Junior/Senior Seminar

JUNIOR/SENIOR SEMINAR

"My name is Alexander Hamilton..."

COURSE INFORMATION:

PROFESSOR: Mr. Matthew Bakkum

TEXTBOOK: Alexander Hamilton, by Ron Chernow

COURSE SCHEDULE: M-F, 9:39 am - 10:23 am

COURSE MOTTO: "There's a million things I haven't done, just you wait."

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Course Overview:

Junior/Senior Seminar is a class meant to mimic a freshman level college history course. One topic from world history is chosen by the instructor (Me, Matt Bakkum). Previous topics have included the Byzantine Empire, the fall of the Roman Empire, the Napoleonic Wars in 19th Century Europe, and the Vikings. This year, we will be discussing the life and times of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, a figure who often times gets overlooked due to his more famous and visible contemporaries. 

Grading:

Very simple:

1. No homework: This is a blessing and a curse, as opportunities to improve poor grades are few and far between.

2. All papers: Between 5-7 papers during the semester, of varying lengths.

3. Required music listening: You heard me*. If you are taking this course, and I can assume you are since you are reading this, you will want to immediately download Spotify on your computer and/or the Spotify app to your phone. You will then proceed to search for the Hamilton Musical Soundtrack. If you haven't heard of this, I'm glad you've found a way to crawl out from under the rock that has kept you trapped for the last year. For you visual learners out there, you're looking for this:

Once you have it selected start listening to it. A lot. More than a lot. A lot more. Keep listening. I'll explain the rest.

*See what I did there...

Things You Need:

1. A notebook

2. Something to write with (Pencil, pen, quill, crayon. NOT blood.)

3. Access to a computer

4. Functioning ears (Tinnitus suffers, I apologize.)

5. The ability to tolerate me (Matt Bakkum)

6. To clarify #4, you need a lot more than functioning ears. Also functioning feet, so you can walk to my class, obviously...

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