Wednesday, March 28, 2007

It's the Most Wonderful Time...

It's one of my favorite times of year, next to the fall season and getting to buy new office supplies (I love shopping for a new planner! Oh, nice Sharpies...). It's the time when I get to "shop" for classes for the upcoming semester.

I think I'm going to take a deep breath and enroll in two courses for the fall. Possibly foolish, but that's what dropping is for, right? Right?

One class is one I've intended to take since Dr. Bernhard Jackson told me about it--Introduction to Graduate Studies. It's a course that would introduce me to some of the fundamentals of the profession--i.e. writing a bibliography, creating a proposal, conference stuff, etc. Sounds both useful and fun, and I adore Emily as a professor. (I learned so much in her course last semester).

The second is a seminar titled "The American Picaresque". Intriguing, I thought to myself. But what does it mean? Well, first I shot off an e-mail to the professor listed for the course, assuming he wouldn't mind answering a polite inquiry into the course. Then I googled the phrase...and what should pop up as the very first page but a course description for a course taught in Germany...by a Dr. Michael Augspurger! There might be a lot of Augspurgers in the world, but this has got to be the one I know that was a teacher at UCA and husband of another great and wonderful person, Dr. Jane Simenson. (For one, I know that he taught in Germany).

I think the signs point to me taking the class, especially if does involve some of the same texts that Dr. Augspurger taught in his course. (I'm still intrigued and happy that I was struck by such an odd coincidence).

Two courses?!? Am I nuts? Quite possibly...but I bet I'll love it all the same! (Especially if I make good use of my summer and get a handle on the reading for both courses...)

2 comments:

Quiet Moments said...

I agree. Try two courses. If it's more than you're comfortable with, then drop one! It's all good. I miss picking my classes. I was so excited when I got to choose whether to take an elective rotation next year or the year afte, it was kind of sad. Aww, Jane...I miss Jane. I think we're going to sending her an invitation to the wedding.

I might post tonight after our ethics lecture. They're showing a documentary about euthanasia, which is legal in the Netherlands as of 2001. It's supposed to be pretty disturbing, and I'm sure it'll raise some viable points for the med-themed blogger. *grins and winks*

g-girl said...

I miss the fun of getting to select courses! You're right--that's what dropping is for if two is more than you can handle.