<p>I'm in the midst of planning my "fake schedule" on Bannerweb, and, not being one to pass up one time opportunities (like, say, single sex education?) I would really hate to have to skip on a first year seminar. The only one I'm really intensely interested in, just reading course descriptions and so on, is the pair of Reenacting The Past seminars. Does anyone know the difference between the pair, taught by David Cohen and Daniel Gardner? I know they usually cover a different era in each class, but is a different pair chosen each year? There's no specified class description as to what the historical period is or anything. On Bannerweb, one class is listed as being a good 40 minutes shorter than the other, as well. </p>
<p>Has anyone (or anyone's daughter) taken either of these before, and were they good, bad or mediocre experiences? Is there a strong preference towards either of the teachers? AND can anyone give me any insight into the other FYS that might foster a better interest in me vis a vis those seminars? </p>
<p>Also, I've heard elsewhere that languages (with the exception of Russian, it seems) are much harder at Smith than at the other four colleges in the Valley. Is it a bad idea then to take two in one semester? I know, I know! 2/4 classes will then be language classes. I guess I can always wait.</p>
<p>My roommate took Reenacting the Past last semester and really liked it, but there were also different professors teaching it. Each class does its own time periods, and they change year to year, depending on what the profs want to do. My roommate's class did the French Revolution (she was Robespierre, so for a few weeks I got to share a room with a french dictator) and I forget what they did the next time. If one class is shorter than the other, it may be because it meets more days a week (MWF instead of T/TH) or that the schedule is just weird. Many classes dont' meet for their full alotted time, so even if one class is scheduled to be longer, it may not last that long. Gov 100 Lecture for example is slotted for like an hour and a half, but our lecturer felt like an hour was all we could take, so she would only go on for an hour. </p>
<p>Two languages at once is a bad idea. It's not just that beginning languages are hard, it's more that it really limits your options now and in the future. You won't be able to do everything you want at Smith, that's the hardest thing about it. You might want to go to the first class of both languages and see which one you like better.</p>
<p>My D thinks Dan Gardner is terrific. She took the Reenacting the Past seminar from him. His segments were Periclean Athens, Ming(?) Dynasty China, and the Massachusetts Bay colony (trial of Ann Hutchinson).</p>
<p>Not only a good class but a good initial bonding-with-Smith experience.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info everyone. S&P, you've pretty much confirmed for me that I won't take two languages for sure. That and trying to fit them both into my mock schedule. After taking 7-8 classes in HS, 4 courses seems bleeding titchy. Even though I'm itching to try my tongue at Portuguese, I have a feeling it'll have to wait until next year. </p>
<p>BJM8, I haven't heard anything in particular about Portuguese or the teacher, Marguerite Harrison, perusing through ratemyprofessor.com</p>
<p>The FYS sounds incredibly interesting, though I worry my prose ability may need some whipping into shape.</p>
<p>The FYS definitely tends to do some whipping on prose abilities. Along with some of the other classes.</p>
<p>I have a hard time calibrating sometimes, as my schooling was of a different era, e.g., six 20-page papers were required for my senior year English class. In public high school. Properly footnoted, etc.</p>
<p>So a lot of today's assignments look "thin" to me in comparison, with lots of 5-10 page papers that barely signify on my radar screen. (I am happy though that D does have a 40-60 page research paper due this Fall.) Yet I look at some of the papers at Smith from a qualitative standpoint and I can't complain. And I'm a curmudgeon. D was a decent writer by my standards when she graduated from high school. Smith has made her better.</p>