When I was a student at Concordia College, there was a subset of courses offered which we referred to as Integration classes. They were, fittingly, indicated on our transcripts with an X following the course number.
The purpose of Integration coursework is to juxtapose two seemingly different disciplines in order to discover the common concepts between them. This is really the essence of any Liberal Arts education, in my mind, and why I preferred a B.A. to a B.S. To graduate, we needed to take one Integration course--I had the good fortune of working three into my schedule.
347X - Biomedical Ethics (one of only two night classes I took)
318X - Women, Religion, and Literature (in Greece)
315X - Evolution and Religion (my favorite--which shocks no one)
Of all my studies, Integration courses were the most challenging, and most enjoyable. I have carried this framework of thinking forward, and am mindful of it so often in daily life. It gives me great pleasure to see two things--be they organisms or ideas--which appear to be fundamentally unrelated, suddenly relate.
During The Thirty Days of Gratitude Project, I wrote 25 blog posts--more importantly, I ended up with a very vivid snapshot of how dynamic the human condition is. For those who followed this project, we started at espresso and fireflies before a side trip past the Constitution and Election Day, only to plummet all the way down to the tragic passing of my sister's beloved Charlie. Climb back up to the gorgeous, vibrant, rugged Baja California. Octavio Paz! Well, hell--at that point, what's left but to circle around to the stomach flu and full moon walks with the dogs?! This is surely an up and down existence for us all, my word. If you mapped out anyone's November, it would look just like a sound wave, the growth and death of a plant on time delay, or how the pages of an book opened to the center curve to their edges. The same patterns that are so persistent across all disciplines, across all people.
My challenge this month was to integrate gratitude with what is, frankly, a pretty ungrateful world. I was up to it. You were, too.
Thank you for reading, it held me accountable to my writing when it is so easy to push aside. I am humbled by the number of views my little blog has been granted.
This project is complete, but the opportunities to be thankful aren't--so get out there and be grateful.
The purpose of Integration coursework is to juxtapose two seemingly different disciplines in order to discover the common concepts between them. This is really the essence of any Liberal Arts education, in my mind, and why I preferred a B.A. to a B.S. To graduate, we needed to take one Integration course--I had the good fortune of working three into my schedule.
347X - Biomedical Ethics (one of only two night classes I took)
318X - Women, Religion, and Literature (in Greece)
315X - Evolution and Religion (my favorite--which shocks no one)
Of all my studies, Integration courses were the most challenging, and most enjoyable. I have carried this framework of thinking forward, and am mindful of it so often in daily life. It gives me great pleasure to see two things--be they organisms or ideas--which appear to be fundamentally unrelated, suddenly relate.
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| I swear, Mom. College wasn't all partying. Although...there was a lot of...nevermind. |
During The Thirty Days of Gratitude Project, I wrote 25 blog posts--more importantly, I ended up with a very vivid snapshot of how dynamic the human condition is. For those who followed this project, we started at espresso and fireflies before a side trip past the Constitution and Election Day, only to plummet all the way down to the tragic passing of my sister's beloved Charlie. Climb back up to the gorgeous, vibrant, rugged Baja California. Octavio Paz! Well, hell--at that point, what's left but to circle around to the stomach flu and full moon walks with the dogs?! This is surely an up and down existence for us all, my word. If you mapped out anyone's November, it would look just like a sound wave, the growth and death of a plant on time delay, or how the pages of an book opened to the center curve to their edges. The same patterns that are so persistent across all disciplines, across all people.
My challenge this month was to integrate gratitude with what is, frankly, a pretty ungrateful world. I was up to it. You were, too.
Thank you for reading, it held me accountable to my writing when it is so easy to push aside. I am humbled by the number of views my little blog has been granted.
This project is complete, but the opportunities to be thankful aren't--so get out there and be grateful.
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