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Something New - Month Eleven
Mar. 27th, 2021 11:22 amI am enjoying the Imperial Lates run by Imperial College in London. The theme a couple of weeks ago was the Sun, and again I joined the art interpretation evening. There was a professor and a third year PhD student talking about research into the first stars and the craft was a mosaic, for which I used very small squares of cut up wrapping paper. I call this Starburst.
Next month the theme is Wildlife. I have registered.
Yesterday, we had our first Dare to Dabble by zoom, having been sent the materials in advance. We were wet felting. My first attempt, around a small plastic egg, wasn't very successful, but, if you squint, looks like a ladybird. The mini eggs turned out rather better.
I have completed three FutureLearn courses:
Music Moves by the University of Oslo, which covered the idea of people moving either deliberately or involuntarily to music, plus various ways of recording this. I find it a difficult course, being quite technical, and the peer-assessed assignment was challenging - hardly surprising since this was at undergraduate level. However, at the end of each week, although the course had been run before, there was a new video looking specifically at questions and thoughts which had been raised during the week, so it became rather more personal and relevant; two of the presenters wrapped up and social distancing outside in Oslo at the end of January gave an additional lift to the course. (At the end of week 3 they were indoors as it had got even colder!) The final Friday of the course they ran a zoom session which any participant could attend, so I went along and 'sat at the back of the class'. There were about a dozen attending, many of whom were professionals or students of the subject, so it was good to get further insight.
What does it mean to be Human: An Introduction to the Humanities, by the University of Newcastle, Australia. I had been thinking of taking this course for a while. Because it is an introduction the intention was to look at how we interpret material available, and the necessity of being aware of bias, both ours and that of the authors of the original material. What struck me most was how I am now much more aware of this original bias, and much less inclined to accept what I see as being truly reflective of events in the past.
Classic Detection Fiction by the University of Newcastle, Australia. This could have been very interesting as an introduction to the genre, but I felt it was a wasted opportunity. The first week concentrated on Poe's 'Murders in the Rue Morgue' and yes, set the scene. But the second two weeks concentrated only on Conan Doyle's 'A Study in Scarlet' and failed to even use the other Sherlock Holmes stories to back up the areas covered.
Next month the theme is Wildlife. I have registered.
Yesterday, we had our first Dare to Dabble by zoom, having been sent the materials in advance. We were wet felting. My first attempt, around a small plastic egg, wasn't very successful, but, if you squint, looks like a ladybird. The mini eggs turned out rather better.
I have completed three FutureLearn courses:
Music Moves by the University of Oslo, which covered the idea of people moving either deliberately or involuntarily to music, plus various ways of recording this. I find it a difficult course, being quite technical, and the peer-assessed assignment was challenging - hardly surprising since this was at undergraduate level. However, at the end of each week, although the course had been run before, there was a new video looking specifically at questions and thoughts which had been raised during the week, so it became rather more personal and relevant; two of the presenters wrapped up and social distancing outside in Oslo at the end of January gave an additional lift to the course. (At the end of week 3 they were indoors as it had got even colder!) The final Friday of the course they ran a zoom session which any participant could attend, so I went along and 'sat at the back of the class'. There were about a dozen attending, many of whom were professionals or students of the subject, so it was good to get further insight.
What does it mean to be Human: An Introduction to the Humanities, by the University of Newcastle, Australia. I had been thinking of taking this course for a while. Because it is an introduction the intention was to look at how we interpret material available, and the necessity of being aware of bias, both ours and that of the authors of the original material. What struck me most was how I am now much more aware of this original bias, and much less inclined to accept what I see as being truly reflective of events in the past.
Classic Detection Fiction by the University of Newcastle, Australia. This could have been very interesting as an introduction to the genre, but I felt it was a wasted opportunity. The first week concentrated on Poe's 'Murders in the Rue Morgue' and yes, set the scene. But the second two weeks concentrated only on Conan Doyle's 'A Study in Scarlet' and failed to even use the other Sherlock Holmes stories to back up the areas covered.
