Saturday, October 07, 2006

What do NBA tattoos have to do with Egyptian Art? I'll tell you!

Gave my students an exam on Wednesday- a first for me! Oh my god, I was so nervous. I actually had to excuse myself from the exam (when only a few trustworthy girls were left in the room) to go to the bathroom. That nervous. They seem to have done well, at least my smaller first section did. Three As, three Bs, one D and two Fs. The two who failed have a story that is worthy of rate your students (thanks professordog for clueing me in to this site!) Something about lending out a copybook full of class notes, a soccer game very far away, and the resultant not studying (apparently not only on the part of he of the lost copybook, but also of the copybook captor).

The copybook captor is the same student who, for the first two weeks of class, would listen to my lecture with a horrible scowl on his face. I was sure he was listening to me talk, trying to gather clues as to which car I drive in order to slash my tires or something. Pure HATRED in his eyes. Then, at the end of class, he'd get up and say, "Thanks, prof, see you next time!" WTF? All nice and sociable like! Weirrrrrd.

I start teaching Egypt this week, and I am so amped for it. I LOVE this material, and it's so fun to teach. All the death and mythology and good stuff like that, added to the story of King Tut and how he wasn't really a pivotal historical figure, his tomb just happens to have survived, and my "think about the IMPLICATIONS of this little fact, people! What do we really know about the ancient world, who have we missed, just imagine!" spiel. And I get to show a photo of Rasheed Wallace, who has just about the coolest tattoo I've ever seen (besides Kev's, of course).



See, it's like the relief of Akhenaten, and he shows his children, which is an innovation of the Amarna style, and omg, this is such cool stuff, kids!!



I had a dream that they were all really really into my lecture. I hope so. It's unfortunate that this particular field of study doesn't lend itself too readily to really awesome interaction in the classroom, but hey, maybe if I come across as really enthusiastic, it'll rub off?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Think Rasheed Wallace was an Art History major?

Anonymous said...

That's awesome. I love that you seem to be in the same part of your curriculum as the survey class I'm TA'ing for (I guess that's how a survey of history works) - but your lectures seem much more engaging and current than this prof's - you have lucky students!

Molly said...

Now that you show the comparison, I think that the tattoo is cool too.

Anonymous said...

I came across this blog by accident and it baffles me on how the "teachers" of today know not of what they teach.
To even say that King Tutankhamun was irrelevant, not only shows your naivety, but your ignorance to seek out truth. You read lies and receive it as education. Kemetian knowledge has been past down from time to time in truth...the only ones who aren't aware are those who are not...of that decent that is. And you have the audacity to patronize a symbol of sacred positivity with your "up-to-date" vernacular. I object.
I apologize if I come across as for lack of a better term, an asshole, it's the mis education that irritates me.
But then I ask myself....how could you possibly know.

Thorson said...

I agree w/ the anonymous comment that precedes this one. It would take a fool to say that Tutankhamen was irrelevant. & I dont mean that w/ any malicious intent either, just pointing this professor's obvious ignorance out. This is the left brain type of thinking that makes it difficult for you to comprehend these ancient concepts. 1st of all from a common sense stand point, how can one w/ such massive monuments bearing their likeness be irrelevent?

Anonymous said...

It never said King Tut was irrelevent, if making a point about having understanding maybe striving for some understanding in what you're reading first would be wise. Instead of latching on to a passing point to vent some frustration you already have and miss the point being made.

The possiblilities of the ancient world, and things that have slipped through being passed down that we'll never know about. Hugely inspiring stuff.