The End of This Course

Throughout this course, I have most definitely learned so much about things I would have never thought to look into! There were many unexpected moments that I believe both changed and surprised me.

As far as change goes, I think the large variety of perspectives we looked into and considered definitely changed my viewpoint on many things and expanded my worldview. For example, Hayy Ibn Yaqzan or The Secret River were books I probably would have never read on my own, but I think they tell critical stories and taught me a lot about areas of the world outside of our little bubble. I am coming out of this course with a much more well-rounded view of our world and, while I know I still have so much more to learn, a better grasp of many cultures I knew very little about previously!

Most of my surprises in this class came from our study of book history. The visits to the Archives and Special Collections definitely played a big role in this, as well as some of the deep dives we did in class like with Robinson Crusoe. I think that especially working on this, and last quarter's, final project I was surprised at just what an impact ancient texts have on our writing/distribution today.

Thanks to Michelle and to all of you for a fabulous two quarters with some great discussion & awesome learning opportunities! :)

Comments

  1. James MaddenMarch 18, 2023 at 7:23 PM

    Hey Cassi, I've had a similar experience to you due to reading about cultures form different time periods and different geographical areas. I definitely feel like I live in a bubble as I was born in a stable household within a very stable country. I've learned a lot about cultures other than our own, their foundations, and how they were successful. I feel humbled too because I believed western culture was superior for a long time.

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  2. Andrew BautistaMarch 19, 2023 at 3:15 AM

    Hi Cassi! I agree with what you mentioned in that some of these books are books you'd probably never read on your own, but in my case I am sure glad I did. Even if some of these books don't have a consistent entertainment factor like other books might, the importance lies in the depth of the themes and how they are contextualized in their socioeconomic context. Overall, I'm glad I got an opportunity to be in this class and to learn more about the world.

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  3. Audrey SchroederMarch 19, 2023 at 9:55 AM

    Hey Cassi! I agree with your point that reading from so many different perspectives, places, and times has impacted my worldview. I didn't have the opportunity to do this in previous english classes, so this is definitely something I appreciated about this course.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Noah English 11H BlogMarch 19, 2023 at 9:01 PM

    I agree this course helped to provide a more well-rounded understanding of history. Some of the books were about cultures and societies I had never studied, and likely never would have studied. It's important understand those cultures because they exist and influence society, they just generally are not taught in classrooms.

    ReplyDelete
  5. John SawyerMarch 20, 2023 at 12:29 PM

    Hey Cassi, I like what you said about how you would never pick up some of the books on your own. I feel the same way, especially with Hayy Ibn Yaqzan like you mentioned. I am so glad we were able to read it because I enjoyed it a lot. I was also surprised by the visits to archives and special collections. I did not know SCU had a mini museum in the library! The material they have is very speical. I remember someone asked how much it was all worth and they said combined it was over 500,000 dollars? That's crazy. It was cool to see book history through that lens because it was such a visual experience. We really got to see how text evolved throughout the centuries first-hand.

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