LETTER

Dear prospective philosophy student,

Congratulations for choosing this class. This may be the highlight class of your year; at times it’s starkly different from other classes, especially the English ones. Many English classes are filled with writing, reading and busywork or a combination of the three such as a long summary and analysis of themes of a couple books comparing them, and/or story questions of a book. Yes, those are in this class as well, but most questions are not story-based, or even theme-based. They seem to be more reflective, going beyond the theme and applying it to one’s self and the world around us.

This is especially the case for movies. While some questions may be the typical “movie questions” of the plot and idea, many truly try and get one to think about the underlying message and how it affects themselves. There’re a lot of movies in this class. And a lot of books. Pay attention to both of them, because this class is truly what you make of it. The philosophy will only come if you participate in the discussion, pay attention to the movies and books and most importantly reflect on it all. But yes, there’s a lot of discussion. And I feel like that’s where most of the fun and learning in this class is, discussing our thoughts related to whatever book/movie we have been keeping up with. But then we also get to learn from each other.

There are also blog posts due e’ry Friday. They’re a way for reflection. Just do those, and have fun with them. And that’s pretty much the message of the class. It’s a fun and educational class if you, as a student, make it. So do it.

Good luck,
Dohyun Bae