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Post by lostinwonders on Aug 7, 2013 16:47:35 GMT -5
University seems to be/to have been a big part of your life for each of us Therefore, it seems like deserving its own topic. What are you studying/did you study? Do/did you like it? What do/did you like about university in general or your university more specifically? What is your best memory? And for those who are only going to university for the first time in the fall, what will you study? Are you excited? Anxious? Eager? Don't hesitate to ask questions. For my part, I am study law. In the fall, I will be in the senior year of my master. I am really excited about writing my thesis which will be one Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare and which will be like a gulp of fresh air among a year of study dedicated to (sometimes a bit tedious and dull) law courses. I really love university. In High school, I dreamed of going to university. For me, it was like a wonderful place where there was all the knowledge one would dream of. It was probably a bit idealistic but I wasn't disappointed. You have great teachers who are specialists and who know so many interesting things. It is amazing! I met very interesting people there (mostly my two best friends). First, I went to a small university for my bachelor. It was nice because small structures are generally good in an administrative point of view. But we weren't that many students compared to other big university in the country and after three year, I were happy to go somewhere else in order to see and meet other people. Now, I am in a big university and I like it because there is more diversity among the students. You have the possibility of meeting very different people. But it is less funny when you have to deal with the administration (that is really bad here)... Actually, you can't have the perfection I think
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Bina
First novel published
Posts: 2,472
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Post by Bina on Aug 7, 2013 17:07:10 GMT -5
That's such a fantastic way to combine literature and law! And how great that your advisors allow you to do that. I had similar experiences, it's for the ost part been what I dreamed of, except for a few students who cannot deal with the fact that literature courses kinda equal lots of reading. I've studied at 3 unis and the administration is always impossible!
I started out with literary and cultural studies, american studies, and completely loved it. But I found my special interest to be in gender and wanted to broaden my horizon as clichéd as it sounds, so now I'm doing an interdisciplinary Gender Studies MA.
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Post by lostinwonders on Aug 8, 2013 5:14:03 GMT -5
That's such a fantastic way to combine literature and law! And how great that your advisors allow you to do that. I had similar experiences, it's for the ost part been what I dreamed of, except for a few students who cannot deal with the fact that literature courses kinda equal lots of reading. I've studied at 3 unis and the administration is always impossible! I started out with literary and cultural studies, american studies, and completely loved it. But I found my special interest to be in gender and wanted to broaden my horizon as clichéd as it sounds, so now I'm doing an interdisciplinary Gender Studies MA. Waw, your different studies sound really interesting and fascinating! Actually, I am really curious about Gender Studies. Unfortunately, I didn't get into the seminar organized about it when I was a freshman and now, I have noted that there is an optional course about it but it is in Dutch and I am not sure that I have the level required in order to easily follow the course But, if you can advise me some books about it, it will be great It is classical but I have "The Second Sex" in my TBR pile for a while and I am going to give it a try soon. But I suppose Gender Studies isn't only made of this essay lol and that it is more complex Yeah, it is amazing to combine law and literature! I am hooked since I had this course about it two years ago. There is a school of philosophy of law that study the interaction between law and literature and it is the area in which I would like to do a PhD if it is possible.
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Post by Carma on Aug 8, 2013 12:31:14 GMT -5
I did my second bachelor in cultural studies (first one in journalism) and now I'm doing a masters degree on literature, and I am specializing in like.. the literary world.. so.. publishers, literary magazines, libraries, literary festivals.. those kind of things... It's kind of hard to explain because it's very abstract.... I get to choose which classes I take though, so that's nice! And I'm not limited to one language, so I can take literary classes in any of the languages that they offer. I also like gender studies! I did a minor in gender studies for my bachelor, also one in literature, but that's no surprise . I definitely pay more attention to how women and minorities are portrayed in the media now. It's what I notice now when I read a book. The first gender related book I had to read was A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf. I also took a class called 'feminist classics' and we had to read (parts of) the following: Christine de Pisan - The Book of the City of Ladies, Mary Wollstonecraft - A Vindication of the Rights of Women John Stuart Mill - The Subjection of Women Christabel Pankhurst - ‘A Woman’s Question’, ‘How to Cure The Great Pestilence’ and ‘What Women Think’, in: The Great Scourge and How to End it. Sylvia Pankhurst - ‘Our equal birthright’ and ‘Human suffrage' Luce Irigaray - ‘When Our Lips Speak Together’ (+ also A Room of One's Own again.. and The Second Sex) So, that might give you some ideas, lostinwonders!
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Post by lostinwonders on Aug 8, 2013 13:07:16 GMT -5
Carma I kind of see what your master is about. I think it is a bit like the master I would have done if I had studied Roman Language and Literature (which was my first plan before ending up unexpectedly in law school ). If I translate it into English, it is something like : "The World of Books", it is about everything which is related to edition and books. So, I think it is mainly the same. It sounds really interesting. It is one of the master that I would like to study if I eventually decide to do a second master after senior year. I have already read A Room of One's Own and I loved it! My favourite chapter was the one in which Virginia Woolf compared Jane Austen to Charlotte Brontë. It was a very interesting analysis I reckon. And I have heard about Christine de Pison. I think I will add those reading ideas to my TBR list because it just sounds so interesting!
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Halie
Collection of short stories published by an independent editor
Posts: 982
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Post by Halie on Aug 8, 2013 14:09:15 GMT -5
I'm almost done with undergrad. I'm double majoring in French and Classics. I love my French major but sometimes Classics makes me want to do myself in and I feel like it's so pointless. Like, now I can say I know Latin and Greek? What's the point of that though?
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Bina
First novel published
Posts: 2,472
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Post by Bina on Aug 8, 2013 15:54:08 GMT -5
Waw, your different studies sound really interesting and fascinating! Actually, I am really curious about Gender Studies. Unfortunately, I didn't get into the seminar organized about it when I was a freshman and now, I have noted that there is an optional course about it but it is in Dutch and I am not sure that I have the level required in order to easily follow the course But, if you can advise me some books about it, it will be great It is classical but I have "The Second Sex" in my TBR pile for a while and I am going to give it a try soon. But I suppose Gender Studies isn't only made of this essay lol and that it is more complex Yeah, it is amazing to combine law and literature! I am hooked since I had this course about it two years ago. There is a school of philosophy of law that study the interaction between law and literature and it is the area in which I would like to do a PhD if it is possible. Philosophy of law sounds fantastic! I can imagine that a phd in that would be a lot of fun (and hard work of course) Second Sex is amazing! Ooooh recommendations...where to start... I'm especially interested in theory productions, queer studies and gender as an interdisciplinary field of study, so this reflects in my recs: - History of Sexuality (Foucault)
- Bodies that Matter (Butler)
- Pedagogies of Crossing (Alexander)
- Terrorist Assemblages (Puar)
- Black feminist Thought (Hill Collins) -> be sure to also check out Crenshaw and the concept of intersectioanality (which was coined in the context of legal studies)
- Masculinities (Connell)
- Agential realism (Barad)
- Cyborg Manifesto (Haraway)
- Third World Woman (Mohanty)
- Epistemology of the Closet (Kosofsky Sedgwick)
- La Frontera (Anzaldua)
- Sexing the Body (Fausto-Sterling)
They are all exciting reads though! Perhaps you can talk to the professor about the class and discuss whether there'd be a language barrier or not? Reading the texts is great, but after having read them at the latest you'll be desperate to discuss them...you could do that here at RBC though if you like
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Post by Carma on Aug 8, 2013 15:56:22 GMT -5
haha, maybe the point is that you feel like you have enriched your brain? lostinwondersI think it might be a little bit different, since it seems more related to how literature works and like... whats between the book and the audience? (I just lifted that from the website ) Though, the world of books sound super interesting too! Where do you study in Belgium? (like which city?) Since you have classes offered in Dutch, but I think you're from the french part?
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Bina
First novel published
Posts: 2,472
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Post by Bina on Aug 8, 2013 15:59:29 GMT -5
I did my second bachelor in cultural studies (first one in journalism) and now I'm doing a masters degree on literature, and I am specializing in like.. the literary world.. so.. publishers, literary magazines, libraries, literary festivals.. those kind of things... It's kind of hard to explain because it's very abstract.... I get to choose which classes I take though, so that's nice! And I'm not limited to one language, so I can take literary classes in any of the languages that they offer. I also like gender studies! I did a minor in gender studies for my bachelor, also one in literature, but that's no surprise . I definitely pay more attention to how women and minorities are portrayed in the media now. It's what I notice now when I read a book. The first gender related book I had to read was A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf. I also took a class called 'feminist classics' and we had to read (parts of) the following: Christine de Pisan - The Book of the City of Ladies, Mary Wollstonecraft - A Vindication of the Rights of Women John Stuart Mill - The Subjection of Women Christabel Pankhurst - ‘A Woman’s Question’, ‘How to Cure The Great Pestilence’ and ‘What Women Think’, in: The Great Scourge and How to End it. Sylvia Pankhurst - ‘Our equal birthright’ and ‘Human suffrage' Luce Irigaray - ‘When Our Lips Speak Together’ (+ also A Room of One's Own again.. and The Second Sex) So, that might give you some ideas, lostinwonders! Love the different perspective your studies must give you on literature! I've always studied gender kinda implicitly before, it was rarely the focus of the class, so I'm happy to really explore the various (not just humanities) perspective. So it's really great that you got to do a minor! Germany could be really better about institutionalizing Gender Studies. I know there are great programs in the Netherlands (Utrecht especially I think)...don't have the money for the summer schools though
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Post by lostinwonders on Aug 8, 2013 16:37:41 GMT -5
Philosophy of law sounds fantastic! I can imagine that a phd in that would be a lot of fun (and hard work of course) Second Sex is amazing! Ooooh recommendations...where to start... I'm especially interested in theory productions, queer studies and gender as an interdisciplinary field of study, so this reflects in my recs: - History of Sexuality (Foucault)
- Bodies that Matter (Butler)
- Pedagogies of Crossing (Alexander)
- Terrorist Assemblages (Puar)
- Black feminist Thought (Hill Collins) -> be sure to also check out Crenshaw and the concept of intersectioanality (which was coined in the context of legal studies)
- Masculinities (Connell)
- Agential realism (Barad)
- Cyborg Manifesto (Haraway)
- Third World Woman (Mohanty)
- Epistemology of the Closet (Kosofsky Sedgwick)
- La Frontera (Anzaldua)
- Sexing the Body (Fausto-Sterling)
They are all exciting reads though! Perhaps you can talk to the professor about the class and discuss whether there'd be a language barrier or not? Reading the texts is great, but after having read them at the latest you'll be desperate to discuss them...you could do that here at RBC though if you like Thanks for all the references I am really eager to begin with The Second Sex and another book titled Women who read are dangerous that has been fascinating me for years now. It is about the relationship between women and reading (as a mean of emancipation) through famous paintings. I don't think I would be able to take that course... Mostly because senior year is important and I want to do my best... So, as my mum will say, there is no need to add a difficulty... But I will be glad to discuss this topic here on the RBC though
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Post by lostinwonders on Aug 8, 2013 16:43:22 GMT -5
lostinwondersI think it might be a little bit different, since it seems more related to how literature works and like... whats between the book and the audience? (I just lifted that from the website ) Though, the world of books sound super interesting too! Where do you study in Belgium? (like which city?) Since you have classes offered in Dutch, but I think you're from the french part? I study in Brussels. For my Bachelor of Laws, I studied at the Université Saint-Louis and now, for my Master of Laws, I am studying at Université Libre de Bruxelles. We can choose to follow some of our optional courses at the Vrije Universiteit Brussels which is the Dutch counterpart of the Université Libre de Bruxelles. I am French-speaking but, as most of Belgian kids, I am from both part of the country since my dad is from the French part and my mum is from the Dutch part
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Post by ace on Sept 1, 2013 12:18:55 GMT -5
I am starting my undergrad in a few weeks. I am doing English Lit and Theatre joint honours and my outside subject or "minor" will be Film & TV. I had trouble picking my outside subject but if I don't like it, it's only for one semester I actually wanted to ask you guys advice about something, although it might seem a bit silly. This week I was scheduling my timetable online. I have a couple lectures 4-5pm and one 4pm-6:30pm. I also have lectures 11-1pm quite a lot. I really cant decide if I'm better to schedule the remaining tutorials and seminars in the morning or in that gap between about 2 and 4. Because if I'm going to be in uni until 5/6 anyway maybe I don't want a class at 9am? But I worry if I don't schedule classes for the morning, i won't get up until I have to. I really can't decide and I keep changing it. I am meeting my adviser in a week so I will ask her then. It's just been stressing me out so I just wanted to see if anyone has any advice or experience of when studying and having classes works best for them
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Post by Carma on Sept 3, 2013 5:06:17 GMT -5
For me personally, I like to have a full block of classes, because I hate having to hang around and wait for the next class to start. When there's only a small timeframe I can never get any real work done either. Also can't get any work done in the morning if my classes are late. I prefer having all my classes early in the morning. Except for the having to wake up in the morning part . But if you think you can use your time between classes in a productive way, then you should leave that open so you could get some work done. But if you start at 9 and you go on till 6.30 then you might be dead tired by the end of the day... I had one of those days last year, with a gap between classes, but by the time I had that final class of the day I wasn't able to pay attention anymore and I just wanted to go home and sleep. (And that was the same every single week.)
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