Humanities has been one of my favorite courses in college because it is encouraged me to think more about the world in which we live in. Taking this class has definitely been a great decision since it has broadened my repertoire of reading to including such works as the Iliad, Mother Courage and her Children, and The Prince.
Now that December is nearly here, I find myself wondering where the time has gone. I recall my first day of college so clearly and I remember feeling a combination of nerves and excitement. Since then, I have been so busy that I have not yet given thought to how much I have grown in college since September.
Even prior to taking my first course in humanities, I was eager to read the Iliad. Reading this epic poem by Homer had seemed such a challenging feat at first, but after my first college class I understood how to read it. The key to reading the Iliad was knowing that it was originally written in Homeric Greek and that there was a dramatic emphasis since the story was once told via song and chant.
The lecturer for this portion of humanities was Professor Izenberg, whose dramatic and energetic lecture style suited the Iliad. I quickly found out that it was impossible to write down notes for everything that professors in college were lecturing about. So to compensate for not writing everything down, I listened and thought about what we were learning in class. I tried to apply things in lectures to what I heard and saw on the news. Analyzing war in the Iliad made me aware of current events and how war should be prevented.
Another work that I enjoyed reading in humanities was Mother Courage and Her Children. In my opinion, this was a very important piece to include in any humanities curriculum because is one text which follows a woman's journey in war, specifically the Thirty Years' War. Like with the Iliad, I felt challenged in understanding the relevance of reading an antiquated work of theatre and what it had to due with modern times.
This play's importance made sense for me after Professor Miles helped clarify the importance of each character in depicting virtues and their tragic destruction during warfare. Furthermore, the introduction of the film Theatre of War made it possible to connect the different fields of literature, theatre, history, and politics with one unifying arc.
The next major work which I found greatly helpful in adding to my knowledge about humanities and war was Machiavelli's The Prince. The lecturer was Professor Abbeele and I found that he had a straightforward teaching style which helped in learning the argumentative structure.
I really enjoyed reading this work because it used a logical foundation. A major component of The Prince was syllogisms. I think that this book was the perfect book to read at the end of the first quarter of humanities. If it had been difficult to see the relationship between learning humanities and understanding the world today from previous readings, this section made it almost impossible not to see the connection.
Machiavelli claims that he is not interested in talking about ideal republics or imaginary utopias. His treatise supports pragmatic, realist thought in the practice of governing. Before Machiavelli, politics and ethics were bonded into one thought package. Going back to Aristotle, politics was the sub-branch of ethics. Machiavelli was the first theorist to separate politics from ethics. After all, Machiavelli is the one who claimed, "It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both." Learning about this work helped prove the importance of humanities and how a written work from 500 years ago can still influence the decisions of powerful leaders in today's politics.
My favorite professor in college has been Professor Miles. I would like to thank Professor Miles for being the best humanities instructor. He made Humanities Core a fun class and a pain-free experience. Thanks to Professor Miles, discussion was actually more interesting than the lectures since he provided outside information such as articles relating to what we were learning in the lectures. In addition, Professor Miles's clear and knowledgeable teaching style made it interesting to learn about the Wars of Religion and the Peace of Westphalia.
Machiavelli claims that he is not interested in talking about ideal republics or imaginary utopias. His treatise supports pragmatic, realist thought in the practice of governing. Before Machiavelli, politics and ethics were bonded into one thought package. Going back to Aristotle, politics was the sub-branch of ethics. Machiavelli was the first theorist to separate politics from ethics. After all, Machiavelli is the one who claimed, "It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both." Learning about this work helped prove the importance of humanities and how a written work from 500 years ago can still influence the decisions of powerful leaders in today's politics.
My favorite professor in college has been Professor Miles. I would like to thank Professor Miles for being the best humanities instructor. He made Humanities Core a fun class and a pain-free experience. Thanks to Professor Miles, discussion was actually more interesting than the lectures since he provided outside information such as articles relating to what we were learning in the lectures. In addition, Professor Miles's clear and knowledgeable teaching style made it interesting to learn about the Wars of Religion and the Peace of Westphalia.
The Iliad, Mother Courage and her Children, and The Prince are just a few of the many that I read in Humanities Core. I would definitely recommend college students to take a humanities class. I am looking forward to my next quarter of humanities!
No comments
Post a Comment