Life as an Extreme Sport

Category: Academics

Classes and coursework.

Dualing

Autumn 05, CHID 390 - PF, The Revenge!

My star students have written dualing and completely opposing papers this week. I really want to set them in a room together and say “argue it out”, just to see what would come of it; however, I suspect one would be irritated with me for doing that, and the other…oh wait, already is irritated with me. Nevermind.

Still, it’s interesting to see two bright minds taking one story in completely different directions. Can we experience and interpret events of the past in the context of the past, or are we always stuck with our judgments of the present when looking past?

A Failure to Thrive

...and everything else, Autumn 05, CHID 390 - PF, The Revenge!, Winter 05

I ran into two former Hum 102 students today, one at lunch at the other on my way home from work. They both wanted to know if I’d be teaching with Phillip in the spring; I told them that, as far as I knew, I would be assisting with Phillip and Giorgia’s class. Both students lit up with huge smiles and told me that was just what they wanted to hear, and they were going to figure out how to get in my section for the class, because they really wanted to spend another quarter working with me.

I’ve been thinking about teaching again, these last two or three days. Tomorrow is my last small group of the quarter. I have one more focus group, one more presentation, one more movie, and then that’s it. It’ll just be papers and a grade and goodbye. It’s a weird time of the quarter to be in, when you’re busy thinking about next quarter and syllabi and aren’t here as much as you should be. I think part of that is just distancing yourself; you get invested in the class, and then it has to end, and it’s never fun to have something you’ve invested so much of yourself in just…dissipate.

I think, in retrospect, it’s why it tickles me so much to hear someone use an idea I taught months, a year, later. Because it tells me that my effort did something; the structure of the class might have dissipated, but there was a lasting impact, somewhere. Even if it’s just a small one.

I haven’t felt very successful as any sort of instructor this quarter. Really, when it comes down to it, I haven’t felt very successful much at all this quarter. To hear, from two separate people at two separate times, that they valued their time spent with me so much they wanted to do it again, was a quiet affirmation that although things might not have gone as well as I would have hoped this quarter, I am not a failure, and my efforts are both valued, and appreciated.

At Least I Amuse

The Great Grad Hunt

The GRE’s spanked me. I’ll retake ’em in a month… [edit: I’ve been told by several people now that I’m actually at 93% for verbal, and not to bother retaking, the math bit won’t matter… I’m going to see what the official score is, not rough, and make my decision then….]

…but, I am amused, for my writing options? Something I don’t remember, and then a statement saying that “History is pointless to learn from, and we make none of our important decisions today based on it.”

I was born (well, okay, at least have been trained for the last two years) to write that essay! What do you mean I only have 45 minutes? I can’t regurgitate CHID 390 in 45 minutes! Shit! Okay, I can tag Darnton, White and Foucault, that ought to be good enough….and oh! Kanye West and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake! Okay, okay, GO!

Walking the Talk

...and everything else, The Great Grad Hunt

For all my talk of the ease of cold-writing professors (and academics in general) after doing so a few times, it really never does get any easier, in those few seconds before hitting send. But, I cold wrote one professor (at Notre Dame) to ask about some things in his book, and see if he had any general recommendations for places to look at humanistic studies of social network theory. I also wrote a professor I’d been talking to back in May, and then lost contact with because I suck, and dropped off the face of the planet in end-of-quarter panic. Perhaps not the best thing in the world, given that I’d like to study with him in graduate school. Oh well – at least with him I was able to keep a casual, conversation tone, based on our prior mails (which largely focused on who we thought was going to win American Idol).

It’s 3:15am. It’s not Los Angeles. I’m not tired. Except that I am.

Sleep is an elusive beast.