Hello,
My name is Ximena Avendano, I was born and raised in Mexico City and decided to come to Vancouver for university, both cities are quite different so I’ve had to learn how to adapt to all the new aspects of life here in Canada. I chose UBC because I wanted to experience life in a different country to get a broader multicultural perspective and UBC has one of the highest rates of international students which means I get to meet people from all around the world with all sorts of interests and personalities. I am in the Arts program and hope get into cognitive systems mainly focusing on either psychology or computer science. I have always liked reading and love to get lost in the story of a book, I tend to read mainly fiction books and if I had to pick a favourite book it would be “The Stranger” by Albert Camus, I really enjoy the way the book is narrated and the philosophical aspects of the narrative. The reason I decided to take this course was because I know people who have taken the class previously and highly recommended it, I also figured it might be a good way to discover new readings that I might not may have otherwise.
My expectations for this course are to challenge myself to read new things and hopefully discover new authors that I enjoy. I thought the contract approach was extremely interesting, specially because we get to choose the books we find the most interesting which will help us be more engaged in what we read. I also think the blogs are a really good idea because we get to engage with each other and hear each others points of view and what stood out the most about each reading.
The first lecture was interesting and provided me with some much needed context on Romance Studies since I didn’t really know a lot about them. What particularly stood out to me the most was the point about Romance Studies not being tied to a specific territory which allows it to be culturally rich with aspects from many different places, I particularly resonated with the quote “Romance Studies belongs nowhere, and it therefore finds a place everywhere.” I think it sums up the point brilliantly.
Overall this introduction was great and I am happy to discover more about Romance Studies and the different books I will be reading throughout the course.
Welcome to the course, Ximena. I hope we can help you with your goal of discovering new readings that you might not may have otherwise.
very cool intro post, ximena! I also thought the quote “Romance Studies belongs nowhere, and it therefore finds a place everywhere.” was very interesting too!
Hi Ximena! I totally associate with your experience of coming to UBC for the diversity of its students, and the variety of cultures! It’s always so interesting meeting people from all around the world. I am from Morocco and came here with the same desire to explore new perspectives as you. I hope this class helps you with the goal of challenging yourself on a literature standpoint.