Interdisciplinary Seminar

Last week I talked a little about one of my classes and this week I'm going to tell you about another: Interdisciplinary Seminar.

This MA program aims at being very interdisciplinary and so our classes range from socio-psychological approaches to history of the Middle East all the way to Buddhism and mindfulness. Just to make it that much more interdisciplinary, they gave us an interdisciplinary seminar in which we organize the speakers. We can choose speakers from any field or perspective we want to hear from.

We've heard from a woman who worked with an NGO in South Sudan for the past 6 years, we've heard from a US diplomat, this week I think we're going to hear from an international business man.

Of course, sometimes, a speaker has to cancel at the very last minute so we end up watching an Israeli film about an aspect of the Israel-Lebanon war in '82. Where else could we watch such a film but in the "poofim" room (Hebrew for the bean bag room, Bean Bag Blessings).

The interdisciplinary seminar definitely qualifies as the most laid-back class that I'm taking this semester.

Bean Bag Blessings

This year is a red-letter year for reading. I had read about 36 new books before I started school. I haven't read a single book in the past month but that doesn't mean I haven't been reading. Every week I read hundreds of pages worth of articles on various topics related to my courses.

I am taking 8 courses. These include international law, negotiations, history of the Middle East, research methods, an interdisciplinary seminar, and classes on various approaches to conflict: socio-physchological approaches, cultural approaches, and political approaches. Needless to say, I am reading on an almost non-stop basis right now.

So, how does one break up the oft experienced monotony of non-stop reading? After all, to quote Pride and Prejudice, one needs something refreshing "after sitting so long in one attitude".

The library here has provided at least some degree of solace in this regard. They have a bean bag room! You can sleep there if you like (well, as he likes). But you can also change your "attitude" by reading in a colorful bean bag!

There are so many bean bags to choose from, there are even more than are pictured here!

What an ingenious idea for a university library! It makes me want to go do some more reading!