September is International Literacy Month so I'd like to be around here more often, writing about the thing I love doing the most: reading. I think I could do that. I can still read (sometimes, I still read books even when I really should be reading something else) in between my many readings for grad school and the papers I still have to rewrite for my theories class. If I tried hard enough.
I realized I don't really talk about grad school very much unlike my other classmates with blogs. I guess it's not my thing (?) since I never know the right things to say. Let me tell you a little something about school for tonight though, just because. It's now my third term and my favorite class, so far, was last term's Contemporary Issues and Trends class. I wish I excelled in that class but I didn't. I really liked our reading selection though, most of the articles addressed complex issues in a sensible way. One of our readings was Jonathan Franzen's op-ed on Technology and Love. It was one of our best class sessions. I think "going for what hurts" is now part of my decision-making process. Also, I have a bias so subjects taught by my favorite teachers1 become my favorite subjects . I don't know about this term, though I doubt I'd have that "just happy to be in this class" feeling once again. It is what it is (and I'm going to get through it).
This term, we have International Law and Research Methods. I quite like the idea of studying international law. We already had that when I was an undergraduate but I don't know what it will be like on a graduate level.
Anyway, at the start of every term, I make an online copy of the syllabus because I usually lose mine after two meetings (I have also lost it on the day it was given, because I am a scatterbrain). I've been working on my IntLaw syllabus which is 25 pages long. The syllabus itself is like a reading. I have to admit that it's pretty great (in an "OMG, great white sharks are so great but they're so terrifying" kind of way). I found this part of the syllabus so boss so I spliced it for you (my imaginary friends) since I am already oversharing anyway. It's a winner:
Will I be able to read the suggestions listed under the headings? Well, no. But I like having them there, just in case. You'll never know! #charot2 My French is so bad that for the longest time, I thought oeufs en cocotte3 meant eggs and cheese. X_X
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1 Mostly made up of women professors I look up to because they kick ass in their fields and they're really very cool. Also, I really like it when professors motivate their students through objective comments, like the way my professors make me want to be better at writing (and this whole MA thing). I think my contemporary film teacher is on sabbatical but I did enjoy writing for her class when I was still in college. I think one of the reasons why I'm still in school is the small hope that one day, I will be very good too. Although at the rate I'm going, that change will probably come in another lifetime. At least I tried, no? :(
2 Charot \ˈcher-ət\ - (n): a joke, may be used interchangeably with chos. Both of which are interjected between statements to connote harmless banter. (i.e. "That was just a chos!")
3 It means eggs in ramekins, unfortunately.
