Saturday, March 3, 2007

School is Cool!

I have survived my first week of class...here's how it went:

Monday: I had a film theory class, but I didn't really know the specifics until I showed up for class. The professor told us that we were going to be studying the works of Alfred Hitchcock (yay!) in reference to the philosophical ideas posed by Slavo Zizek. Ok, I had no idea who that was, but everyone else seemed to nod in understanding, so I faked it. Once the lecture started I became very nervous because I really had no idea what the professor was talking about. French Structuralism? Jacque Lacan? Slovenia? Huh? As soon as class was over I went to the library and spent a few hours investigating all of these things. This will probably be my most challenging class. At least I have already seen most of the movies we will be viewing...


Tuesday: No class! Slept in :)

Wednesday: This is a history of cinema class focusing on Silent films. It was a much less intimidating experience. First, the prof is Scottish so it is really beautiful to hear him lecture. Second, he told us he would prefer that we don't buy text, but instead go to the library because he thinks libraries are a great place to learn by exploration--fantastic! I love libraries, and ours here is quite large...

Thursday: The title of this class is New Waves, and it focuses on film revolutions in different cultures across the world. I'm really excited about this class because it will be almost all foreign films, many of which I have not seen. Should be pretty interesting. One of the girls in class is trying to get everyone together to watch the movies for homework as a big group which should be fun.

Friday: Yes, I am taking a class entitled Reality TV. Yes, I have to do a presentation on MTV's The Real World. This one should be pretty lively and entertaining. We are sure to come up with interesting discussions, and viewings. My homework this week is watching Oprah! Quite a difference my flatmates who are learning economic theory and business and engineering.



A few more things about my classes:
They are all in the same building, which is just a five minute walk from my apartment and very close to the library too. Should be good when it starts to get cold!

There are few people who are in more than one class with me, so we all exchanged emails so we can get notes if we need or to set up times to watch our assignments. In particular, there is a Kiwi named Michael, and Chinese girl named Ming, and another girl from California named Star.
Last, I am really excited to be learning about what interests me most! I can see how my Biola film education did a pretty good job at preparing me--I have a good foundation set up...

Thanks for reading! I promise not to bore you with the details of each class next time, and try to stick to highlights!

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