If fall semesters begin with a bang, spring semesters begin with a whimper. There’s no Orientation week and no weekend in between the first days of classes and the first “real” week. No rushing and no new freshman in the fraternity. I managed survived last weekend despite the lack of food in the house. I am now on a regular eating schedule.
My schedule includes three classes I know I’ll take:
1. Classics senior seminar, which is usually in the fall, but since Classics comps doesn’t bear any relation to the seminar, there’s no reason to have it in the fall. We’ll be doing research about a monument in the Indianapolis Museum of Art, which we’ll visit as a class Thursday.
2. The History of Common Law, a class taught by Professor of Constitutional Law fame and Dr. Morillo from the History department. It’s an immersion trip and combines the angle of Prof. Himsel’s usual classes with more historical subject matter. For our first class, we read Supreme Court cases on sodomy which use history as evidence; cases which I originally read fall of the Sophomore year in Constitutional Law. I’m pretty happy to be returning to Prof. Himsel’s class after a year-and-a-half break.
3. A seminar on Plato, led by Dr. Houston in the philosophy department. This class has all the makings of my perfect class: weighty, important, primary-source material and small but intensive class discussions. I read some Plato in my Classical philosophy class last semester but have by no means exhausted him.
Then, either Greek 102 or Advanced Latin. I’m currently signed up for both. However, the Latin class is much more introductory than anything I’ve done for a while, since most of the students will be in their 4th semester of Latin. I’ll be in my 8th. And if I do take five classes, I want to add a non-language: either an Augustine and Aquinas class with the new Theology professor, Dr. Nelson, or Contemporary Political Theory with Dr. Hoerl, since I shamefully haven’t taken an advanced class with Dr. Hoerl. I was once signed up for the Augustine and Aquinas class in the spring of my sophomore year, but dropped it when the Registrar accidentally let 50+ people into what was supposed to be a discussion class. This semester would mark a proper return.
