A Mixed Bag of Classes

There are several advantages to studying at Newhouse, especially if you are an Arts Journalism student. While our director, Johanna Keller, stresses on taking skills classes through the year (like graphics or coding), she also encourages us to pick classes from other schools and departments to widen our horizon. As a result, during the fall semester, I audited an Introduction to Theatre class. Since I want to make a career out of writing about theatre, this class was especially helpful to me. Prior to this class, my knowledge of theatre was limited to a bunch of Greek tragedies, a whole lot of Shakespeare, a variety of contemporary Indian playwrights and a little bit of American theatre here and there. This class helped me with the big and important names in the history of modern theatre.

Things got a little interesting as the I entered the spring semester.  I realized that my writing was sprinkled with cross-cultural elements. So, I decided to take a class that would help me understand the Indian culture but from an American point of view. After spending hours on MySlice, I managed to find the perfect class. The anthropology department at the Maxwell School offers a class titled, “Modern South Asian Cultures.” The foci of the class are the countries nestled in South Asia with an emphasis on the biggest one, India. Since this is an undergraduate class, I am studying it as an independent study, which means that I put in some extra hours and do some extra reading responses. This class has been exceptionally insightful. There are only two Indians in the class! My other classmates are primarily Americans, with some Chinese students.  As the class has progressed, I’ve realized how little I knew about my own culture. This class gives me a chance to learn about concepts and ideas that are deeply rooted within the Indian culture, and while I don’t entirely agree with a lot of things (patriarchal society, dowry, sati), it was interesting to see what my classmates felt.

I am not the only AJ who is taking classes outside the media sphere. A fellow classmate and friend, Anya Jaremko Greenwold, is taking a class titled, “Open Poetry Workshop.” According to her, she chose this class because she loves creative writing. Additionally, the class will help her be a better nonfiction writer. The class focuses on syntax and diction, and she gets a chance to read the writing of other talented Syracuse MFA students.

With graduation about 80 days away, I am glad I was able to educate myself in different things from a variety of spheres and widen my horizon. Arts Journalism classes are great, but the real world isn’t separated by subject. The knowledge I’ve gained from these outside classes will be invaluable once I start my career.