End of the week, beginning of the end

This would be the one time in the semester where we all bunker down, stop having fun, and start living in . .. the real world. haha, just kidding.

Honestly, it's the approach of our last weeks in the semester when all of our reading material and course work is supposed to help enlighten a path for our final projects. I only know of one thing I'm interested in writing on this semester, and perhaps two larger/general ideas, yet the way I've formulated my ideas for the past 9 weeks is coming from an approach that isn't really literature oriented. Perhaps, am I returning to my roots of philosophy and film? Hmm. . . interesting.

We also had an interesting discussion on Interdisciplinarity Today. To a certain extent, there is now a return to the "Renaissance Man" -- generally, a person who is well-versed in many areas and an expert in many things. However, there is this danger (could it be an exciting danger??) to experiment with issues, genres, media, and concepts that you are not an expert in (and will probably never become an expert in). . . Although this experimentation could open many possibilities, there is the risk of being mediocre and uninformed in a scattershot manner rather than an expert in more things that one. This presents interdisciplinarity in a more intellectually elitist light, and I'm not sure that's the kind of "bad" elitism that people fear and disdain. Instead, I would like to think that this kind of elitism is one in which we push ourselves to learn more and become so much more adept. Interdisciplinarity is one of those things that if you are good at, you are really good; however, on the flip side, if you are bad, well... you get the idea.

I'm feeling so pensive right now. It could be the after-effects of reading good ol' Wittgenstein, or it could be my desire to (my lack of) sleep and regain the things I have already lost.

Which reminds me. . . I'm really enjoying the theoretical work in the pastoral genre (particularly space). Why do I keep returning to these genres that reflect a sense of loss or nostalgia? What is it that drives me to seek these things out? What we produce is a reflection of the issues and concerns we've been struggling to answer throughout our lives.

Okay. . . that was quite Emo of me. Back to work. . .