Quick question: what do the Arcade Fire, Charles Dickens, Nietzche and the Nash Equilibrium have in common?
Answer: they are all components of my schedule this quarter...
This is the first week of classes. And, let me tell you, I have an exciting 10 weeks ahead of me. My class schedule can be compared with the feeling you get when apple cider mixes sharply with pumpkin pie on your pallet.
Allow me to elaborate.
First up is English 576.01. This, in a manner of speaking, is Big Boy English. Subject: 19th Century Critical Theory. Purpose: read the who’s who list of thinkers, obscure novels/plays/poems and apply critical theory to them. If I’ve never really felt like an English major before, this class will change that. True story: I am afraid that this class will eat me alive. Without even chewing. The good news: our Professor is THE expert on his subject, and in another class I’ve even read and annotated essays written by the man. Which makes the class seem even more legit.
Moving on: Economics 501.02. AKA Intermediate calculus-based microeconomics. Did you catch that? The little hyphenated message up above? “calculus-based.” Woof. This will be an expansion of the basics of economic theory utilizing calculus. i.e. an application of mathematics that doesn’t involve figuring out a price adjustment on oranges at Kroger (the only mathematical application I’ve ever used to justify 14 years of math classes). I am excited about the knowledge that this class will bring me, but not the process that it will take to get there.
BOOM: English 590.05H. SNAP: Honors Seminar on Victorian Literature. Right now, sitting in front of me, there are over 2,075 pages of reading that I will be required to complete for this class. In 10 weeks. And that doesn’t even include the poetry anthology that I haven’t purchased yet. True story: Victorians were long winded. Truer story: this class has 10 students in it. Truest story: the professor is British. If college is reading an obscene amount while drinking coffee beneath yellowing leaves while wearing argyle sweaters, this class IS college. Also, I expect some sort of Breakfast Club companionship development to occur as the result of ten students forcing themselves through 800+ pages of Nicholas Nickleby in less than 3 weeks. “NO DAD, WHAT ABOUT YOU!?”
And finally, the class over which I am geeking out: English 560. Special Topics in Poetry. Oh? What special topic do you ask?
Music.
As poetry. The theory is that music has replaced poetry as a once accessible and popular method of self-expression. Where once we had poets, we now have musicians. And so we will be comparing artists like Sufjan Stevens, the Arcade Fire and the Shins to people like Percey Shelley, Emily Dickinson and T.S. Eliot. Oh, by the way, we will be videoconferencing with Richard Edwards of Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s. Oh, by the way, local Columbus act Our Cat Phillip will be coming to our class. Also, by the way: Matt Berninger of the internationally acclaimed band The National will be holding a video conference with us as well. Yes, that The National. Geeking. Out.
This quarter, I’m particularly excited for the content of my classes. I will come out with a very wrinkled brain, and mark several KEY works of the human consciousness off of The List of Things to Read and Know. Also, I will have a casual discussion with Matt Berninger. NBD.
When it comes to Ohio State, the sky is the limit on the list of course offerings. Literally. As in you can take a class on sky diving. Where you jump out of a plane. For credit. Listen: my classes reflect my personality: over-ambitious, nerdy, and totally inapplicable to daily conversation, but the beuty of this university is that you can learn just about anything. Heck, I’m taking a class on alternative music as poetry. Imagine what you could do in the Chemistry Department… (Blow crap up, that’s what)
-Andrew