lordkalkin

I suppose I should update this thing, especially with the new semester.

So, this is the first semester since I started undergrad that I'm not taking any classes. Instead, I'm teaching them. Tulane's philosophy department handed me a section of Buddhism, which was full two or three weeks ago. In addition, I picked up a section of Intro to Logic at Dillard University, a small school with a very small philosophy department (ie one guy) that often hires adjuncts (ie me).

Monday was the first day at Dillard, and I think that went fairly well. They laughed at my jokes and seemed pretty good to go overall. Today was the second class there, so we got into the good stuff early on, and I had a good time. In the first part of the semester, we're talking about more informal logic, using natural language and such, so I'm using that part of the semester to teach them general argument skills. Hopefully, by the time I'm done with them, they might be a bit more aware of the bullshit that gets handed down to everybody every day.

Today, I started Buddhism at Tulane, and that group was much bigger and therefore harder to read, but some of them seemed pretty eager. I went through some context for Buddhism, talking a little bit about Hindu thought at the time of the Buddha, and I gave them my "how to meditate" lecture. It's a homework assignment, so by the time we get to the final, I'll get to see how many of them do it. I hope more than a few do, partly because it will be good for them, and partly because it really does help in understanding some of the perspectives at work.

So, there's the update.