Macro Economics
At college in Hobart & William Smith, I had many fabulous courses. My philosophy course on Aesthetics, my MicroEconomics course and my World History courses all come to mind. These courses changed the course of my life, my self perception and world view. Others were less profound in my life, but were exceedingly well taught - like Music theory and 3dimensional drawing.
One course that stands out as OUSTANDINGLY BAD was unfortunately my Macro Economics course. Despite being at a college whose Economics department is well lauded and being taught by a professor who is well loved within the school, I found it to be the worst value of my time there. When I enrolled, I knew nothing about the Federal Reserve, monetary policies, international currencies, the world market or really even what Macro Economics was. I not only did not know of these things, I had no idea that these belonged to the world of Macro Economics.
When I completed the class with a passing grade, I still did not know about the existence of the Federal Reserve, or had ANY clue whatsoever about any of the references I made above. I still did not know that it should have been part of my course.
Indeed, in reading about The Federal Reserve, I thought to myself, "Now how come I didn't learn this in college ? What course would it have been in - I should have taken it ? Hmm...It would have been Macro Economics. Crap, I DID take a course in Macro, and I didn't realize until now that this is what it was meant to teach."
A very sad state of affairs, and I feel denied of an education that I paid for. I remember reading some very dry text about Jane Jacobs and spending hours upon hours doing some kind of statitistical demographic research. Of which I remember very little. I wasn't the only one who thought the whole thing was pointless, I remember my classmates being equally indignant about the class. I did what I needed to survive, but what I did not do at the time, was find out what the hell Macro Economics really was.
Just like my high school history classes, I feel cheated. Bad teachers / courses in combination with my ignorance has created huge voids of information in my life. Education is so important and forms the basis of so much more. The catapult into other arenas of knowledge can be powerful but difficult to link back to those basics.
Fortunately, the world now has Wikipedia. Parents can use it to excite their children about otherwise terribly boring schoolwork. Anyone can use it to supplement their knowledge. And no more is ignorance excusable.
One course that stands out as OUSTANDINGLY BAD was unfortunately my Macro Economics course. Despite being at a college whose Economics department is well lauded and being taught by a professor who is well loved within the school, I found it to be the worst value of my time there. When I enrolled, I knew nothing about the Federal Reserve, monetary policies, international currencies, the world market or really even what Macro Economics was. I not only did not know of these things, I had no idea that these belonged to the world of Macro Economics.
When I completed the class with a passing grade, I still did not know about the existence of the Federal Reserve, or had ANY clue whatsoever about any of the references I made above. I still did not know that it should have been part of my course.
Indeed, in reading about The Federal Reserve, I thought to myself, "Now how come I didn't learn this in college ? What course would it have been in - I should have taken it ? Hmm...It would have been Macro Economics. Crap, I DID take a course in Macro, and I didn't realize until now that this is what it was meant to teach."
A very sad state of affairs, and I feel denied of an education that I paid for. I remember reading some very dry text about Jane Jacobs and spending hours upon hours doing some kind of statitistical demographic research. Of which I remember very little. I wasn't the only one who thought the whole thing was pointless, I remember my classmates being equally indignant about the class. I did what I needed to survive, but what I did not do at the time, was find out what the hell Macro Economics really was.
Just like my high school history classes, I feel cheated. Bad teachers / courses in combination with my ignorance has created huge voids of information in my life. Education is so important and forms the basis of so much more. The catapult into other arenas of knowledge can be powerful but difficult to link back to those basics.
Fortunately, the world now has Wikipedia. Parents can use it to excite their children about otherwise terribly boring schoolwork. Anyone can use it to supplement their knowledge. And no more is ignorance excusable.