I mentioned before classes started that I’m taking more credits than I need. 1.5 of my current credits are required for my major, and another is my fourth 300-level course, so there are two that I could drop: anthropology of Latin America and philosophy of language. But I have a problem. I love them both.
Anthropology is with my major advisor, Prof. Ellison, whose course on cities I took in the spring of my first year. She does research in Bolivia, and I spent my gap year in Ecuador, so I love chatting with her about altitude sickness and public transportation and how much I love speaking Spanish and being in the mountains. The readings for this course have been fascinating. We learned about pigmentocracy/colorism in Bolivia and which markers are used to conceptualize race (like skin color, dress, language, and living in a rural or urban location). I know that Ecuador and Bolivia are different countries, but the reading conjured up memories of Indigenous people in traditional dress in Otavalo and stretches between cities that were more rural than anywhere I grew up around. The article mentioned an article about sperm donation in Ecuador, which I—a sperm donor kid who spent a year in Ecuador—had somehow never thought about.
Philosophy of language is my first philosophy class, so it hurts my brain a little. But it’s so interesting! We learned about Grice’s theory of implicature, which is, in a nutshell, that the meaning of what we say goes beyond the words themselves. My mom came by yesterday with the puppy, who insisted on playing with her harness. My mom said, “Leave the harness alone; you have two other toys,” which was a perfect example of what Grice calls conventional implicature. By using the word “other,” she implicated that the harness was a toy. The other type of implicature is conversational, which relies on context rather than the use of a particular trigger word. For instance, when my brother was in middle school and told our mom that he hadn’t gotten an assignment back, he implicated that he had turned it in in the first place. (Sorry, Gus.)
I have two weeks to drop either course or declare one credit/non. I’m leaning toward taking philosophy pass/fail so I don’t get overwhelmed when crew season starts.
Outside of being a nerd, I spent some time playing guitar and continuing to learn how to ski this week. My first time on skate skis was a blast. I’m going to a race in Vermont next weekend! I don’t know what I’m doing, but I’m excited to go somewhere pretty and ski on real snow.
Other highlights of the week included a very sweaty run with Alison in feels like 5°F, incredible dining hall brownies, and the announcement of the route I’ll be biking from Baltimore to San Francisco this summer with the Ulman Foundation!
I found a new (to me) path around Paintshop Pond this morning!
Golden hour on Galen Stone Tower