Last night, in the first meeting of "Why People Change: Psychology of Influence", the professor asked all 33 of us to introduce ourselves, say where we were in our education, and say why we were interested in the class. Understandably, this took a while. It's a very diverse class. There are high school students in summer programs, undergraduate psychology students from Harvard and elsewhere, a lot of foreign students, graduate degree candidates, and a couple post-graduate professionals with specific educational goals. Finally, it came to me:
Dan4th: "Hi, I'm Danforth. I'm in the Master's program for Psychology, and I want to become a charismatic cult leader."
Prof: "Can you make Kool-Aid?"
The course doesn't look like it will be what I wanted. It turns out that I really should key in on the word "spiritual" if it occurs in a class description. Our readings include Freud, Reich, and Thinking with your Soul: Spiritual Intelligence and Why it Matters (which the professor wrote). Also, the professor is a clinical psychologist more than a research psychologist, which really isn't my orientation. I'm trying to keep an open mind about it, but not so open that my brain falls out.
The class seems to be a lot more theoretical (where theoretical means: based on introspection) than I'm used to or comfortable with. The professor doesn't allow people to take notes in class, because he wants our full attention on the conversation. Considering how excited I was about taking notes on my Asus EeePC, I'm a little bitter about this. Also, I suspect it means that his criteria for the papers will be a lot more about "coming up with interesting insights out of your head" and a lot less about "doing solid comparative research." I am dubious.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
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7 comments:
Not allowing people to take notes seems discriminatory. Some people have to write things down to process them...while others can just listen. That's an asinine policy. That guy sounds like an ass.
Good luck to you. If it was me, I probably would have already dropped it.
Oh...somewhere along the line you said you didn't know why I read your page. I think we're more alike than we are different...even though we are different in many ways. I also appreciate your skeptical, yet self-depreciating, manner. I enjoy thinking about things and exploring them...but so often that leads to people defending their own beliefs. You seem able to examine things without getting defensive...or at least when you feel yourself getting defensive, you own up right away.
I'm so tired of everything in life being a battle. I find your postings refreshing.
If I was still "in college" full time, I probably would have dropped it, too. Unfortunately, I had to rearrange my work schedule to take this, and if I drop it to take another, I'd need to rearrange my work schedule *again*. This fills one of the "in field" psychology requirements for my master's, so I figure I'll just get through it and move on.
Sounds like you need an MP3 recorder.
No, I don't think so - and I meant to respond to this point in M_big_mistake's comment too: I don't think it's the sort of course that requires notes. There's no exam, and no facts to memorize.
Now, putting together an argument without facts is something that I'm not particularly good at, so I suppose this will be good for me.
And once I say something will be "good for me", it's fairly clear I've resigned myself to hating it.
mathnerd
2008-06-25 05:20 pm UTC
I've had classes like that. Like you, I prefer actual research based courses (hence, analytical research PhD in my future). You probably will hate it, but it probably will end up being good for you in some interesting way. Keep us posted!
Not being allowed to take notes would drive me crazy, but that's kind of a symptom of my chosen profession.
Also, I'd like to see you write up a manifesto for your cult.
"Thinking with your Soul: Spiritual Intelligence and Why it Matters"
Run. Oh dear God, RUN!!! It's like one of those horror movies where you just know the little Dan4th doesn't see the HORRIBLE MONSTER FROM THE DEEP slowly approaching. RUN DAMNIT!
Oh, and the whole no notes thing is just terrible. People don't retain very much information. If you can't jot down notes, 90% of the class is wasted because it'll just slip away . . . though in this case that is almost certainly an advantage.
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