So, one week of grad school is complete. It is thrilling and invigorating and stressful all at the same time.
First things first, the summer reading I did prepared me very well. The first day's lectures made sense and gave me a firm idea on what type of pace and rigor will be upheld. What is the bigger piece, that I'll need to worry about, is the outside reading and maintaining some time management. I figure that I'll have about 500 pages a week to read - at least if I want to achieve my unreachable standard that I set up for myself for.
The program I am in, International and European Politics, is set up on a lecture/seminar model. We meet for lecture once a week and for seminar once a week - seminars being the interactive piece where presentations and dialogue take place.
Tuesdays -
Sociology of Nationalism - Lecture 11:00am-12:00pm
Institutions and Policies of the European Union - Lecture 2:00-3:00pm
International Relations Theory - Lecture 3:00-4:00pm
Wednesdays -
Sociology of Nationalism - Seminar 9:00-11:00am
Thursdays -
International Relations Theory - Seminar 9:00-10:00am
Institutions and Policies of the European Union - Seminar 4:00-5:00pm
The first days went something like this:
Tuesdays -
Sociology of Nationalism - Lecture 11:00am-12:00pm
Didn't attend, as I didn't find out until Wednesday that this 'honours undergraduate sociology' lecture mirrors our graduate program topic wise, but is not required. I'm sure I'll be attending every week - it's only going to help.
Institutions and Policies of the European Union - Lecture 2:00-3:00pm
Chad Damro is the professor and one of the co-directors of the IEP program. He's a very nice guy and started us off promptly with the syllabus and a brief lecture on the treaties leading up to today for the European Union (Treaty of Rome-1951 to Treat of Nice-2004). It will be a class focused on the complexities of political and economic integration of a diverse set of 'unified' states and it's enlargement, of even more diverse set of states. Reading in this course will probably be the most technical. I'll really have to focus to find the distinctions and understand the nuances of theories like neo-functionalism and liberal internationalism.
International Relations Theory - Lecture 3:00-4:00pm
I hate to say that I'll have 'favourites' in this program, but I really think I am going to enjoy this class the most this semester, at least regarding the topic. Professor Aspinwall is setting up this course to study the prevailing theories of IR - classic realism and liberalism and then bringing in of course, the much younger and alternative theories on IR - Social Constructivism, Critical Theory, Post-modernist, Feminist Theory, etc. The concepts of power, authority, sovereignty and rule of law will be at the forefront of this course, and I find all of it very fascinating.
Wednesdays -
Sociology of Nationalism - Seminar 9:00-11:00am
This is my elective course of this semester. Ideally, I think I want to do my dissertation on the concepts of power, political movements and human rights. I felt that a course on nationalism and the development (and reasons for) how society is how it is would be a good choice. I had the good fortune of receiving the seminar 'sign up sheet' last in class on this day and am presenting first next Wednesday. Topic: Nationalism and Modernity. Nothing like getting it over with right away I guess!
Thursdays -
International Relations Theory - Seminar 9:00-10:00am
My bus breaking down 6 miles SHORT of Edinburgh didn't help the start to my day. Despite the fact that I walked into class RIGHT at 9:00am - I HATE being late, and right on the start time might as well be late - the discussion went well. It's the first day, so our discussion of the 'significance of the state' began only after introductions. It was a slow start, because we are all a little new at this, but great discussion with people from Japan, Spain, the U.S., Australia, England, Scotland, Estonia and China! I love it. We each will be reading the same books essentially, but our experiences, cultures and relationships with the media are all different, and they will create a dynamic that will not be captured in a textbook. A cup of coffee afterwards with Kristian, Sam, Jennifer, Anna and Jeff was the perfect social celebration to intellect's triumph.
Institutions and Policies of the European Union - Seminar 4:00-5:00pm
After reading in the library for four hours, I was more that ready for this seminar, but, as it is just the first day, we talked about the syllabus and what we were going to talk about in the course. The course reading requirements are extensive, and if we are only going to be getting one 50 minute lecture and discussing the material in one 50 minute seminar, we are definitely going to have to be diligent on getting as much of the readings done as possible. It is now in my hands to stay focused and dig in.
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