Which Classes are Important?
I liked having to take Core classes in College. It was a great way to learn something new that I would never have considered taking if the requirements hadn't been there. I loved Criminology, and I think it's helped me dealing with "returning citizens" in my current job. Philosophy is important even if I found it dull at the time (not a great teacher).
My "I think everyone should take this" class is Art History. It was more helpful for art I didn't like. Having a framework in which to judge, understanding the aim of a movement or artist, and getting a cultural perspective on the crafts used helped to shift my perspective. I'm never going to be a huge fan of most pop art, but knowing why it happened as a movement is helpful in wider contexts.
It's also helped to accommodate shifts in my taste. By looking through informed eyes, I've come to deeply appreciate surrealists and other early 20th century art movements. I'm still not fond of cubism, but I can recognize that "Nude Descending a Staircase No. 2" (Duchamp) is a seminal work of the 20th century.
Since moving back to DC, I've begun going to the Hirshhorn. Again, most of the pieces in it -- Rodin excepted -- are not to my personal taste. On the other hand, I've found myself moved by pieces I would never have been exposed to. It's always more miss than hit for me, but the experience is still rewarding.
Back when Dad was advising 500+ students a semester, there came a day where I needed to cover the front desk for my department (which was at that time in the same building). The secretary was part-time and had left for the day, but as a package was expected, I had to be downstairs on one of Dad's advising days.
Steve was a friendly student who was complaining about Professor Dad trying to convince him to use his electives for something other than Political Science. Steve wanted to be a diplomat and was majoring in International Relations. He didn't even like having to take his English and Math requirements. If he could, his entire schedule would have been IR, Poli Sci, History, and, perhaps, a Foreign Language. It was ridiculous, he said, that Professor Dad wanted him to take Art History or Music Appreciation or a World Literature Class.
I asked him one question: "If you're at an embassy dinner and seated, as many junior diplomats are, between the wives of two cultural attaches from foreign countries, what will you talk about?"
The pause yawned widely.
I pointed out that part of diplomacy was the ability to speak intelligently on a wide range of topics to people who might not be of any direct use or importance, but whose tangential importance couldn't be overstated.
We spent the next twenty minutes ripping apart his class schedule and adding in his new electives. We changed his History requirement from U.S. History to, I think, a survey of World History (could have been European history). He took Art History covering Pre-History to about 400 A.D. (and took the 400 A.D. to Modern Art the following semester). He added a Music appreciation course in Classical Music, too.
After his appointment, Professor Dad formally made me Steve's advisor, and I remained so through the next 2.5 years until he graduated. Every time I saw Steve, he was raving about something new he'd learned. I think he's probably a pretty good diplomat, now.
So. I want to know if there's a class those on my friends' list thinks everyone should take.
My "I think everyone should take this" class is Art History. It was more helpful for art I didn't like. Having a framework in which to judge, understanding the aim of a movement or artist, and getting a cultural perspective on the crafts used helped to shift my perspective. I'm never going to be a huge fan of most pop art, but knowing why it happened as a movement is helpful in wider contexts.
It's also helped to accommodate shifts in my taste. By looking through informed eyes, I've come to deeply appreciate surrealists and other early 20th century art movements. I'm still not fond of cubism, but I can recognize that "Nude Descending a Staircase No. 2" (Duchamp) is a seminal work of the 20th century.
Since moving back to DC, I've begun going to the Hirshhorn. Again, most of the pieces in it -- Rodin excepted -- are not to my personal taste. On the other hand, I've found myself moved by pieces I would never have been exposed to. It's always more miss than hit for me, but the experience is still rewarding.
Back when Dad was advising 500+ students a semester, there came a day where I needed to cover the front desk for my department (which was at that time in the same building). The secretary was part-time and had left for the day, but as a package was expected, I had to be downstairs on one of Dad's advising days.
Steve was a friendly student who was complaining about Professor Dad trying to convince him to use his electives for something other than Political Science. Steve wanted to be a diplomat and was majoring in International Relations. He didn't even like having to take his English and Math requirements. If he could, his entire schedule would have been IR, Poli Sci, History, and, perhaps, a Foreign Language. It was ridiculous, he said, that Professor Dad wanted him to take Art History or Music Appreciation or a World Literature Class.
I asked him one question: "If you're at an embassy dinner and seated, as many junior diplomats are, between the wives of two cultural attaches from foreign countries, what will you talk about?"
The pause yawned widely.
I pointed out that part of diplomacy was the ability to speak intelligently on a wide range of topics to people who might not be of any direct use or importance, but whose tangential importance couldn't be overstated.
We spent the next twenty minutes ripping apart his class schedule and adding in his new electives. We changed his History requirement from U.S. History to, I think, a survey of World History (could have been European history). He took Art History covering Pre-History to about 400 A.D. (and took the 400 A.D. to Modern Art the following semester). He added a Music appreciation course in Classical Music, too.
After his appointment, Professor Dad formally made me Steve's advisor, and I remained so through the next 2.5 years until he graduated. Every time I saw Steve, he was raving about something new he'd learned. I think he's probably a pretty good diplomat, now.
So. I want to know if there's a class those on my friends' list thinks everyone should take.