Classes – Week 7

Posted by Kalie on November 14, 2009

I suppose I am in Scotland to learn something, so here’s an update on the classes I’m taking.

• Global Worlds, Global Challenges – This is an introductory level one geography course.  Basically it’s an umbrella course that covers all things related to geography.  Some parts are pretty interesting (biodiversity), while others are not (economy).  Last week, a Scottish girl and I gave a presentation in our tutorial about the effects of McDonald’s on the environment, diet, trade, and culture.
• Philosophy of Art and Literature – While it’s still a topic that doesn’t interest me (or rather, it makes my head spin because I can’t quite grasp the concepts being talked about), I came to like the professor much more than I initially did.  He was funny and had a very pleasant Scottish voice to listen to.  So far we’ve covered the topics of art, photography, and humour.  After six weeks, we have a new professor now who will be focusing on the literature aspect.
• Gaelic Folklore – This is probably my favourite class.  We learn about the traditions of Gaelic people, anything from calendar holidays to birth and death rituals.  For our final project, we each chose a topic and have to write a paper and give a presentation on it.  I chose Scottish football (soccer) for my topic.  I will be focusing on the superstitious traditions of football players and fans, as well as looking at the football chants and their historical value.  On Wednesday our class took a  trip to Edinburgh to do research at the School of Scottish Studies.  Since there wasn’t much written about these topics, though, I’m going to have to do some fieldwork.  This entails going to an “old man” pub and interviewing a willing football fan.  I’m looking forward to this far more than I should!
• Gaelic Culture – This class is taught by the same lady who teaches Gaelic Folklore.  We look at how the Gaelic language and culture has declined over the past few hundred years.  Just recently we read poems of Gaelic poets and related those poems to the political and historical events that were happening at the time.  I’ve probably learned the most from this class.  There’s so much about Highland Scottish history that I didn’t know about, such as the Highland clearances, Battle of Culloden, and breakdown of the clan system.

So with only 5 weeks left of classes, I have 5 essays to write, 1 presentation to give, and 1 exam to take.  Wish me luck!

Cheers!

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