Hi everyone,
Today, Boston College History Professor Helen Cox Richardson visited campus to talk about the value of the humanities as part of a biannual lecture. In response, for this blog post, I want to showcase some of the interesting courses that Holy Cross has to offer. Because of its status as a liberal arts institution, Holy Cross offers a wide variety of classes, and you are really given the opportunity to explore– not just for filling general requirements, but also in the second half of your time as an undergraduate!
(Although as an English major, I find many of my literature classes appealing, I’ll work to not fixate on those as I know they’re not everyone’s cup of tea).
A unique feature of Holy Cross’ curriculum is the Montserrat program. Two of your eight requirements during your freshman year are filled by this unique academic class, sorted by clusters and all largely distinct from one another. The program is designed so that you live in the same dorm as those in your class, so that way you’ll already have connections from the get-go. My Montserrat was unique in that it was split up into two “halves” taught by two different professors. I was in the “Natural World” cluster, and my two classes were called “Tropical Fictions” and “Fictions of the Future.” In the former, we learned about Latin American history and read / watched media with the goal of critiquing those that looked upon South America with a “tropical”, otherizing eye. In the latter, we read texts that were environmentally conscious and depicted dystopian futures where the health of our planet is in limbo. Although those classes were unfortunately on Zoom, I still feel a strong connection to them– I am still friends with other students from the class (one is my roommate!) and I have been mentored by both professors in my time throughout Holy Cross.
The classes in my junior year were especially interesting. In the fall, I took all English classes: Milton, Shakespeare, The World Novel, and a Creative Writing class. For two of the classes, I loved being able to focus on the works of only one author. It really gave us the opportunity to learn more about individual authors’ lives and notice the progression of their beliefs and skills over the course of their literary careers. The World Novel was also a cool class, getting to find out more about why authors in foreign nations, particularly ones with colonial pasts such as India and South Africa, chose to write their novels in English. As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, even my Study Abroad classes were a highlight, particularly a biology course called Australian Wildlife Biology. We frequently had guest lecturers, and took several field trips (or “excursions”) across the semester to do some field research.
This year, I finished the last of my major credits and got to immerse myself in some intriguing course offerings. This fall, I took Museum Studies, taught by a professor who headed the Worcester Art Museum (WAM) for many years. I really liked getting to explore more of Worcester, since it can be tricky to feel connected to the city while up on the Hill!
Across the whole year, I’ve taken some courses on Classical Literature, since I really loved reading the Odyssey when I was younger. Finally, this semester, I’m taking a course on Russian Science Fiction and Fantasy. Although I don’t speak any Russian, the class is in English, and it’s taught me a lot about the country’s history and culture which I never knew. That’s one of the great things about Holy Cross- the liberal arts curriculum grants you the opportunity to explore many subject areas, and enrich yourself in doing so.
Until next time!
