I only took one summer class, back in June. It was Constitutional Law, a required class for my Political Science minor. It sounded super imposing — I mean, Constitutional Law! — but actually it was really interesting, because most of the time we don’t talk about the judicial system when we talk about America’s government. That’s basically…… Continue reading Semester Review: Summer 2014 (Constitutional Law)
This is a combined summary and review of an enormous freakin’ book we read in International Relations class, based in large part on response essays I wrote. Like the book, it is super long, so I won’t be offended if you skim. I’m just saying, it’s totally faster to read this summary than read the…… Continue reading Review: “The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined” by Steven Pinker
We imagine states to be the significant entities in the world today. What states do determines what happens in the world. That’s a pretty interesting story, because it wasn’t always the way it is now… That state-centric system was a purposeful construction by the states themselves. The world moved from loose territorial groupings and kingdoms,…… Continue reading International Relations: A Brief History of Nationalism and the State-Centric System
The Feathered Serpent was a two-season British TV show that originally aired in 1976. It’s a political intrigue story set in Aztec Mexico and starring the brilliant Patrick Troughton as Nasca, the evil high priest of a new, bloody religion. In contrast, the Aztec emperor favors peace, an alliance with a rich and cultured tribe, and…… Continue reading Review: The Feathered Serpent
This course was a lightning-fast survey of basically the entire history of Japan, from a cursory tour of the islands’ prehistory up until the modern day. I learned a lot I didn’t know, not only about Japan but about the whole region. Things are different and strange, but not completely opaque — human motivations are…… Continue reading Semester Review: History of Modern Japan
This was a political science elective, taught by one of my favorite professors. (Among other things, we once had a three-hour car ride in the middle of the night and spent the whole time talking about Star Trek). The class basically consisted of watching a bunch of TV episodes and reading five books. We also…… Continue reading Semester Review: Science Fiction and Politics
I have to take exactly four classes every semester for financial aid reasons, and this time they were: Intro to Computers, American National Government, Science Fiction and Politics, and History of Modern Japan. Computers and Government were pretty basic and unremarkable. Sci-fi and Japan were quite interesting, longer posts will follow on those. It was…… Continue reading Semester Review: Fall 2013
