The first two days of classes are done and the weekend has arrived!
Since class has officially started, the pace of our days has slowed down a bit - something for which I think we're all grateful. I actually motivated myself to get up and go for a run through campus yesterday morning before lecture and it was well worth my time. England has perfect running weather and the campus and city themselves are gorgeous - there's always something to look at while running, so you're never bored. The only downside to running in Exeter is all of the hills. This Midwestern girl did not know the meaning of hills. My calves are hurting.
Our first class was from 9:30-12 yesterday and was an introduction lecture by Dr. Victoria Sparey, who began by insisting with a huge smile that we call her Vicky. She's very energetic and clearly passionate about what she's teaching - when I walked into the classroom a few minutes early she had already gotten into a discussion with another student about the production of Macbeth that we'd seen. Plus, rather than just stand there and talk at us for 2.5 hours, she made sure to promote discussion and encouraged us to present our own opinions on everything. She's the main coordinator of our track and is a really interesting lecturer, so I have a feeling I'll enjoy each section she teaches!
After a quick break for lunch, during which I had my first steak pasty, we returned to the same classroom in the business school for a lecture on Shakespeare's Genres by Prof. Philip Schwyzer. (Every track takes classes in the business school building since it was very recently built and has the best facilities.) It was interesting to learn the different manner in which genre was interpreted when Shakespeare was actually writing the plays. For example, to be considered a comedy, a play didn't have to actually be funny - it only had to contain a heterosexual marriage. While the lecture was definitely interesting, I think my favorite part of the class was getting into groups and rewriting A Midsummer Night's Dream so that it was a tragedy rather than a comedy.
We finished class at 3:15 and had a rather laid-back afternoon until 6, when everyone headed over to The Ram, the student pub, for our scheduled pub quiz night. The summer school had a buffet set up for us, so we ate dinner, divided into teams of ten, and then it was game on! The trivia pulled from everywhere since we come from every continent but Antarctica, so it was definitely not like any trivia night/pub quiz that I'd ever been to. We had a really great team and ended up getting third place!
Friday's classes began with a lecture on Shakespeare and the Supernatural from Prof. Marion Gibson. The representations of the supernatural in literature have always intrigued me, so I found that lecture particularly interesting. We focused on specific scenes from Macbeth and The Tempest in groups and analyzed how the portrayal of the supernatural in each scene corresponds to both Shakespeare's attitude towards the supernatural and the general public's understanding of and attitude towards it. Getting background information and context really changed my reading of both plays.
Since class has officially started, the pace of our days has slowed down a bit - something for which I think we're all grateful. I actually motivated myself to get up and go for a run through campus yesterday morning before lecture and it was well worth my time. England has perfect running weather and the campus and city themselves are gorgeous - there's always something to look at while running, so you're never bored. The only downside to running in Exeter is all of the hills. This Midwestern girl did not know the meaning of hills. My calves are hurting.
Our first class was from 9:30-12 yesterday and was an introduction lecture by Dr. Victoria Sparey, who began by insisting with a huge smile that we call her Vicky. She's very energetic and clearly passionate about what she's teaching - when I walked into the classroom a few minutes early she had already gotten into a discussion with another student about the production of Macbeth that we'd seen. Plus, rather than just stand there and talk at us for 2.5 hours, she made sure to promote discussion and encouraged us to present our own opinions on everything. She's the main coordinator of our track and is a really interesting lecturer, so I have a feeling I'll enjoy each section she teaches!
After a quick break for lunch, during which I had my first steak pasty, we returned to the same classroom in the business school for a lecture on Shakespeare's Genres by Prof. Philip Schwyzer. (Every track takes classes in the business school building since it was very recently built and has the best facilities.) It was interesting to learn the different manner in which genre was interpreted when Shakespeare was actually writing the plays. For example, to be considered a comedy, a play didn't have to actually be funny - it only had to contain a heterosexual marriage. While the lecture was definitely interesting, I think my favorite part of the class was getting into groups and rewriting A Midsummer Night's Dream so that it was a tragedy rather than a comedy.
We finished class at 3:15 and had a rather laid-back afternoon until 6, when everyone headed over to The Ram, the student pub, for our scheduled pub quiz night. The summer school had a buffet set up for us, so we ate dinner, divided into teams of ten, and then it was game on! The trivia pulled from everywhere since we come from every continent but Antarctica, so it was definitely not like any trivia night/pub quiz that I'd ever been to. We had a really great team and ended up getting third place!
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| Team Can't Touch This. |
Our afternoon session was with Victoria Sparey again, who was leading a play-specific session on A Midsummer Night's Dream. The majority of this class was discussion, and I am really enjoying hearing from all of my classmates on this track. Not only is everyone extremely intelligent and excited to be here, but people bring their own interpretations of the literature based on their home culture and experiences. It really gave a new meaning to something said in the introductory lecture yesterday - there is not Shakespeare, there are Shakespeares, and endless different interpretations that can completely change the meaning of the work at hand. Every track certainly benefits from a variety of viewpoints, but I feel like due to the nature of literature - there is always something new to be discovered and a new way to read the text - the Shakespeare track may benefit the most.
Discussing with people here is something else that I've loved so far. For example, a group of us went to a nearby pub tonight for a quick drink and to chat. Though we came back early, I ended up in a conversation about the differing experiences with race and prejudice in the U.S. and Canada for at least half an hour on the pavilion of our hall. We're all taking this opportunity to learn from each other, and it's that, I think, that is most rewarding.
We're headed on a day trip to Stonehenge and Salisbury bright and early tomorrow morning - sorry, Facebook friends, I'm about to blow up your newsfeed yet again.
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