Art, Ecology, and Environmentalism - This art history course was a special topic the professor picked for the semester. I decided to take this class as I had not taken an art history course and the special topic was of particular interest to me (as I am an Environmental Biology major). Throughout the semester, we studied various works over time. We interpreted was each work's intended purpose and audience was while paying attention to how the natural world was portrayed in various ways throughout time. One of the major projects we undertook was diving into one particular work done an artist of our choosing. For this assignment, I chose to analyze Natalie Jeremijenko's OneTrees (1998-2005). This piece cloned one tree into 1,000 trees. Trees were planted in pairs throughout San Francisco. Each clone contained a microchip which recorded its growth; the growth could be monitored online. The work demonstrated how each tree is affected by its immediate surrounding, created by us (humans). The work allowed people to analyze human action and its direct impact on nature as each tree was genetically identical. Furthermore, it pushes us to re-establish our relationship within the natural work in order to better it not only for us, but all life.
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Cell and Molecular Biology - This was an introductory course in the biology department at Hanover. During the semester, we studied life by emphasizing the chemistry of it, cells, and physiology. Typically, a course like this one would have very boring and difficult for me to follow (as I prefer analyzing life in the macro level instead of the micro). However, my professor had an astounding way of relating the micro to the macro. Her teaching style kept me engaged and able to understand the materials to the point that I could help others with it also. This course (along with my chemistry classes) also taught me to write lab reports both as a group and individually. I cannot express just how thankful for that (learning how to write reports) I am. To the left is an example lab report from my an experiment we typed after studying respiration and fermentation. This was a group reports where I was responsible for the discussion this time. The contributions we made on each report varied experiment to experiment, so that each individual in our group was responsible for an equal amount of work as everyone else by the end of the semester.
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Intermediate Spanish II: "Hispanics" in the U.S. - I learned a great deal during this Spanish class. We not only discussed current events in this class (in Spanish of course), but also learned about the unique histories of Mexican-American, Cuban-Americans, and Puerto Ricans in the United States. A topic of particular interest during the semester was identity in regards to Hispanics/Latinos. We analyzed how various works (songs, books, poetry, movies, etc.) played a role in the perception and formulation of cultural identity in the United States and the challenges cultural differences often provoke in this nation. My favorite aspect of this class was the volunteering we did at a local after-school location, La Casa Amiga. Here, we helped Spanish-speaking students with their homework, played games with them, and read stories to them. This experience not only allowed us to farther develop our Spanish-speaking abilities, but also to get involved in our local community. The image to the right are some of the children I got to know on my visits to La Casa Amiga!
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