Monday, November 29, 2010
Final Thoughts?
We spent an entire semester thinking about "religion in the South" as well as talking about the ins and outs of writing an analytical research paper. That work culminated in a 20-25 page paper! Feeling proud, right? You should. After all that writing, your final post is a freebie: give any final reflections--on your ideas about religion and the South, on the writing/research process, a post or reading about which you have more to say, etc., etc. Thanks for contributing to a successful and productive semester!
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Overall, I enjoyed the class & listening to others views even though I am close-minded (as I had mentioned on the first day of class)! I think the class experience made me an even more radical Christian and feminist, even though the two don't seem to fit. In my world, they fit like a glove. Maybe because I was also taking a seminar in Women's Studies and we addressed religion as well in that class. Anywho! Enjoyed you all! I will say I'm relieved the paper has been turned in. I won't say it was fun but the research part was enlightening..Thanks Stephanie for your contributions! lol Thank God for you Dr. Simmons, having us work on the paper throughout the course! lol I just posted a final blog so that covers any "leftover" rants of mine! So you guys......God Bless, Roll Tide, Take Care, & Merry Christmas...oh & Happy New Year (for Auld Lang Syne!!!!!)lol
ReplyDeleteMy only real disappointments with this class were 1) not noticing the little W when I registered (sorry, not a fan of research papers) and 2) I really expected more fights in the class. Discussions + religion = expectations for arguments.
ReplyDeleteBut I did enjoy the class very much, the discussions were fun to watch and I think we had a great group.
I hope everyone has a wonderful winter break.
Well as my second religion studies class of my UA career (and my 3rd and FINAL will be in the spring!) I have enjoyed this class as well. I loved the atmosphere, the discussions, and my peers. I felt that this class was up to us the students and what we brought to the table and that is different than many classes that you come to at university. I felt that we guided the class, because without our imput and thoughts heard, there wouldnt have been a discussion, but rather Merinda talking away and lecturing.
ReplyDeleteI am VERY proud of myself and this gargantuan paper i have written. (I am sure many have written way more, but this is massive to me!) I think that the way it was laid out was brillant and kept me from my usual procrastination and stress in the final weeks of class. Yes, stress did creep up as it became crunch time, but if it werent for the weeks of preparation and peer edits, I would have been up a creek without a canoe or whatever.
Overall a great class and I cant wait to see what "Religion in Film" brings to the table in the spring! See you there Merinda!
Aw, thanks for the shout-out Jaq!And Reagan your comment made me laugh pretty hard.
ReplyDeleteI had such an amazing experience with this class!. As this is only my second semester not at a private Christian college that is Church of Christ affiliated, I just could not believe the things that were discussed. Where I went to school, everyone shared relatively the same view, and if they didn't you just would not EVER voice it. We took a lot of "religion" classes, but really they were all bible classes. We had to have a bible class everyday, every semester. If you got kicked out of bible (for attendance, or grades, you were kicked out of school).
It was SO liberating to be able to openly discuss my opinion, and even though most of what I said would of made my FC professors proud, some things they would have disagreed with and I just would not have been able to say. Topics such as sex, drugs, alcohol, atheism etc were simply taboo unless discussing how wrong they were.
I enjoyed how open minded (most) everyone in class was. I think we all respected each other's opinions even if we did not necessarily agree. I think I will leave this class with some pretty good friends and a lot of new knowledge.
PS Special thanks to Merinda for putting up with me. :)
I really quite liked the class. I'm happy to be done with the paper, but I'm totally unsatisfied with it. I actually want to go back and play around with it when school is out.
ReplyDeleteMerinda, you'll just think I'm stupid... But I didn't know when I signed up that it was a REL in the Am. South class. I wasn't too thrilled when I discovered that, but I ended up really liking it after all.
I also really enjoyed David Bains visit. I was really interested in what he was talking about with the different types of architecture and what not.
To be honest, I really respect this class. For the most part everyone was really good about discussing their different views. Stephanie, I have a lot of respect for you in particular because more times than not you were the lone voice for one side of an argument. I'm glad you stood your ground, but I'm more impressed with how well you handled people disagreeing with you.
Overall, I think it was a great class. I enjoyed all of our discussions, and I look forward to my REL classes next semester.
Thanks to Merinda for putting up with our inter-disciplinary group. You're amazing--as always.
That is so sweet Andie :) Thank you! That really made my day. Wow I will miss this class!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this course and the process of the paper. I really hope my schedule will allow me to take more religion classes in the future.
ReplyDeleteMerinda- thanks for always having an open door for your students. the university could use more professors like you!
I'm trying to think of a different way to phrase and praise this semester's religion class...
ReplyDeleteAlas. I got nothin' clever. I guess exams and "end of the semester logistics" will do that to ya!
That being said, I really did love this class. I very much enjoyed our "inter-disciplinary group," as Andie put it, and now I have an awesome new 25 page paper to add to my writing portfolio! Grad school?? Psssh. Ain't got nothin' on our class!
Thanks for the awesome class y'all-- I had a lot of fun learning about Religion in the South :) We should all start going to RSSA things so that we can have some cool convos at least twice a month!
And thanks for facilitating this awesome seminar, Merinda! So when are you going to do the "Religion in Politics" class? You know I'll be there! Also, let me know when our next meeting for Greece is...definitely still planning on doing that as well :)