Farewell Discussion
Q: At the beginning of class, I asked you some questions to see where you were at. Now, as we head out the virtual door, let’s see if we accomplished anything.
1.) What is your overall attitude towards politics and government after we did all this? Be honest. If it’s the same as before, that’s fine.
2.) How knowledgeable do you think you are right now about what we covered?
3.) Do you keep up with current events? I’m still not talking about Taylor and Travis, I’m talking about political current events.
4.) What do you think you got out of this class? If all you still care about is the 3 credits towards graduation after going through this course, that’s fine. Again, don’t lie.
5.) Is there anything you want to learn more about on your own time? It’s fine if you don’t.
A: 1.) The way I feel about politics and government is mostly the same after completing the course. I don't think anything I've learned could've made me satisfied with our current two-party political system or economic system of capitalism. In all honesty, it affirmed some of my hard stances I came into the course with.
2.) I would say I'm more knowledgeable now about the gradual way our government developed in the early history of our country, whereas before I could just mainly tell you how it functionally worked and not neccessarily why and how. For instance, I could always say what the three branches of government are and what their roles are, but I couldn't always say (with as much confidence anyway) what the previous unicameral model under the Articles of Confederation were like and precisely why the historical switch to the bicameral structure and the adoption of the U.S. constitution happened. In short, I'd say I learned more on the history angle for sure!
3.) I definitely still keep up with current events, and it has not been a fun time. (Trump's cabinet picks make me cry myself to sleep every night.)
4.) I am definitely happy to have earned those 3 credits, lol, but I would say the most valuable thing I've gotten out of the course was the thoughtful dialogue and expressing my opinions on things I knew about, and getting to learn more about what I didn't know. I absolutely loved the discussion-based nature of this class and hope to have more structured this way!
5.) On my own time, I would like to learn more in-depth political theory and philosophy concerning questions like, What's the most just distribution of wealth in our society? And I want to learn more about how we come to associate certain economic systems with certain types of government (like why we think capitalism = democracy and communism or socialism = fascism even though the definitions don't seem to entail this at all? What are the nuances here?)
Anyway, there's always one course that stands out for me for the term out of all my courses, and for the Fall 2024 term, this was that course! And it was nice discussing with you all :-)
- Mya Jo🌸
REPLIES TO OTHER STUDENTS: 1) Hey Julia,
This was very honest. I don't know if "apathetic" is the word I would've used to describe how I felt post-election results, but I can say I definitely relate to feeling defeated, emotionally exhausted, and a little betrayed, thus making it harder to stay engaged with politics to the extent that I am. During this time, I am definitely in the mourning phase of my own naivety and rose-colored lens through which I used to view the world. Hope you're holding up over there.
- Mya Jo🌸
2) Hi Kayla,
It's so cool that this class sparked your interest in politics and encouraged some discussions! These conversations are just so important, and it made me happy to read that someone went from being totally indifferent to actively leading the conversations at home. I know it must've been nice bonding over some of this with your daughter :-)
- Mya Jo🌸