Another semester quickly begun. And so it has gone on for many days now. It's already February, so it's probably reasonable that I get a post up.
Many things've happened already in the three weeks that I've been back to our fair school. Of the most notable:
- I've seen five stage shows, seven films, attended 11 production meetings, and heard 14 class lectures.
- I'm involved in four upcoming Clark theatre productions (Molière's "Tartuffe," Sarah Ruhl's "Melancholy Play," Mark Hollman and Greg Kotis's musical "Urinetown," and Shakespeare's "Tempest").
- I've taken on new classes the likes of which I've never seen before (sort of).
For the next few months I've got these on the agenda:
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Psych 170: Intro to Social Psychology
It's rather nifty that I can finally make a course on social psychology fit into my schedule, as it's the area of the discipline that first intrigued me. This course lays down the foundation for other courses in social psychology (read: prerequisite). It's a sort of survey of key aspects of social psychology, including what it is, and what social psychologists do, and why we can't do unethical social experiments that were defining characteristics of psychology in the 60s and 70s. Oh, well.
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SCRN 263: French Cinema
This is a class taught in English, just for the edification of all before anymore is said on the matter. It counts for the French minor, but not the major. It was a difficult decision, the day I had to decide to take the 6-course minor instead of the slightly more rigorous 8-course major. I'm sure I'll regret the decision for the rest of my life. I just know it's going to be the thing that keeps me from my work as a theatre psychologist for Cirque du Soleil (is that a thing? I kind of hope that's a thing).
Anyway, it's a watch-movies-and-write-papers class. But it's so much more than that. It's a way of life. Maybe.
I've never taken a screen studies class before, because I was certain my own passion for the cinema would be enough to tide my soul. At this point, I'm not sure if I can claim that the class is giving me a fuller appreciation for France, or cinema, or culture, or things of that nature, but I'm holding out hope. So far we've studied two films: "Cleo de 5 a 7, " identified with the new wave movement, and "La Grande Illusion" a pre-WWII film about WWI. Very different films, both very French in their own ways. One of the first questions we're considering in this class is on the matter of how we can identify a film as "French," but you can take my word that these two films are pretty French.
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TA 127: Analysis: Theatre Production
One of the most important classes I've ever taken. Hands down. Every week we go see a show, talk about it, and write a paper about it. I say it's an important class because, for theatre majors, or those interested in the workings of theatre, it's an invaluable opportunity to examine different types of shows. It would be easy enough to get a theatre degree without ever actually seeing a show that you weren't involved in, but it would be like someone trying to write a book without ever having read one. You're going to be rather terrible at your job if you don't analyze other people's methods before diving headlong into "your own style." Now, that's not to say that you should consciously imbue your style with those of others, but, you know, Shakespeare certainly wasn't hindered by it. Just saying.
So far we've seen Trinity Rep's (Providence, RI) "Crime and Punishment," and Huntington Theatre's (Boston) "Invisible Man." Next week we'll be at Holy Cross seeing their production of "Spring Awakening" (comparisons between their show and ours will be drawn, to be sure).
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Psych 108: Experimental Methods
This is a research methods class. No other comment at present.
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That's all I got. Time for a nap.
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