Reunion with June, and her Asian American Psychology class!
After lunch and the tour, I went to the Pan-Asian American Community House to find June Chu. It was great to see June! I missed her a lot and I liked visiting PAACH again. It had a lot more people there than the summer, but according to June, I just missed an even larger crowd. June and I then walked together to class. On our way we passed a compass on Locust Walk, and I learned it was unlucky to walk through the center-- it will make you will fail!
June's started off her lesson with an interactive activity, in which she randomly put a label on every student's back. These labels were descriptive adjectives, such as "wealthy," "unstable," "intelligent," and "adventurous." Mine was "loyal." We were not allowed to see which label we had, but could see the ones on other people's backs. These adjectives were stereotypes we were supposed to regard our partner with. We were asked to discuss future professions with our partners, and during conversation, we would hint at what the other's stereotype was without actually revealing it.
EX.
A's stereotype is "humble."
A: When I grow up, I'd like to be an advertiser.
In this case, B would say something like,
B: Oh, I don't think that's a good career option for you, you might not be able to sell off your products.
After this exercise, the entire class commented on what they observed and learned. This led into a discussion of stereotypes, and June proceeded into a lecture on the subject.
I found June's class extremely enjoyable, and I learned quite a bit about the topic presented. It was definitely a fascinating class, and all of the students were very active and involved. My favorite part was how her class was so interactive, and facilitated student participation and contribution. It was a class I would love to be in if I were a student at Penn!
After her class (4:30-6pm), June took my mom and I to downtown Chinatown for dinner. The restaurant was superb, and we all had a wonderful time!
I think that's it for yesterday's update.
Susan
1 comment:
Susan,
As I might have expected, sooner or later the posting got around to food. At least you didn't write about doing your laundry this trip.
It's great to read about your reunion with June Chu. Isn't it amazing what kind of ties we can forge in such a brief encounter?
The class she had you sit in on sounded like not only an interesting class but a fun class. I really don't recall any of my old classes that fell into either category. Of course, none of my old classes were ever small enough to allow such personal interactions either with fellow students and certainly not with an instructor.
Sounds like another example of a wise decision to send our partners back east.
Don
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