So We're Back to This
Hey, do you all remember not too long ago when me journal was mostly filled with a bunch of entries about school-related things that everyone skipped over???
...Yeah.
Today was the first day of my archaeology field class. As I suspected, we didn't start working on the site yet; today was background info. What I didn't expect, however, was for the prof/director of the project to take us on a tour of the town (Vineland, NJ for the extremely curious) that included four cemeteries, a church, a synagogue, the town's historical society/museum, two schools, two main streets, and the site itself (not necessarily in that order). Historical archaeology isn't my "thing," but the prof's enthusiasm is certainly refreshing and contagious. And after seeing the site, I really want to get started with the digging.
There has now been a change in my class schedule. I attended the first session of my primate adaptation and human evolution class on Wednesday afternoon and discovered that... well, the course title and description were a bit misleading. Long story short(er), I quickly realized that 1)I wasn't going to do or learn anything in that class that I didn't do or learn in Dr. Smith's class less than a year ago, 2)I really don't need the class, since I'm not going into primatology, and 3)although it would be a cake walk, I really just don't want to take it again right now.
I went home and started searching for another course with which to replace it, and much beating of my head against the desk ensued. I could take any number of courses in population genetics, evolutionary biology, statistics, or human anatomy, but there is just NOTHING offered this semester that doesn't conflict with the core courses that I'm required to take. Eventually I found something that looks interesting, but it's a bit of a stretch... Behavioral genetics, in the biological based of behavior section. Do I need this course? No. Is it relevant to my studies in the long run? Well... maybe. Not any less so than a repeat primatology course, at any rate.
So, fuggit, I switched. My new and improved schedule:
Fundamentals of Archaeology (M, 9:00-12:00)
Behavioral Genetics (M, 2:00-5:00)
Contemporary Approaches to Culture and Society (T, 10:00-1:00)
Archaeology Field Project (F, 8:00-5:00)
Monday and Friday will be damn long days, but I'll have four days per week completely off! ::dances::
Last night I sent emails to both Dr. Smith and Dr. Petruso, and received replies from both today. I found out that Petruso is going to be in Philadelphia for a conference in November, and he'd like to get together with me for coffee while he's here. Yay!! On the down side, though, I also found out that Dr. Smith will not be attending the annual meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists which will be in Philadelphia next spring, so I won't get to see her. Bummer. :( But Petruso will be here in November! :)
Oh, I had a totally random 'Fandom Has Eaten My Brain' moment today: While at one of the cemeteries, I was looking at one of the family plots, and discovered three grave markers in a neat row labeled "Harold," "George," and "Fred." This made me giggle in a wholly inappropriate way, doubly so since I'm currently working on a completely obscene George/Harry/Fred fic. LOL!
Speaking of that fic, I need to get back to it. I'm about 1,000 words in right now, but I need to wrap it up in the next couple of days. Right.
...Yeah.
Today was the first day of my archaeology field class. As I suspected, we didn't start working on the site yet; today was background info. What I didn't expect, however, was for the prof/director of the project to take us on a tour of the town (Vineland, NJ for the extremely curious) that included four cemeteries, a church, a synagogue, the town's historical society/museum, two schools, two main streets, and the site itself (not necessarily in that order). Historical archaeology isn't my "thing," but the prof's enthusiasm is certainly refreshing and contagious. And after seeing the site, I really want to get started with the digging.
There has now been a change in my class schedule. I attended the first session of my primate adaptation and human evolution class on Wednesday afternoon and discovered that... well, the course title and description were a bit misleading. Long story short(er), I quickly realized that 1)I wasn't going to do or learn anything in that class that I didn't do or learn in Dr. Smith's class less than a year ago, 2)I really don't need the class, since I'm not going into primatology, and 3)although it would be a cake walk, I really just don't want to take it again right now.
I went home and started searching for another course with which to replace it, and much beating of my head against the desk ensued. I could take any number of courses in population genetics, evolutionary biology, statistics, or human anatomy, but there is just NOTHING offered this semester that doesn't conflict with the core courses that I'm required to take. Eventually I found something that looks interesting, but it's a bit of a stretch... Behavioral genetics, in the biological based of behavior section. Do I need this course? No. Is it relevant to my studies in the long run? Well... maybe. Not any less so than a repeat primatology course, at any rate.
So, fuggit, I switched. My new and improved schedule:
Fundamentals of Archaeology (M, 9:00-12:00)
Behavioral Genetics (M, 2:00-5:00)
Contemporary Approaches to Culture and Society (T, 10:00-1:00)
Archaeology Field Project (F, 8:00-5:00)
Monday and Friday will be damn long days, but I'll have four days per week completely off! ::dances::
Last night I sent emails to both Dr. Smith and Dr. Petruso, and received replies from both today. I found out that Petruso is going to be in Philadelphia for a conference in November, and he'd like to get together with me for coffee while he's here. Yay!! On the down side, though, I also found out that Dr. Smith will not be attending the annual meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists which will be in Philadelphia next spring, so I won't get to see her. Bummer. :( But Petruso will be here in November! :)
Oh, I had a totally random 'Fandom Has Eaten My Brain' moment today: While at one of the cemeteries, I was looking at one of the family plots, and discovered three grave markers in a neat row labeled "Harold," "George," and "Fred." This made me giggle in a wholly inappropriate way, doubly so since I'm currently working on a completely obscene George/Harry/Fred fic. LOL!
Speaking of that fic, I need to get back to it. I'm about 1,000 words in right now, but I need to wrap it up in the next couple of days. Right.