As a student majoring in economics and psychology, I have only taken mostly business related courses so far, and most of them are based heavily on math. Even though I am in my third year, I rarely had to write any essays for my first two years. This course has really equipped me with precious skills needed for my future studies in psychology and even for my future career.
My English, or
writing skills has improved a lot throughout the semester. I didn't really do
well in my first essay, but with the constructive comments that Sarah had given
me, it really helped me with improving my second and third essay. Hopefully I
will do better in my final research paper. Writing is hard to master, but with
more practice, it is not impossible.
Not only has this
course helped me in improving my writing skills, but it has also further
developed my intellectual thinking skills. Sarah made sure that during our two
hour tutorial, one hour would be dedicated to essay writing, and the other hour
would be a class discussion about different topics; Our class had covered
topics including: What is knowledge, history, ideology, discourse, technology,
text, art, gender, philosophy, and sound. During our weekly discussions, Sarah
really pushes students to think from different perspectives and she tries to
involve everyone in the class with her enthusiasm and energy. I have always
been this stubborn person who always stick with my own idea. I am not saying
that you should be swayed by other opinions easily, but you should always learn
to see from other perspectives. The in class discussions are really important
because during the discussions, every student gets a chance to voice out their
opinions and if you just listen carefully to what they have to say, you will
start to develop a way of thinking.
Intellectual skills
involve critical, analytical, and problem solving skills. Through the almost
weekly essays and journals that we have to hand in, I have made substantial
improvement in my intellectual skills. Before writing each journal or essay, we
are required to read through and analyze the course materials, and to apply
materials taught in class into our essays. Being able to think from
different perspectives is crucial for improving in intellectual skills.
Thinking from different angles is important because that is what a solid
argument is made up of; it makes your writing more persuasive. People would be
more willing to listen to your opinion if you have that ability, because they
know that you think about every possibility before stating your opinion.
The topics taught
in this class were also very interesting. For example, the idea of 'seeing
history from below' is something that I have never thought about. Had I not
taken this course, I would probably never have seen history this way; thinking
from the perspective of the people who were conquered instead of the victors.
You start to doubt and become more skeptical about what you are reading or
watching. Having this ability makes you less susceptible to outside influences
like the media. When you come to think about it, there are a lot of injustice
in the world, and this is precisely why we need people who have the ability to
think differently to make a change.
Overall, I really enjoyed
this class. As a matter of fact, this is probably one of the most interesting
and inspirational class that I have ever taken at UofT. I guess this course is
like a break from all of my other boring classes, like statistics, economics,
accounting, and finance.
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