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This class is truly unique- from its online component to its tag team teaching to its multidisciplinary approach, I'm not sure what I was expecting in January when this class started. I now see how Darwin and evolution have become to mean very different things to me, and how my breadth of knowledge on Darwin's evolution is able to connect to so many different facets of my studies and my everyday life. We ask very very big questions- so big that I often leave class not quite sure of what just happened, but I think that during the remainder of the week the questions marinate a bit, just in time for me to have a slightly better idea of what happened to post online. 

I really like how we have one full class lecture and one smaller discussion- without the discussion I think that a lot of the big questions would really seem to impossible to grapple with. The concept of a webpaper is completely new to me, but it pushes me to think beyond a perfectly formatted, stale essay with a beginning, a middle, and an end. 

As far as the reading goes, I think that I have learned to truly question what certain authors are claiming, whether it is coming from Darwin or Dennett. I think that I often get into the rhythm or the assumption that the books on a syllabus are assigned with the belief that what the author is saying is "right" where I really should be questioning their viewpoints and their arguments much more. Reading and discussing Dennett especially showed me that you can get a lot from a book or from an author without accepting every claim. 

On the personal front, I feel that I can improve by speaking up in class and reading the postings here on Serendip more closely. Now that I have a better feel for the class and all of its complexities I know more what to expect and what is expected of me. 

I'm looking forward to seeing how the more literature-centric classes connect to what we have already learned, and to discussing fiction in a similar way that we discussed nonfiction.