The seminars for this program have been an interesting way to get to know people, learn more about other placements, and reflect on our time in the city. While the Tuesday discussions have been pretty good, the Thursday student-led programming has by far been my personal favorite. The diversity of events has been awesome: from a scavenger hunt, to a documentary, to ice breakers, to thoughtful discussions, to a few different games – its always an interesting surprise walking in the door on Thursday afternoons.
Part of the reason I enjoy them so much is that they’re so interactive – unlike many of the Tuesday seminar speaker sessions, I have never once gone through and entire Thursday session without speaking and moving and laughing. This not only makes the time go faster, but also – I believe – leads to more actual reflective thought. I am very much a person who learns by doing and speaking, not by sitting and listening. When we had an engaging discussions as peers on a documentary’s depiction of the city, for example, I dug deeper into my own perceptions of the city and the way my thoughts have been shaped by my surroundings more than any other time in my life.
I’ve also been exposed to a ton of different viewpoints and perspectives through the seminars. It is true that we are all students at UofM, but our identities, childhood experiences, interests, and courses of study are all very different. This not only leads to the creation of very different seminars by each group, by also brings different reactions and thoughts to each seminar. This in turn leads to awesome conversations, conversations that I’ve personally taken a lot from. Perhaps part of my support for student-led seminars stems from the simple fact that I haven’t yet had to actually plan one (we’ll see after next week), but for the time being I’m going to continue looking forward to Thursday afternoons.
