_rock.
