- Class Discussion/ Facilitation/ Conversation
This seemed to be a bit of a problem in our class. There were always long pauses, lulls in the conversation where people would just kind of sit and stare at each other until somebody else started the conversations up again. I hate awkward silences, and so I often would be the one to break it, even if I didn’t really have anything particularly profound to contribute. Perhaps next class if there was more of a set rule/grading system of participation it would help. Or if every day there were 2 or 3 discussion leaders that came up with questions or discussion topics?
2. Video Conferencing
I loved the video conferences! They were always something I would look forward to that week. Besides the occasional technical difficulties, they were a success. I am so thankful for this technology, because it opens up, literally, the world to us. A world of opportunities for conversation and discussion and dialogue and discovery… its really incredible. Its weird to think that im sitting there, watching a person that’s halfway across the world, having a conversation with them with just a second of a lag. Seeing faces is so different than hearing a voice or reading an email.
3. Readings and the topics
To be completely honest, the Karen Armstrong book was a real struggle for me. So many names and dates over and over again- they tended to blend in. not that I didn’t learn from it, because i did, but it was hard to read. The other readings tended to be a lot more interesting and easy to digest, thank goodness. Sometimes the reading load was really heavy, though.
4. Lecturers and Speakers
I loved all the lecturers and speakers that we had. I thought it was a really good idea to have us all write a few questions out beforehand, especially considering the conversation issues we sometimes have. I felt very fortunate to have had the calibur of speakers that we had in class.
5. Blogging
a.Class Blog
I love what our class blog turned into- the page itself is beautiful and whenever anybody found anything interesting they would put it on the page so we could all enjoy it- super cool.
b. Individual Blog
I had never blogged before this class, and it really took some getting used to for me. I had to constantly remind myself to update, and it took me forever to follow everybody I wanted to and that kind of stuff- I am not good with technology.
c. Individual Responses and Comments to other people's blogs
this is something that I think needs to be altered a bit for the next class. And I am totally guilty of this, too, but we were not very good at going on other people’s blogs and commenting/reading. I think if there was some sort of guideline about a minimum number of weekly comments that would be really helpful.
6. Syallabus and its clarity
save for a few small typo-ish errors, there were no real problems with the syllabus. At the very beginning I was a bit confused with due dates because of the way they were layed out on the syllabus, but once I figured it out it wasn’t at all an issue.
7. Final Project
a. Own Project
it took me a long time to figure out what I wanted to to- I have never really had so much choice in the matter of a project like this so I was a bit shocked about the freedom! My mind isn’t really too creative, so I considered writing a paper, but with another term paper due the same week (14 pages) I opted for a multi media project. Shannon and I joined forces since we were doing the same idea, and it was such a good idea.l I LOVED DOING MY PROJECT. I loved every minute of it. the interviews were all so incredibly interesting and made me SO EXCITED for the trip! I loved how diverse the people that we interviewed were, they gave so many different perspectives.
b. Learning from others people's projects
it was so interesting to see what other people had chosen to research, what stood out to them, what they were so interested in. there were some projects, like Sarah’s, that I had never heard about before, but I learned so much about. (great job, Sarah!) I was impressed with the papers and the powerpoints AND the videos, like Charus! She did sooo great! Jenna’s painting was also INCREDIBLE. I was so impressed with out class and the work that everybody did!
8. Personal Reflection
a. what you have learned and how you have grown
I feel so much more informed about the area and about the history of the city of Jerusalem. I had no idea, or I guess I just had never really sat down to think about how much had happened, how many rulers had risen and fallen and how many people had lived or died there. Incredible.
b. what were you initial opinions and how have they changed throughout the class.
I went into the class with an open mind, slightly leaning towards the Palestinian side of things. Im proud to say that I am more neutral now, mostly because of the personal interaction that I had with some jews/Israelis. That’s where I wanted to end up and Im so happy I got here.
c. what will you do to learn more if you wish to do so.
I want to keep up with the news and hopefully try to keep in contact with some of the people I meet.
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