Tonight, while lying in bed and trying (unsuccessfully) to go to sleep, I've been thinking about the courses that I took as an undergraduate twelve to six years ago. While I remember a lot of things from several courses, I'm surprised to realize that I can hardly remember anything from some of the classes that I took. I'm hoping that some of the material has been so integrated into my life that I can't pinpoint where I first learned the material, but I know that isn't always the case. In fact, I know that several courses (specifically the ones which required me to quickly memorize hundreds of facts for the final exam) have been practically lost from my mind. In a few instances, I also feel like the professor's attitude/apathy/teaching style played a role in how much material I learned or forgot.
Undergrad Courses From Which I Remember Practically Nothing
- American Heritage
- Biology 101
- Physical Science 101
- Music 101
- Music 190
- Archaeology of the Bible
- Several religion courses
- Islamic Art
- Medieval Art
- 19th Century Art (taken online through Independent Study)
- Modern Art (taken online through Independent Study)
- HEPE
- Anthropology 101
Undergrad Courses From Which I Can Recall a Wee Bit of Information
- Religions of the World
- Geology of the Planets
- Geography 101
- German 101 (begun online through Independent Study)
- Greek Art
- Non-Western Art
- Greek and Roman Mythology
Undergrad Courses From Which I Can Recall Specific Material
- All my Italian courses
- Art History Methodologies
- Art History 201, 202
- Art History study abroad
- Upper-level art history courses: Baroque Art, Renaissance/Baroque Architecture, Contemporary Art
- Private voice lessons
Luckily, I feel like I have been able to learn (or re-learn) some of the material on my own, since receiving my undergraduate degree. Graduate school also helped to solidify a lot of the things that I first learned as an undergrad. There are a few things, though, that I still would like to remember better. This summer I hope to pull out the art history notes that I took as an undergraduate and transcribe them into electronic documents. Hopefully I'll be able to refresh my mind on a few select topics. And, better still, I hope to realize that I actually haven't forgotten as much as I think that I have.
What about you? Are there classes that you remember distinctly or have completely forgotten?
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2 comments:
I remember most things from most of my language courses (the Arabic is a bit dusty though) and quite a bit from my linguistics classes. I don't remember a single thing I learned in Geography 101, Calculus, or Chem 105. Then there are those classes that give me happy feelings (like Islam and the Gospel) but I can't remember anything other than that it directed me to other classes that I do remember (Women in the Middle East). That's the only reason I think those types of classes weren't a waste of time.
I have a hard enough time just remembering the classes I took! 19th century art online! I remember watching videos and taking exams, but I don't remember much material either. In fact for all my classes I can remember where I sat, people around me, and what the room was like, but not as much about the material. the one thing I remember from american heritage was getting really, really angry after being forced to read something by one of the former general authorities entitled something like: "socialism: the devil's plan in governmental form." And getting angrier when it turned out I was the only one in class that thought it was so ridiculous!
I actually do remember quite a bit from the science classes I took. Except my grades would show otherwise. I'm pretty sure the information I have in my head is incorrect...or just my own version of say biology. I probably remember the most from Living with Plants. which is the worst grade I got as an undergrad. Except it's probably not as much the material that I remember as it is the fact that I was tricked into it and hold a grudge against the instructor for not giving me a point back on an exam. Who names a class Living with Plants and then makes it the most difficult class I took in school?!
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