HAMPSHIRE COLLEGE STUDENT SELF EVALUATION

Student Name    Katherine Watier                                Term      Fall 1997

School/Course#  CCS                Title     Contemporary Issues of Epistemology

 Instructor    Jo Cruz

I originally took the class in order to supplement my Div. II focus of how people's attitudes are formed and manipulated. A class that focused on how we come to know what we know and how we develop our belief system seemed ideal. When I discovered that Jo's class was an intensive philosophy seminar, I was pleasantly surprised and instantly became intellectually intrigued. This class quickly became the most difficult (and my favorite) class of my Hampshire career. I not only waited in anticipation for class each week, but also enjoyed an intellectual high for hours after the class ended. This class is by far the most difficult one I have taken so far and I spent many a night struggling to understand the philosophical lingo in order to respond to something for our weekly paper. I feel as though not only did I gain a great understanding of how to comprehend and process philosophical theories, but I am impressed by the effort and progress I have shown in my final papers. I love the fact that I have acquired a new way of thinking and critically looking at the world- a tool I'm sure I'll use throughout my life. Critical thinking on an abstract level is one of my passions and the fact I was able to revel in that way of thinking was the high point of my week.

My one regret is that I was not able to spend as much time as I would of liked working on my weekly papers. I feel as though the arguments in some to them were not as strong as I would of liked. All in all, however, I feel as though this was the class I gave 100% of my intellectual effort toward, and if Jo ever offered an Epistemology 11, I would be first in line to register.