Spring Schedule

Classes: "Mediterranean History 400-1600"; "Introduction to Asian Religions"; "The Power of the Image in the Middle Ages"; "Islam in Practice: Anthropology of Muslim Cultures" (plus sitting in on Japanese 202 as a review, or at least the drill section).

Other obligations: Museum Internship with Emmie Donadio (head curator of the Middlebury Museum of Art) with possible research component; co-chairing pledge for Xenia.

Monday, Wednesday:
8:00-8:50: Mediterranean History; 10:10-11:00: Japanese Drill; 2:50-4:05: Medieval Art

Tuesday, Thursday: 9:30-10:45: Asian Religions; 3:00-4:15: Anthropology

Friday:
8:00-8:50: Mediterranean History Discussion; 9:05-9:55: Asian Religions Discussion; 10:10-11:00: Japanese Drill

Work: either before and after lunch, or before and after the ~3-4:15 slot of my classes, if that works for Emmie. I need to talk to her and figure out her schedule and what works best for both of us. Usually, the museum intern (there are several internships at the museum, this is just the name for the post with Emmie) does a research project and presentation on a piece in the museum's collection during the spring. A while ago, I saw a print up there that I think Middlebury owns that was made by a modern woman artist from Iran who uses black and white (often controversial and religiously political) photographs overlayed with red or black Arabic calligraphy, which was really interesting. The museum also has several pieces of kinetic sculpture which make me very happy. So, I'm considering doing one of those options for the research project if Emmie decides it'll happen this spring.

The anthropology class is a 300, so I'm a little worried about the amount of work and my lack of background in anthro, although the prof says I should be ok with the bit of background I have on Islam. It looks neat, but I'll have to see what I think when I get there, and possibly change it out with one of a few other classes I'm considering, like Geopolitics of Europe, Accelerated German, Creative Writing/Poetry of some kind, or Romance Linguistics. Having a job, doing pledge, and trying to remember Japanese and Arabic after being in Italy makes me hesitant to take too intense of a class schedule, since I know I enjoy my classes much more when I don't have to get really stressed about them, obviously. I expect that coming from the over-flexible Italian system back into Middlebury will be a definite shock, too, but that will probably occur no matter what classes I take. It's just a matter of how much it will be so. It should be a pretty busy spring, but hopefully enjoyable, too. I have to say I'm amused by the fact that I'm registered for spring classes already but not the ones I'm currently taking here...