*nerd nosebleed*
I got library privileges! Reading room only, sadly, no access to the stacks or ordering from the satellite libraries - eg Tozzer (anthropology library) - but this none the less makes my research paper a lot less daunting, because Grossman suuuuuucks and the public library is a pain. I have to restrain myself from flopping all over the place and searching up everything I want to know more about, because the poor reference librarians are going to have to go retrieve it for me. That, plus Widner only, plus no borrowing privileges will make research arduous, but I figure as long as I put in hours and work hard I'll be able to pull it off. Speaking of, they're only open until 10 on week nights? What kind of college library is this! :P I have this vague idea about universal medical care/Article 25 of the UDHR/preferential option for the poor shit (Greek chorus: Of course you do, Jys!). Someone with my professor's name has written a lot of books on global health, and I'd like to read them, but then it would probably be improper (ie seem obsequious) to cite your own professor's work in something you're handing in to him. I'm totally going to ask him if they're the same person, though.
The woman who helped me get my computer lab access card is going to be my classmate in Witchcraft. Which I am totally excited for - not only the class, but that I'll know someone in it. Also, we will have a section! Which is always fun as well as helpful, and his last TA was a really great person. At the break yesterday everyone had gotten up and was chatting with eachother, and I was like "I have just arrived from Planet Zog and I have no idea how this works." There wasn't really anyone sitting within speaking distance of me (because I sit up front like a total brownnoser :P), and I felt inappropriate going over to some group and going "Hi! I see you're talking! Let me talk to you too!" One woman did stop me on the way out, but it was to ask if I thought she had the right textbook (there had been a cock-up with the syllabus leading to confusion). I guess I must look super put-together, or something. Anyway, my future Witchcraft classmate says that World Religions is really hardcore. Oooooh boy. I already knew it was going to have trouble with the material - the pre-class reading is pretty abstract, not what I'm good at - so I'm hoping that on the papers and exams I'll be able to regurgitate information on various faiths and compare/contrast/otherwise create a thesis from that. (I did once write a very kickass paper comparing the Bible and the Bhagavad Gita, if I do say so myself). Because if I have to write on metaphysics or someshit, I'm a bit screwed.
Some recent events have gotten me thinking about notions of professionalism, what it means to treat someone in a professional manner, and more broadly, questions about how far you would take it to get a job done. What I came out with is this: at the moment, being a student is my profession, and to treat someone professionally is to conduct dialog with them on the level of work - in this case, my education. My job is to absorb information, process it, and produce critical analysis. While my personal opinion, morals, conviction &c will influence that, I should judge the people I work with on the basis, standard, and material of their work - as I hope to be judged myself. True, as a student I am relatively powerless. Perhaps if I were in a more influential position like a professor or a board member I would place more value on conscience. But I think, for the foreseeable future, I will stand by this. This all also got me thinking about my possible future career, and I came to the conclusion that, yes, I will probably have to work with some pretty unpleasant people. I want to go into global health, and if, say, a cholera epidemic breaks out in a country with a repressive government, I would have to work with them. Now, there may be other complications - eg repressive governments often have shitty social welfare apparati - but none the less it would fall to me to work with whatever relevant representative of the state to get the job done. Because I want to go into a business where the ultimate end, the bottom line, is people's lives. I don't have to be friends with him or invite him to dinner. I just have to work with him for the duration. And if he has a problem with me personally, then, well, he would be unprofessional. (I still haven't made up my mind on whether you can like someone as a person and find their work repellent. The personal is political, blah blah blah. But, especially in organizations, you can need some kind of social cohesion in order to, once again, get the job done when you need to).
I was going to be a super scholarly sleuth and ascertain the veracity of a blog post by procuring the source material, but the periodicals room does not stock it. :( I am soooort of leery of a post going "I have this information, but you can't get it, lol!", but my friend and I are now very curious about this. Just not curious enough to go online and cough up $15.
I'm really looking forward to tonight and tomorrow's classes! They're both professors I've had before, and had good experiences with. Professor Mitchell is pretty cool, and his subject matter is pretty wide-ranging and fascinating - though okay maybe more focused this semester. I took his class when I was having a really hard time otherwise and still enjoyed it, and learned stuff that I still think about today (helps that I went into a related field). IDK if I'd describe professor MacDonald as cool per say, but he does impart a lot of information very well and, uh, informatively. :P He really knows what he's talking about, and, at least in the other course, occasionally tells twenty minute anecdotes about his fieldwork that involve hallucinogenic herbs and canoe trips into enemy territory. (He's one of the old-school anthropologists who earned his degree by going and living with an isolated tribe in South America, back when that was still the norm).
The woman who helped me get my computer lab access card is going to be my classmate in Witchcraft. Which I am totally excited for - not only the class, but that I'll know someone in it. Also, we will have a section! Which is always fun as well as helpful, and his last TA was a really great person. At the break yesterday everyone had gotten up and was chatting with eachother, and I was like "I have just arrived from Planet Zog and I have no idea how this works." There wasn't really anyone sitting within speaking distance of me (because I sit up front like a total brownnoser :P), and I felt inappropriate going over to some group and going "Hi! I see you're talking! Let me talk to you too!" One woman did stop me on the way out, but it was to ask if I thought she had the right textbook (there had been a cock-up with the syllabus leading to confusion). I guess I must look super put-together, or something. Anyway, my future Witchcraft classmate says that World Religions is really hardcore. Oooooh boy. I already knew it was going to have trouble with the material - the pre-class reading is pretty abstract, not what I'm good at - so I'm hoping that on the papers and exams I'll be able to regurgitate information on various faiths and compare/contrast/otherwise create a thesis from that. (I did once write a very kickass paper comparing the Bible and the Bhagavad Gita, if I do say so myself). Because if I have to write on metaphysics or someshit, I'm a bit screwed.
Some recent events have gotten me thinking about notions of professionalism, what it means to treat someone in a professional manner, and more broadly, questions about how far you would take it to get a job done. What I came out with is this: at the moment, being a student is my profession, and to treat someone professionally is to conduct dialog with them on the level of work - in this case, my education. My job is to absorb information, process it, and produce critical analysis. While my personal opinion, morals, conviction &c will influence that, I should judge the people I work with on the basis, standard, and material of their work - as I hope to be judged myself. True, as a student I am relatively powerless. Perhaps if I were in a more influential position like a professor or a board member I would place more value on conscience. But I think, for the foreseeable future, I will stand by this. This all also got me thinking about my possible future career, and I came to the conclusion that, yes, I will probably have to work with some pretty unpleasant people. I want to go into global health, and if, say, a cholera epidemic breaks out in a country with a repressive government, I would have to work with them. Now, there may be other complications - eg repressive governments often have shitty social welfare apparati - but none the less it would fall to me to work with whatever relevant representative of the state to get the job done. Because I want to go into a business where the ultimate end, the bottom line, is people's lives. I don't have to be friends with him or invite him to dinner. I just have to work with him for the duration. And if he has a problem with me personally, then, well, he would be unprofessional. (I still haven't made up my mind on whether you can like someone as a person and find their work repellent. The personal is political, blah blah blah. But, especially in organizations, you can need some kind of social cohesion in order to, once again, get the job done when you need to).
I was going to be a super scholarly sleuth and ascertain the veracity of a blog post by procuring the source material, but the periodicals room does not stock it. :( I am soooort of leery of a post going "I have this information, but you can't get it, lol!", but my friend and I are now very curious about this. Just not curious enough to go online and cough up $15.
I'm really looking forward to tonight and tomorrow's classes! They're both professors I've had before, and had good experiences with. Professor Mitchell is pretty cool, and his subject matter is pretty wide-ranging and fascinating - though okay maybe more focused this semester. I took his class when I was having a really hard time otherwise and still enjoyed it, and learned stuff that I still think about today (helps that I went into a related field). IDK if I'd describe professor MacDonald as cool per say, but he does impart a lot of information very well and, uh, informatively. :P He really knows what he's talking about, and, at least in the other course, occasionally tells twenty minute anecdotes about his fieldwork that involve hallucinogenic herbs and canoe trips into enemy territory. (He's one of the old-school anthropologists who earned his degree by going and living with an isolated tribe in South America, back when that was still the norm).