A. Who I am, and why I am taking this course
Hi everyone! My name is Jennifer Li, I am a second year psychology student intending to minor in data science; and I also commute from Richmond! I’m taking RMST 202 as I needed to fulfill my literature requirement, however, I chose to take this course to also become more familiar with texts from the “romance languages” (as I’ve primarily only read books produced in North America or the UK).
B. My expectations
I am hoping to do well in this course (A+), but I also understand that obtaining this mark will be challenging. However, one aspect of the course that I believe would make the reading process easier is that it’s assessed through blog posts and we can choose the texts we want to read. I really like the fact that instead of writing an essay or assignments, we get to comment on the books with our own thoughts and opinions in a somewhat informal way. Despite being in the Arts faculty, one thing I dislike about literature classes (which was mentioned in class) is the idea that we NEED to pull something deeper from the texts, when sometimes, there is no deeper meaning. Through blog posts, I hope that I will actually get to enjoy the books we read and interpret it in my own way! Further, as a commuter student I am very grateful for the fact that we need to only attend one day per week given the book we choose (since transit times are long).
C. Response to lectures
- When watching “inventing romance studies” I found it really interesting when Dr. Beasley-Murray mentioned that none of the “romance studies” books were written originally in the language. Instead, they were written in Latin (the Romance/Roman empire) and translated to the languages of pre-modern and modern Europe such as Spanish, French, etc. Further, Dr. Beasley-Murray says that the “Romance” world also extends to parts of the world where a romance language was once spoken, ths encompassing many nations such as Uruguay and Somalia. I personally had no idea that the term Romance derives from the Roman Empire, and am interested in how the texts we read in romance studies are connected – even though they include books from many different parts of the world – as they were all derived from Latin.
- However, when watching “on romance studies” I found it interesting when Dr. Tim Beasley-Murray described Romance studies and literature as a way to bring different cultures and nations (that were all part of the former roman empire) that have become disconnected through time back together again.
Welcome to the course, Jennifer! I hope this course will help you meet your goal of expanding your literary horizons.
Just one clarification: all the texts we are reading were written in one or another of the Romance languages (Spanish, French, etc.). They were not translated from Latin! The point rather is that those *languages* derive from Latin.
I see! I must have misunderstood during the lecture, thank you for letting me know and sorry about that!
Hi Jennifer, my name is Jasmeen. I am also a psychology student! I agree that although getting a A+ may be difficult I also appreciate that this is based on our hard work. I also found it interesting that romance is not based on the region rather where Romance languages are spoken.
Hi Jennifer!
It is so pleasure to see another psychology major student in this course. I agree that using blog posts as an assessment tool makes the reading process easier, and less pressured. It was always a heavy responsibility to read and “analyse” in a form they were expecting to follow. It makes us freer to share our own thoughts (even if it is not the same thoughts that I have), and to discuss with other classmates.
Hi Jennifer, I am also a second year psychology student along with a commuter to UBC. I am also hoping for a similar grade and agree with that it will be difficult to obtain. The blogs will be a fun and good way to approach this course instead of formal writing. I am not a huge fan of doing essays and am intrigued to see how the blog approach works.
Hi Jennifer, I too commute from Richmond and I agree, it is not a fun time. On January 11th, 2024 (day of writing), it took me four hours to get home… two hours waiting for the R4, an hour on the R4, and another hour to skytrain and get on the 402 back to my home. That’s so awesome to hear that you’re striving for an A+, I envy your quick reading capabilities. I personally find whenever I try and deep dive stories, I tend to explore a social conflict narrative that may or may not be there, so I am interested in how this blog format may expose my very one dimensional way of interpreting media. I wish you luck in this course and hope we get to chat about some books throughout the semester!
Hi Jennifer, I’m also a commuter who got very stuck in the snow last night! I also found it interesting how the romance world has ties to the former Roman Empire. This is something I had not considered when taking this course. I’m excited to see what other topics are pulled from the texts.
Hi Jennifer! I am also a second year student and am taking this course for to fulfill the literature requirement. I totally agree that being assessed by writing blogs about our own opinions of the books makes it a easy way to read as there isn’t the pressure of feeling the need to have a very well understanding of the books read.