School Update (The LAST One!)

I pulled these out of my schoolbag...and it's not all of them.

I got a question sent to me about my Goodreads, because my book picks have been unusual lately, so I thought that I would do a quick blogpost about my semester. When I was picking my classes for this semester, I was really just picking the things that I needed to graduate, which thankfully including more than half electives. I had a really good term before Christmas, and I was definitely looking to keep up the momentum into my last semester. Here’s what I’m taking this time around.

I figured that I’d start out with the class that spawned the post. The first class I’m taking this semester is Holocaust Remembrance. It sounds really depressing, and sometimes it is, but I’m really enjoying it. We talk a lot about how people remember traumatic events, and why some events are more vivid than others. We also talk about how memory isn’t a solid thing, it’s very changeable, and your memories probably aren’t what really happened. It’s interesting. I’m enjoying it a great deal. So, if you see that I'm reading a lot more Holocaust literature than normal, it's for this class.

Up next is a biology course, because I do have to finish off my degree. I’m in Transgenic Organisms. We talk a lot about genetically modified foods and whether they are good or bad. There’s also all of the new gene therapies that they use on people, and how they make them, and whether they’re safe. I like it because it’s really relevant, and new things are still happening every day. I also like this course because the professor has structured the course in such a way that you can make your own decision about whether eating GMO produce is for you, rather than just doing whatever he thinks is a good idea.

I’m taking the world’s easiest American History course, Modern American Culture. This class spans from the end of the civil war to the end of the civil rights movement in the 1960s. I like the professor for this one because he makes even the really boring stuff (American tax reform, anyone?) way more exciting than it should be. He’s also really excited, and it’s a refreshing change to have someone who is enthusiastic about their work. To be honest, I just took this one to get an A, and so far I am right on par for that.

My other biology course is Behavioural Ecology. We watch a lot of videos of animals and talk about what they’re doing, and maybe why they’d do it. That’s it. We talk about how to prove your ideas about what the animals might be doing, but that’s all. I like it a lot, but it isn’t difficult.

My final class is a Greek history course on Alexander the Great. So far I’m more than three weeks in, and she’s still just talking about what Greece is like, so I haven’t learned much. I took a course from the same class last semester and got a really effortless A, so I’m planning on this term being much the same. Her TA who does the paper marking is the same, so I am sure that this time will be just as simple.

So that’s it. My last semester of my degree. It’s gone by super quick, but I can’t say that I’m sad that it’ll be over soon. I’m already counting down the weeks to moving day. I have a few more university posts planned, so stay tuned for that, and if you have any specific requests, you can leave them in the comments. :)