Happy November!
I hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween and enjoyed their extra hour (re: daylight savings if you’re in the U.S.!). Last week was the first week of term 2: I thought of Monday as the second first day of my senior year. Adjusting to my new classes and schedule made the week fly by! I also heard it snowed at Wellesley, resulting in a wonderful clash of fall and winter on campus!
I thought I’d share my new schedule this week! Just from my first impressions this week, I know this term is going to be a good one.
Pretty much every Wellesley student at one point has to take a Political Science course. Two of our most notable alumni, Hillary Clinton and Madeleine Albright, were both Political Science students at Wellesley. The department is fabulous (I actually work there as a student assistant when on campus!) and I knew I needed to take a Political Science course at Wellesley before I graduated, so I am this term!
I’m in a half credit course called Global Cooperation in a post-US World, taught by a brilliant professor. The course is primarily discussion based and examines the role of leadership in global cooperation, with a particular emphasis on U.S. foreign policy. During this class, we will be examining both active U.S. leadership and its absence to ask how the decline in U.S. leadership has affected global cooperation. I’m taking this course because it felt timely and particularly relevant, given all that’s happening in politics right now and the upcoming election. Since it also meets only once a week, it’s a bit on the lighter side in terms of work, which is nice as well.
My second course this term is also applicable to the times we’re living in: It’s a seminar course in the Women and Gender Studies department called Health Activism, Public Health, and Epidemics! Essentially a history of medicine class, we’re exploring and discussing the intersectional aspects of race, gender, class, and sexuality that shape reactions and efforts to contain disease. It’s fascinating to learn how epidemics and pandemics lay bare the economic, political and cultural substructures of society, as well as the history of changing explanations for infectious diseases dictate differing responses by health personnel and governmental entities. On our syllabus, my professor put a saying to common epidemiologists: “If you have seen one pandemic, you’ve seen one pandemic.” I’ve already really enjoyed our readings and discussions during class and I’m excited to see where it leads!
Other than that, thesis work is also moving along, slowly but surely! This upcoming week is going to be hectic. I’m planning on attending some lectures and panels throughout the week about the election.
If you’re eligible, make sure you’ve voted!
It’s important now more than ever,
Shreya
P.S. The picture above is the spectacular sunset last night in San Diego!