This course has taught me so much! I learned more than I ever thought I would. When we began the nature section of our readings I had my own biased thoughts about the matter. I was one of those people who liked nature well enough but didn’t really believe that we were destroying nature with our “technology”. However, after reading so many testimonies by the authors of this section I began to realize the damage that we can cause the nature we inhabit, and began to gain a strong desire to protect that environment for future generations to enjoy and to protect our ecosystem.
From the religion section I learned about how religion arose. Before this class I had never thought about why people had once created creation myths, however, I now understand that it is in an attempt to make sense of things that go on with the world around us, and to help define our places here on earth and to try and answer the question of where we are going. I learned that each religion has its own distinct beliefs, but that many religions share some very similar beliefs and qualities, it really helped me to become more willing to accept the beliefs of others and not just discount them because they were not my own.
The romance section really made me think about love. For some it is nothing more than a chemical reaction within the brain that causes the stages of love to begin. However, for me I still am a believer that love is something more spiritual and requires a connection between the two people and a willingness to accept others for who they are. I don’t think this feeling will ever change, what can I say, I am a hopeless romantic!
From the final diversity section I learned that there are privileges that are given to people of different genders and different races, even if they are unaware of those privileges. It is hard for many people to see that they are being given special treatment, even I had never realized the many privileges that I gain just from being a man, however, after having those privileges laid out one can clearly see that the odds and benefits are skewed in the favor of the male gender. I was also horrified to once again read about the awful discrimination that went on because of race. I am always ashamed of that part of my countries history, despite the many things that are so great about America, we made a mistake. I hope that this kind of discrimination will never happen again, however, no one is perfect and it is more than likely to continue to happen.
I have loved this class so much and I cannot believe that it is over. I will miss learning all that I did from the texts and from the ideas and thoughts shared by the members of my class. I was really given some great insight into some major human issues. I will miss this class so much, but I will continue to read about current issues and hopefully learn to develop my own opinions and ideas of what is going on in the world around me.
Cody Golder 