Because the title of our Learning Community is Landscapes of the Self, it might be nice to begin this blog by looking at the self through an educational landscape. During the first two classes we will discuss this notion of education from the lens of composition as well as psychology. Also relevant to the conversation is personal story and experience. Because we are gathered as a community of learners, it is often valuable to look back at the shape of our education as we move forward into this college journey.
Entering freshman find themselves in a similar Janus-figure position. Every time we begin a new part of our lives, we quite naturally pause for a moment to look back. And then we look forward, peering into the landscape up ahead, trying to get some sense of the future.
While arriving at college with these opposing perspectives might make you feel slightly off balance, the college acutally tries to bridge this gap, by attempting to understand the past in order to shape the guture. The bridge beween past and future is an ongoing search for knowledge. Kenneth Burke, a modern philosopher, describes the search for knowledge as a conversation.
Welcome to the conversation. When entering the conversation try to understand and explore the various positions and relationships between the self, writing, and pyschology. What does the landscape of your education look like? In what ways do you envision Westminster College will shape it?
Posted by Leslie
