Things I’ve been studying

I mentioned this earlier, but I signed up for some massive open online courses (MOOCs) that I couldn’t resist.

I felt like I had enough going on that I shouldn’t take on anything else, but they sounded interesting, and I wanted to.

Microbes Rule the World: Effects of Disease on History

This came through the Canvas Network, through which I had taken my previous comic book courses. It was affiliated with Weber State University, taught by microbiology professor Craig Oberg and history professor Gene Sessions.

The information was interesting. I think the great weakness of the course was a tendency to oversell. They would go over events and things that were happening with disease, and then make a connection and say “There can be little doubt…” but there was room for doubt, especially when the effect they ascribe to the plague happened 200 years later. It doesn’t even mean they’re wrong, but if they were truly convinced of the impact they should have been able to make a stronger case. The things that happened are interesting enough even if there were other important contributing factors.

Religion and Hip Hop Culture – RELI157x

I learned about this course on Twitter. Hip Hop is a musical area where I feel my knowledge is pretty lacking, so it felt important to take it. That sense of need is what pushed me over the edge to sign up for any class, and so I signed up for the microbe class at the same time. However, this class is through EdX, and associated with Rice University, taught by Dr. Anthony B. Pinn and Professor Bernard “Bun B” Freeman, from UGK. (No, I’d never heard of UGK before, but it was clear it was a big deal.)

Defining religion as the search for complex subjectivity, we studied how hip hop was influenced by Christianity, by Islam, and how it all interacts.

As a way of communing with others, celebrating, and expressing yourself, hip hop can be a part of the search, but I felt that it made more sense to think of hip hop as art. You can discuss religion and painting together, but you would not expect painting to replace religion. However, within days of completing the class, Bill O’Reilly blamed the decline in Christianity on hip hop, so shows what I know.

I liked the way the class made you think, and then grade yourself. That sounds like a cop-out (and you can pay a fee for them to grade you and get real credit), but the criteria were so clearly explained that it was easy to know whether you had met them or not.

The Rise of Superheroes and Their Impact on Pop Culture – POPX1.1x

Once I registered with EdX, I saw this, and comic books are how I got into MOOCs in the first place. How could I not? This class is through the Smithsonian Institution though, mainly led by Dr. (and Batman producer) Michael Uslan, with participation from David Uslan, Dr. Christopher Robichaud, and Stan Lee.

It is too early to tell how the class is going to go. We have only had one full week of instruction, and I have not been able to work on the assignment yet because I needed to upgrade Office. I guess when 2013 is out you need to let go of 2002. Anyway, I expect to enjoy it.

Master Tailor Package: 300+ Sewing Courses

This was probably the most foolish. I don’t even have a sewing machine, and unlike the MOOCs, this course had a fee. It was just a really good deal, I have a year to complete it, and I don’t know – it felt like too good an opportunity to pass up. I am not even going to look at it until after the Comics class wraps up, and then I’ll see.

The problem is I really like learning stuff. All kinds of stuff. Still, I have a lot of things that I am trying to accomplish in a fairly short period of time. Sometimes there are dilemmas.

All I can responsibly say is that because of time constraints I absolutely will not sign up for any new classes for at least a few months, unless they sound super-awesome or directly correlate with areas of interest where I feel greater knowledge is important.

(For anyone wondering, I finished the dolls last night at a little over one hour into Newsies. I’ll probably finish the movie tomorrow, possibly without working on anything while I am doing it.)