Class Update!

Sometimes it's easy to forget I'm here for School. . . 

History of the Byzantium Empire:

This class has the most reading for it. There is always stuff from our text book and then like, 2-3 online supplementary readings. I am not 100 percent what the goal/direction of this class is. The professor is kind of all over the place. We haven't visited any museums since our first trip (since he cancelled class). However, our first paper is coming up in the next month. We all had to decide on our topics, and then present them to the class. I am going to work on the Christianization of the Empire, as an overview, in the first four centuries (so I can talk about Egypt). Truth be told, I haven't put much thought into it yet. He is very aliment about us using the art around us as apart of our paper. He wants us to take advantage of the resources around us. As cool as I find it all, I am not an ART history buff.

The Middle East: A Comparative Approach:

"You don't have to agree which how they think, you should simply understand where they're coming from." -Professor Cudsi. 

This professor is a genius. Though I don't agree with all his ideas about handling the middle east, legislation wise anyways, he really knows what he's talking about. He's controversial and welcomes debate in the class room, and I've  missed debating! This man just starts class and launches into these tireless lectures on whichever subject on the middle east is on the syllabus. I am always writing like a mad woman. This is by far my most interesting class. Cudsi is getting us to see things from a different perspective, one the average American refuses to see though. The middle east is coming into perspective for me, and I think this class has made the most sense thus far. He recently had a bonus lecture on the Arab spring. It was really like, 2 classes worth of information combine in one lecture, but it was open to the Academic public, which made the debate even more interesting. He's a brilliant professor and I look forward to his class for the rest of the semester. There is a paper coming up in this class as well. For this, my topic is Water in the Middle East. Oil and land are not the only causes of conflict. The people there don't have nearly enough water for survival, and you can bet thats causing a mother load of issues. 

Islam, Judaism, and Christianity:

This class has been super enlightening. I'm really enjoying learning about Judaism and Islam. I've had a preexisting interest in Islam, this is just the first class I've had the opportunity to take on it. The classes aim is essentially to compare and contrast the 3 most popular monotheistic religions in our world today, and they have a lot more in common than you'd expect. I personally thing that Judaism and Islam have the most in common. I have a paper and paper presentation coming up at the end of this month and I still have not solidified my topic for this. I know I want to do something comparing some aspect of Islam and Judaism, I'm just not sure what, specifically. Our professor has shown us bits of different documentaries on all these religions, and I intend to watch through them and sift for a reasonable topic. 

Ancient Greek Religion and Myth:

This Professor is also awesome. She's a little crazy, but in the best kind of way. She really knows what she is talking about and it is always an interesting lecture. Lately, we've been going through the Olympians one by one and analyzing where they stood in antiquity and how they were worshiped, complete with temples and sanctuaries and cult objects. We've gone over the lineage of the gods, not that that ever fully makes sense. We're preparing for our trip to the Peloponnese and the Delphi, which will serve this class very well. We've picked paper topics, although I am not entirely sure when we're supposed to turn this paper in (heh). My topic will be comparing the Creation Myths in Ancient Greek polytheism to that of the Hindu Vedas. I am really excited to be playing with the Veda's again, seeing as I haven't touched them since Freshman year. My professor is excited for me to write this paper, which makes it that much better.

For the most part, my classes all intertwine. Its a lot of the same information which is not always as convenient. I've noticed conflicting and bias material in some of my classes, which of course leads to sassy Morgan dictating the conversation trying to correct the professor. I guess I just have a huge problem with the misuse of the term "Jihad." 

A small percentage of extremists HAS to ruin it for everyone, huh?