Last first day of school

Tuesday, March 29, 2005 » thought

First day roundup~

Art of Japan seems like it could be interesting and irritating at the same time. It's finally a break from all the art history classes I've taken that were all about the old European masters or 20th Century bigshots like Pollock and Warhol, however the professor made a big deal about practicing "active learning," which sounds like what middle school class might engage in right after SSR. What it boils down to is 1) we have to keep a journal of critiques on the weekly readings (which I don't mind so much since it'll help me keep up), and 2) the professor frequently stops the class so we can discuss the current slides with whoever's sitting next to us. This was already old after the first time, so I'm hoping it she cuts back in the future. Also, we have to write two papers, which is annoying because I thought I wrote my last one a couple weeks ago, but they are mercifully short. Despite that and the discussion, I'm optimistic.

Chinese 6 is going to be just another quarter of Chinese. We've thankfully moved back into one of the spacious HSSB classrooms instead of the tiny little Girvetz space they put the class in last quarter. Also, being able to attend five days a week again will be helpful.

I have high hopes for Drawing 117, although the initial turnout frightened me. I walked in expecting a tiny group like my last two drawing classes and instead there turned out to be more people than in my lower division class freshman year. I expect a lot are crashing and won't stick around. Hopefully there won't be too many left after that. Also, the professor didn't even show up. The department didn't know where he was and he doesn't have a cellphone (I guess), so we're hoping it was just traffic and nothing serious.

I think I've got a good set of classes for this last quarter. Even if the art history ends up being a drag, at least I've got a good schedule. Tomorrow I only have one hour of class and it isn't until 11, so I'm pretty happy about that. I should probably still get some sleep, though.