An Ode to the Cores
In the Kugelman Honors Program at UWF, we are required to take two freshman seminars: Core I and Core II (hence the post title). Confession 1: I was not a happy camper when I found out I would have to complete any sort of literary analysis coming into college... Having chosen a science major, I expected classes full of science and experimentation. And yes, that is what I got. But, these sciences included both human and life sciences.
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| Aristotle |
Confession 2: I thought these classical artists and philosophers only
had an impact on the world of academia, so I kinda hated them all. BUT,
lo and behold, I got to see their stone-cold faces in one of the world's oldest
libraries-The Trinity College Library. It was exciting to see the ways in which the Star Wars and Harry Potter set designers used the Trinity College Library as model for their own fictitious world. I was not disappointed one bit!
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| Locke |
Confession 3: I was wrong, the professors were right. Now that I am immersed in the world of the great European authors and philosophers, I can see their influence on basic city monuments. Their works are deified by the citizens of Dublin and preserved for future generations to admire beit by passing down the books and their morals or by highlighting these talented minds' contributions to society via statues and plaques. It's only been 8 hours and the deep cultural roots in this city are already evident!
In Honors Core II, we also spend a large portion of the school year discussing parks and their effect on a city and the ways people use these parks. Below, I have the picture of two parks which are heavily populated considering these pictures were taken at 2 in the afternoon when most people are still at work. The thing these two parks have in common is that there are NO meaningful activities. Meaningful activities are opportunities for people to participate in engaging activities, and they were the item we blamed for Pensacola Parks scoring so low.
In both of these photos, it is interesting to see that all of the people in the parks are happily sitting on the lawn, talking to each other, people watching, or contemplating on life. Perhaps, that is the main difference between Pensacola parks and the parks in Dublin (so far), it is not the substance of the park, but the substance of the park users. It seems to me as if the citizens of Dublin are more inclined to going to the park as a break from the city life (there was an implied hush of silence in both of these spaces) whereas Americans tend to explore parks in the hopes of finding new adventures and avoiding boredom. The city of Dublin feeds its citizens with excitement and buzz and the parks provide an escape.
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