As Amherst is known for its open curriculum, I have been taking diverse courses to explore my interests and would like to share two interesting ones with you!
FYSE 102 Progress?
Every freshman at Amherst takes a first-year seminar in the fall semester. These courses are capped at 15 students per class and are designed to strengthen students’ writing skills and invite intellectual discussions.
After filling out an interest form over the summer, I have been assigned to the seminar, “Progress?”. (The question mark❓is the essence!) This course has five sections taught by professors from varying departments. All sections would meet once or twice a month for a joint discussion in the Red Room (a.k.a. Cole Assembly Room at Converse) on assigned readings. Sometimes, one of the professors would deliver a talk and guide us through the passages; other times, we would have guest speakers to talk about their books and answer our concerns. This semester, we have had President Michael Elliot sharing DuBois’ “The Souls of Black Folk”, Ross Douthat explaining his unique perspective of “A Decadent Society”, and Juliet Schor analyzing the sharing economy in her book “After the Gig”.
From the talks, books excerpts, and movies, we are prompted to think about what defines progress, how society has made progress (or regression), and how we can make progress. The concerns we raised in class are relevant to our society, especially considering the geopolitical tensions this year. As an international student, this is a great course to start my journey at Amherst to learn more about U.S. politics, history, and ideals. Also, a shout out to my professor––Prof. Lawrence Douglas––for being so humorous in class and helpful regarding giving feedback on my writing! It has been a wonderful time taking this class (and I love the t-shirt design 😂).
MUSI 238/ANTH 239/FAMS 312 Soundscapes of the Connecticut River Valley
This is a community-based course about exploring and investigating the sounds in the areas along the Connecticut River Valley, which ultimately culminates as a documentary project. I actually did not consider it during my course search because I knew nothing about the Valley. However, my advisor encouraged me to check this course’s website. After watching a few past documentary projects, I am thrilled to register for it.
Do you know that Amherst owns a Cold War bunker? And now it has been renovated into a book depository for the Five Colleges? 🤩 After reading some articles about it, I was intrigued by its interesting history. Along with my partner, we started our journey of exploring the Bunker. We got to visit the Bunker, interview the renovation project manager, and read through the archival documents. Along the way, we were surprised to meet an expert researching bunkers in Massachusetts and get into another Bunker that has kept most of the facilities from the Cold War.
Not only did we learn more about bunkers, but we also developed many technical skills in filming and editing videos and communication skills in reaching out to people. Through in-class discussions, I also learned a lot from my classmates’ projects––how they dealt with difficult filming situations, narrated their stories, coordinated logistics, etc.
We have a screening on December 11th, so feel free to check out our video by then!
There are so many courses to explore at Amherst (and the Five College Consortium), so rest assured, you can always find something that interests you. Have fun exploring and learning! 📚