medievalist fail
Feb. 2nd, 2011 03:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bedlamsbardWhat one would have seen if they walked into my Medieval Religious Culture tutorial today would have been two Catholics (who went to Catholic school) and a professor who specializes in medieval religious history animatedly discussing the Bible, and me sitting there in shell-shocked silence.
The highlight of the class really must have been me admitting, slightly high-pitched, that I hadn't read the Old Testament or the New Testament, which really threw my professor. He flailed a moment and then went, "Well, you're going to have to read the Bible if you want to continue in medieval studies!" "...that's why I'm also classics."
(There's only three people in the tutorial. I think it's really obvious when one of them isn't talking, but I didn't know what to say; I have nothing to contribute when we're talking about the Bible or bible school or anything of that sort, because I have to convert the analogies to even more analogies that make sense to me, because the New Testament (or Old Testament!) analogies absolutely do not, because I don't have that background. I knew this would probably happen at some point during the semester, but I didn't expect it would go on for almost an hour. I mentioned, I think, at one previous session that I wasn't Christian, and I think the assumption was probably that I was Jewish, because Tulane has a fairly large Jewish population. Um, sorry. Pagan. Not that that's come out yet, there's probably an assumption that I'm atheist or maybe possibly Buddhist.)
Agh. Well. That was painful. I was really hoping we were going to talk about something else.
*
The temperature dropped forty degrees in about a day (be hot or be cold, New Orleans, but at least be consistent) and today it hailed while I was in class: the end is clearly nigh. On the other hand, at least we're not expecting snowstorms or ice storms or, my personal favorite back home, freezing fog? So I guess complaining that it's measly 37 degrees F (it was lower this morning) is sort of worthless in the grand scheme of things, compared to Massachusetts or Chicago or somewhere Up North, but, I mean, the day before yesterday it was SEVENTY DEGREES AND SUNNY. Those were the days, man. The very, very confusing days.
*
Good thing: the classics prof I asked to help with my honors thesis said yes! I am not sure I'm more surprised that he said yes or that he's not going on sabbatical next semester.
The highlight of the class really must have been me admitting, slightly high-pitched, that I hadn't read the Old Testament or the New Testament, which really threw my professor. He flailed a moment and then went, "Well, you're going to have to read the Bible if you want to continue in medieval studies!" "...that's why I'm also classics."
(There's only three people in the tutorial. I think it's really obvious when one of them isn't talking, but I didn't know what to say; I have nothing to contribute when we're talking about the Bible or bible school or anything of that sort, because I have to convert the analogies to even more analogies that make sense to me, because the New Testament (or Old Testament!) analogies absolutely do not, because I don't have that background. I knew this would probably happen at some point during the semester, but I didn't expect it would go on for almost an hour. I mentioned, I think, at one previous session that I wasn't Christian, and I think the assumption was probably that I was Jewish, because Tulane has a fairly large Jewish population. Um, sorry. Pagan. Not that that's come out yet, there's probably an assumption that I'm atheist or maybe possibly Buddhist.)
Agh. Well. That was painful. I was really hoping we were going to talk about something else.
*
The temperature dropped forty degrees in about a day (be hot or be cold, New Orleans, but at least be consistent) and today it hailed while I was in class: the end is clearly nigh. On the other hand, at least we're not expecting snowstorms or ice storms or, my personal favorite back home, freezing fog? So I guess complaining that it's measly 37 degrees F (it was lower this morning) is sort of worthless in the grand scheme of things, compared to Massachusetts or Chicago or somewhere Up North, but, I mean, the day before yesterday it was SEVENTY DEGREES AND SUNNY. Those were the days, man. The very, very confusing days.
*
Good thing: the classics prof I asked to help with my honors thesis said yes! I am not sure I'm more surprised that he said yes or that he's not going on sabbatical next semester.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-04 02:44 am (UTC)Maybe he just assumed that anyone taking a class on medieval religious culture would be at least vaguely familiar with religion?