Actually, when I decided to take this class I didn't know what to expect. I was intrigued with the name "Science and Culture", it sounded like a combination of what I want to learn about (science) and what I wish to learn about (culture). And the part "Do what we told you and you'll do fine" in the syllabus made me confident that I should take the course (I love to have clear instructions).
I loved the diversity of topics we discussed: from really philosophical readings (hello Descartes) to the things we meet every day in our lives (brand name vs generic medicine, harmful videos on Youtube). And the blog posts expanded the circle of topics. In class sometimes you can't formulate the idea, you have some separated thoughts but you can't connect them. And at home you have more time to think about what happened in the classroom. Quite often it was difficult to get this exact topic you want to write about, to find correct words that will express your thoughts. But it was an interesting and useful time of exploration of the world and of yourself.
Also, as an exchange student, it was an interesting experience of noticing some cultural differences. The poster section was the most representative part of the course. Some problems groups presented are universal: water pollution with products of pharmacology, internet privacy and its intervention in all aspects of our lives. And some were really American for me: sugar addiction, problem of huge portions of food. Sometimes I just got lost, especially with all American brand names everybody knows. Here I realized how actually we are bounded by these names, we are just too used to them and we are skeptical to the new names that we can't recognize.
It was a unique experience of unusual class process. This class is one of amazing memories I'm taking back home.
Wow, I had never really considered the projects from the perspective of someone not familiar with all of the American culture that I've become so accustomed to I can't even distinguish it. I love learning about other cultures, but unfortunately have not had many culturally immersive experiences, even within the US. I hope to keep an eye out for some of these things when I travel in the future.
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