When I committed to Bentley, I had no idea what I was signing myself up for. I did scarily little research on the school and although I knew it was a business school I don’t think I really understood what that meant. I am a very creative person that loves English and likes to participate in philosophical thought and discussion. Given that Bentley is, in fact, a business school, their priorities lie within more technical pursuits. Even so, the creative classes I have taken here have been so amazing and I have had several really great classroom experiences.
The mandatory introductory writing courses have been 2 of my favorite classes to take in my 3 years at Bentley. My Expository Writing 101 class focused largely on racism and I got to engage in many critical conversations regarding the nature of inequality and how capitalism plays a role in America’s biases. I was very lucky to have Luke Mueller as a professor, he is very passionate about what he teaches and incredibly intelligent. I was able to not only participate in meaningful conversations, but write about significant topics as well. This course set the tone for my Bentley experience and I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to take it.
Expository Writing 201 was equally as impactful. The course focus was on health and healthcare, which I had originally thought I wouldn’t care about, but grew to really enjoy. Fresh from my last introductory writing course, I had thought that there was nothing I really had left to learn about writing. I was so surprised to receive a 70% on my first assignment, and I immediately met with my Professor, James Fitzgerald, to get his direct feedback. Over the course of the class, I grew as a writer more than I had over the last 12 years of my academic career. It was so rewarding to work towards something I enjoyed and seeing myself improve over time.
Since elementary school, history has been my least favorite subject. I’m not someone who likes to just memorize facts, and I am just not particularly interested in historical events in general. Last fall, I took History of Modern U.S. Foreign Policy, 1945- Present and it was one of the most fun classes I have taken so far. The Professor, Cyrus Veeser, conducted the class in such a way that the content was easily digestible and the deliverables were painless. We had weekly readings for which we had to answer questions on a discussion board, then in class we would go over the readings and expand upon them. There were weekly quizzes based on the readings and class materials and they were short and easy if you paid attention. Then, we had a couple of writing assignments in which we were asked to write from a stakeholders perspective about a certain event. They were short writing assignments that were very easy to complete, and then we had a class debate as these stakeholders. The course as a whole was just very well planned and it made it very easy to learn and enjoy it!
Last on my list, but potentially my number one favorite class I have taken, is Women and Film with Maik Stanitzke. This was my first and only film class and I absolutely loved it. I learned to think about things that I still contemplate to this day. Most of the homework was watching different movies and writing a journal about them. I watched some of my now-favorite movies as a result of this class. I was taught to take a critical look at what I was watching and discuss my thoughts with classmates. I talk about this class all the time, more so when I was taking it, and I recommend it every chance I get.