Favorite Class: CCST 100

Looking back at the past seven terms I’ve been at Carleton, I have to say that the class I had the most personal and academic growth in was my freshman seminar I took my very first term at Carleton with Stacy Beckwith (NOTE: we call all our profs by their first names and I’ll adopt this convention going forward – with a few exceptions, most profs are okay with this, but ask first to be safe). I had the chance to meet up with her recently and ask her about the course.

In CCST 100, we discussed Israel and Palestine, the religio-historical complexities that led to the conflict, and how this intersects with national and ethnic identity as manifested in film and literature. Stacy started leading the seminar in Fall 1999 and the course has been offered nearly every year since then. She told me that the course developed out of Fulbright-supported graduate research in which she interviewed a number of authors, but she has since updated the course as the region and conflict’s relevance is particularly significant now. Given the subject matter, the class was challenging, but the diversity of perspectives that each student brought was enlightening to me.

One thing I found extremely helpful was Stacy’s detailed feedback for assignments and essays. For even a one- or two-page essay, I received 15 minutes of audio feedback walking through what went well (and what didn’t go as well) in my work. Overall, my writing and discussion skills definitely improved in this class and I felt more prepared for future classes given that many of these skills are assumed.

I’m super thankful I was placed in this seminar (this is likely the only class at Carleton in which you rank your top choices for seminars and then the registrar places you in one) and for being able to work with Stacy, and she definitely set a high standard for profs at this school.

Chase is a junior linguistics major and is more than glad to exchange the year-round California heat for some Minnesota seasonality. In his free time, he enjoys directing K-pop dances for Karl-Pop, playing guzheng, and cycling around Northfield. When Chase doesn’t have free time, which is often, he’ll be in the libe or Sayles with a cup (or cups) of chai tea in hand.