Tuesday, February 26, 2008

A Little About Classes

After almost a full week of classes, I thought I would write a little bit to let you guys know what I'm taking and perhaps discuss how tertiary school in NZ differs from the US and A.

Courses are called "papers" here, and I am enrolled in four different papers: Environmental Management (Geography 397), Introduction to Land Administration and Planning (Surveying 114), ANZAC and Its Legacy (History 224), and Introduction to Formal Logic (Philosophy 222). I'll discuss each a little bit.

I decided to take Environmental Management after dropping Maori Studies, which was seeming like a destined-to-be-a-joke class. I also realized I was taking zero major classes here, so I thought I would contribute to my GEOG major at Midd by doing a little work here. The class is taught by a Professor who specializes in coastal geomorphology and European invasive species. He spent a large amount of time in the late 80s and early 90s writing the Resource Management Act of 1991, which basically redefined New Zealand's environmental protection laws, some of which dated from before 1910. It created some new agencies while dissolving the old bureaucracy, and overall represented an important shift in NZ's enviro-policy.

The course centers around a few aspects of EnvMan, especially how policy is created, considered, and implemented. With first-hand knowledge of the legal proceedings behind the RMA 1991, it seems the professor is well-equipped to discuss the subject extensively. The class is also made up of older students, which is quite nice compared to my first-year Surveying paper. The students seem for the most part engaged and focused, as one would expect in an upper-level paper.

Introduction to Land Administration and Plannign is a Surveying class that I decided to take due to my interest in the workings of land laws and how land is allocated throughout the world. I have a working knowledge of his this works in Vermont, but even from VT to NY there is a huge difference in how things are set up legally. Thus, examining NZ's law structure sounded enticing and a good way to find out a few things about the country's inner political workings. I walked into the lecture room on the first day of class to see 170 freshers looking down at the professor, and I was instantly reminded that I was no longer at my 'Small East Coast Liberal Arts School,' and that these students had no idea what the difference was between my "Uni" experience and theirs.

The first day of class, the professor started off by stressing that his portion of the class (the first six weeks) would be devoted to teaching us all how to write well for Uni. I was a little confused before I realized two things: this was a freshman class, and we all needed help as freshmen, but also that there are no entrance requirements for New Zealand Universities, so this was not a 'competetive' class to get into, and the level of academic rigor and New Zealand secondary schools was nowhere near the competetive nature of the USA education system.

I think it'll be pretty straightforward judging that our first assignment is a one-page essay about "how the law affects us personally."

The history class about ANZAC refers to the Australian and New Zealand forces that fought on the side of the allies in World War I. This is a big part of New Zealand history as they had a massive number of young men volunteer and pass away in Europe, fighting a war 20,000 kilometers away. It was a strong reminder of NZ's ties to the United Kingdom, and deeply affected this small island country. The paper covers the effects on New Zealand as well as the effects and situation in other Commonwealth countries such as South Africa, Canada, and Australia.

The Philosophy class is about Formal Logic, which is basically relating prepositions and conclusions with lots of complicated little symbols. Pretty fun, haven't made my judgement yet.

In all, it is really strange to be at a huge school, where between classes you can look around and see a thousand people bustling. 170-seat lectures are commonplace, every class has either two instructors or a TA. Students sport mullets and horrible facial hair, yet everyone is also remarkably attentive considering they spent the last ten days staring a the bottom of a beer bottle. So far, good on ya mate! for being a student and populating this great school.

That's all for now, I'll concoct some plans for the weekend, and get back to you.

Sam

1 comment:

Gardener's Supply said...

How about those gourmet meals you guys are cooking up. Let's hear about some meals.
Any good Indian food yet???