So what's the education like around here?

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Throughout my week at registration and enrolment, I've learned more about Monash's educational system. When students graduate from school (our high school), they must take an exam that will determine which schools they will best fit and what course they should study. When they are looking at uni choices, they apply to the specific faculty which houses their interests (faculty of arts is super large, but the faculty of law or medicine is strictly for what it implies). Therefore, these students will go straight into a plan for schooling that is MUCH different from Furman. However, there has been an interesting push for more schools to showcase a broader educational plan for students. Melbourne University, for example, has just implemented a plan this year for students to take a more liberal arts approach, and take classes from many different departments, before they must decide on a faculty to specify their studies. Yes, Australia, it's time for some ENGAGED LIBERAL ARTS LEARNING :-) I'm super happy that Melbourne Uni has taken this huge step and I really hope more universities will follow suit!

Unlike the craziness of enrolment at Furman, registering for classes was quite simple for me. After reading over the course descriptions, I decided to take two very interesting and very different classes. Yes, you read it correctly: I'm taking only two classes. Two classes that are TWELVE credit hours each! I have no clue what to expect from these classes that are so high in credit hours, but needless to say, I know I will be very busy 😊

A bit about the courses: I will actually have my first classes at the end of this week, so this is what I have gathered from the preliminary summaries of the courses. The first class is called "China: It's Quest for Modernisation." It should be a fascinating class, seeing as how I am on this side of the globe and to hear about the influence China has over the Oceania region. It will also be great for me to do a bit of comparative learning with Latin America, since that's where the majority of my undergraduate study has been.

The other class I'm taking is called "Leaders, Politics and Publics" and that course mainly focuses on leaders of nations and the political psychology that goes on with their constituents. We learn how and why people follow their leaders, what motivates them, and how they react when a leader fails. As you can see, these are going to be some fantastic courses which will provide some great insight!

I spent the majority of the week feeling my way around the campus and making sure I could locate everything in an efficient way. For the most part, the campus layout is large, but manageable. Most of the buildings dealing with the arts and politics are just around the corner from the Campus Centre, so I have everything that is easily found!

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