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Welcome To My Blog

Hello to everybody! My name is Julia Wouters, and I'm now in my third year at UBC, pursuing psychology. This course fulfills my requirement for literature in Arts, which is why I'm taking this course :). I'm excited and anxious to study and read new literature, discuss the topics and concerns in class and observe how other individuals interpret the books. Considering I only read a little, I've always wondered about taking a course like this one. However, my friend highly recommended this professor, so I'm giving it a try now. According to hearsay and what I've read in the syllabus, this kind of teaching will relieve strain as each student chooses their study plan.


Here is a brief introduction of myself:

I was born and raised in North Vancouver, living in just about every area there is there. I love animals with all my heart. I've had over 16 animals in my life (like birds, snakes, lizards, hamsters, etc.), but now I live on my own with my old chihuahua named Sanchez. I am so grateful that I can live on campus in an apartment with my best friend from high school. I enjoy cooking, watching true crime, painting, doing makeup, and spending my time with friends and family. Since Christmas, I have also gotten into some more video games as I got a Nintendo Switch. For work, I part-time babysit a three-year-old, and I am a banquet server at the University Golf Course here at UBC. My goal in studying psychology is to understand the mind more and also look into criminal psychology. 


After watching the lecture video:

I wanted to emphasize the connection between literature and history as one crucial point. When it comes to literature, history has a notable role in it. Still, it can have adaptations of playfulness and unique experiences to the writing. For example, the topics we covered in class today, play and games, have many different sets of rules and strategies for winning. Due to these variations, every game is special and unique to the player. Yet, it can still be universal and passed along through generations. History in literature won't be a detailed list of everything that occurred, but it does influence the story's narrative. As a result, when we study literature focus on something other than what actually ensued in history. Instead, try to understand the more profound message and how it affected the author's decision to write their narrative.


Questions I have:

  • How does Latin-American literature differ from your preferred style of literature?
  • Do you have any experiences with Latin-American culture? 


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Comments

  1. Curtis HRJanuary 11, 2023 at 6:17 PM

    Hi Julia,

    Nice to hear from you! It's great to hear that you're optimistic about this year in SPAN 312, and hopefully the class structure will make literature and reading not so scary any more.

    My background is also in Psychology - I'm in my last year of my degree. What do you want to do with your education? You say you're interested in criminal psychology, but in what capacity do you see yourself working in the field? I am hopefully going into a Masters program next year for clinical training.

    To your question, my experience with Latin American culture stems largely from academia, which is quite upsetting, as there is a ton of vibrancy and cultural intricacies that are not taught or acknowledged at the university level. Despite this, I have read countless Latin American books (largely from Jon's SPAN 322), older historical texts pertaining to the region, and much Latin American poetry (mostly in Spanish). If you do not have that much exposure to Latin American texts, starting off with Gabriel Garcia Marquez or Pablo Neruda would be recommended (at least I found them most appealing).

    My preferred style of literature is typically classic American-English literature (pretty vanilla I know). My favourite books include Of Mice and Men, 1984, and the classic Jekyll and Hyde. What are your favourites?

    Looking forward to our many classroom discussions! - Curtis HR

    ReplyDelete
  2. ChikoJanuary 11, 2023 at 7:06 PM

    Hello, Julia ☺︎
    I am also taking SPAN312 to fulfill my literature requirement. I am relieved that this course seems enjoyable!

    I do not have any Latin American background, yet I love the people, the language, and the food. So I am planning to go to Spain this summer on an exchange program!

    I am looking forward to seeing you in class!
    PS: I love to play Nintendo switch <3

    ReplyDelete

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