I am torn between thinking that I am in over my head and that I am disappointed by my workload. One novel a week for one course, one or two chapters of a book for the other, and an undergraduate workload for the third. I have to write about two 3 page papers a week thus far, and at the turn of the semester I switch to my larger projects. Compared to the relative rigorousness of Denison, I am a little surprised.
Speaking of Denison, I feel a little caught between two worlds. I love Denison--I can't imagine having gone anywhere else. It had an amazingly supportive faculty (and now having been a student at AU twice, I can attest to the fact that supportive faculty are not intrinsic to good schools) and academic/philosophical tilt. AU is, on the other hand, very professionally focused, and the workload is significantly lighter. I just miss the vibrancy of Denison--I don't know if my bias is preventing my from seeing AU's brand of vibrancy, or if AU possesses some other quality in lieu of vibrance.
Nevertheless, grad school is going well and I like all of my classes. Right now I am reading The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid, Tender Buttons by Gertrude Stein, and a lot of literary criticism and art history texts.
An interesting thing happened to me today. A Korean woman (Korean!) asked me if I was Japanese, because "I look Japanese." Um, do I not have creases in my eyelids? Am I not too pale? Is my hair brown and touchable? Do those characteristics add up to someone who is ethnically Japanese? I think not. I am amused, however. She's a cute lady.
1 comment:
Hmm...I've been told I look Japanese before too although that seems a slightly more fair assessment.
But I know what you mean about grad school. Ann Arbor is a beautiful place but I find I just don't feel as attached to it as Denison. I think it's just easier to like undergrad than grad. At least for me it is.
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