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My time in the Humanities Core course has been a unique experience, like most of the things I've done in the last year β not just because of the pandemic but also because my very first year of college was always going to be like doing a cannonball into an entirely new world. It's unfortunate that it had to occur during such an intense time, but looking back on the last eight or so months, I realize I was still able to make something out of my first year, and especially in Humanities Core.
Going into the course, I saw myself as a fairly good writer, but Humanities Core quickly taught me that just getting some nice thoughts written down wasn't enough. While I struggled through my first two essays, I eventually adapted and discovered how to write an efficient introduction, provide concrete supportive evidence, effectively argue my points, and develop a complex thesis. With each successive essay, I was able to refine my writing skills more and more, and I'm really proud of the progress I've made over the course of the year.
A representation of the Spanish Conquest | Image
I think the part of the course that will stay with me the longest is the way it changed how I see animals, inter-species relationships, and most importantly, human interactions. Especially in spring quarter, with Professor Donaldson's lectures on animal ethics and Professor Schwab's lectures on our relationship with insects, I've come to rethink how we treat animals and why we treat them in those ways. Completely changing the way we live our lives is difficult, but I'm finding myself being more careful when I go about my day now. And thinking about animal ethics has me considering more deeply about what we consider about humans to be special.
The most thought-provoking parts of the course for me involved human relationships and power dynamics. As we went through winter quarter discussing the Conquest of the Americas, animalization of Indigenous peoples, and enfreakment of Others, I constantly had my worldview reframed in a new light. Many of the myths I'd held onto after learning them as a child became entirely contradicted and I began to see past events like the Spanish Conquest in more complex ways.
Going ahead, I expect I'll only build further on the writing and argumentative skills I've been developing for the past year. I'll keep refining and improving my skills in written communication, an ability that will extend far past the humanities into my future career in the biological sciences. Outside of that, I've had my mindsets and worldviews shifted numerous times throughout the course when it comes to animals and humans. I'll be moving forward with all these new ideas while I see the world around me through a new lens. I hope to extend the kind of thinking and concepts we've covered in Humanities Core and reconsider the parts of our lives that we often overlook, whether it's our relationship with the natural world or how we interact with other humans.
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