My Higher Education

Sun, 24 Jan 2010 16:56:00 -0500
ph-d

I entered college as a freshman in fall 1984. My declared major was Political Science; my orientation was careerist; my worldview embarrassingly narrow. Over the years my horizons broadened. I changed majors, and tried a few courses (but, in retrospect, far too few) just because they seemed interesting. I went to law school and to graduate school in public policy. When I finally finished in 1992, I thought I was done with classes, homework, exams and grades.

I was wrong. In 2005, while working full time, I entered UMBC’s doctoral program in Language, Literacy and Culture. I took it one course at a time, sometimes grinding out the work and sometimes losing (or, more often, finding) myself in the ideas I was exploring. And last semester, I completed my very last course requirement. All that’s left to do is write a dissertation on a topic I care deeply about (no simple task, but one I’m largely free to shape and manage). But as for classes, homework, exams and grades . . . I think I’m done.

Back in 1992, I created a list of every course I had taken after high school, by title, in chronological order. The result offered a terribly distorted and superficial view of everything I had experienced and learned. But it was sort of fascinating nonetheless, the patterns and details providing subtle hints of the profound changes in my life and perspective. Now I’ve brought the list up to date. Here it is, from first (fall '84) to last (fall '09):

The American Novel

Physical Geography

Evolution of the Solar System and Earth

The Supreme Court

Statistics

Evolution of Life and Humans

Comparative Politics

Principles of Microeconomics

Humans and the Ecosystem

Introduction to Politics

Greek Views of Humanity

Principles of Macroeconomics

Advanced Microeconomic Theory I

World Politics

Nature of the Universe

Advanced Microeconomic Theory II

Freedom of Communication

Law and American Education

Advanced Macroeconomic Theory

Industrial Organization Theory

Constitutional Law I

Demise of the Dinosaurs

Public Finance

Economic Analysis of Laws and Legal Institutions

Money and Banking

Law and Public Administration

Independent Research in Political Science

Contemporary Moral Issues

Economic Models of Public Choice

Economic Models of Conflict Resolution

Introduction to Sociology

Philosophy of the Mind

International Finance

The Sixties: A Crucial Decade

Stars and Stellar Systems

Wage Theory

Government and Business

Economics of the Media

Microeconomics and Public Policy

Empirical Analysis I

Political and Organizational Analysis

Professional Responsibility [for Public Servants]

Public Speaking

Public Policy Workshop and Applications

Empirical Analysis II

Public Management

Conflict, Cooperation and Strategy

Introduction to Human Services, Labor and Education

Civil Procedure

Contracts

Torts

Property

Criminal Law

The Legal Process

Accounting

Environmental Law

Corporations

Introduction to Government and Business

Negotiation Analysis

Gender and Law

Evidence

Federal Income Taxation

Elective Politics

Energy and Environmental Economics and Policy

Constitutional Law II

Administrative Law

Professional Responsibility [for Lawyers]

Water Law

Advanced Legal Seminar on Global Climate Change

Seminar: Energy and Environmental Policy

Third Year Paper [Law]

Land Use

Public Lands

Introduction to Language, Literacy and Culture

Intercultural Pragmatics

Cyberspace, Culture and Society

Sociological Theory

Internship in Language, Literacy and Culture

Human Learning and Cognition

Construction of Race, Class and Gender

Topics in Language, Literacy and Culture: Community and Culture

Methods of Language, Literacy and Culture Research

Advanced Qualitative Methods

Research Proposal Seminar