Continuing Activities - Month Ten
Feb. 23rd, 2020 12:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
smallhobbitI've just finished two FutureLearn courses.
The first was Getting to know Catalonia by the Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona. It sounded very interesting since it was supposed to be learning about the history, language and culture of Catalan society. The first week, on language, art and culture was reasonably interesting, although there was no explanation of how the art, for example, differed from that of other southern European art of the period. The second week began with history, which was very dry, and moved into politics and the media. The final week was about the economy and social welfare. Sadly what came over was a pitch for Catalonian independence rather than what I'd expected which was people enthusing about Catalonia, and making me want to visit again. I wasn't alone in my dissatisfaction, but on the positive side I now have two books from the library about the region.
The second course was From Waterloo to the Rhine: The British Army 1815 - 1945 by the University of Kent. I had been slightly dubious about taking this one, although it covers some of the areas I'm interested in, since I wasn't sure about the angle which was taken. It was fascinating. There was very little about the fighting of the battles (the bit I'm not interested in) but plenty on the background to conflicts, and how these fitted into the society at the time. There was a week on WWI, so I was able to tie in what I already knew with plenty of new facts, and the lecturers actually went to some of the bit memorials (Thiepval and the Menin Gate) to talk about commemorating the war and the dead. There were two assignments which required quite a lot of thought, plus 300 - 500 words, which I enjoyed doing and certainly made me think quite hard as to how to answer the questions.
And I'm now three-quarters of the way through my cross stitch:
What I haven't ever pointed out is that I'm working from the top down, so in reality this is what it's going to look like!
The first was Getting to know Catalonia by the Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona. It sounded very interesting since it was supposed to be learning about the history, language and culture of Catalan society. The first week, on language, art and culture was reasonably interesting, although there was no explanation of how the art, for example, differed from that of other southern European art of the period. The second week began with history, which was very dry, and moved into politics and the media. The final week was about the economy and social welfare. Sadly what came over was a pitch for Catalonian independence rather than what I'd expected which was people enthusing about Catalonia, and making me want to visit again. I wasn't alone in my dissatisfaction, but on the positive side I now have two books from the library about the region.
The second course was From Waterloo to the Rhine: The British Army 1815 - 1945 by the University of Kent. I had been slightly dubious about taking this one, although it covers some of the areas I'm interested in, since I wasn't sure about the angle which was taken. It was fascinating. There was very little about the fighting of the battles (the bit I'm not interested in) but plenty on the background to conflicts, and how these fitted into the society at the time. There was a week on WWI, so I was able to tie in what I already knew with plenty of new facts, and the lecturers actually went to some of the bit memorials (Thiepval and the Menin Gate) to talk about commemorating the war and the dead. There were two assignments which required quite a lot of thought, plus 300 - 500 words, which I enjoyed doing and certainly made me think quite hard as to how to answer the questions.
And I'm now three-quarters of the way through my cross stitch:
What I haven't ever pointed out is that I'm working from the top down, so in reality this is what it's going to look like!
no subject
Date: 2020-02-25 03:53 pm (UTC)Your cross stitch is looking fantastic! :-D
no subject
Date: 2020-02-25 04:21 pm (UTC)And thank you!