I really wasn't sure what to expect when I first signed up for this class. At first I was really nervous, I felt really intimidated by all the college students and the campus. More than that, the book that we were assigned was so difficult to read. However, after the first few classes, I realized that we were all on the same boat. No one understood the reading, and I had similar thought processes and analysis of the movies as my peers. I felt like it really fit, and I didn't have too much trouble. I was worried I would fall behind, but I realized that this college class was like any other high school class, only in a different context. I enjoyed the deeply philosophical conversations and class discussions we had, and I learned how to analyze films in a completely new light. Here are some of the films that we watched, under the subject of "violence".
As I mentioned before, the reading was very difficult. However, the class discussions usually clarified and distinguished key concepts that the philosopher Slavoj Žižek was making. I think he made some incredible points, but I have to say I also disagree with him on a few topics. Either way, his views on violence are really impressive, and it was very interesting to watch these complex movies with many different underlying meanings whilst not only thinking critically about them in general, but also to apply the concepts Žižek describes in his book. Below is a video of him explaining this topic.
It was challenging to read his work, and it was challenging to later write the essays and make class presentations, but overall I believe I gained a lot from this UVM course. It was also fun to create my own two videos with a group of college students instead of two essays. You can view them below!