Introducing Erin

 My name is Erin Washburn (obviously). I'm a sophomore English major at Bryn Mawr College, working on declaring a theater and classics double-minor. Classes that I've taken and enjoyed during my time in the Tri-Co include Culture and Crisis in the Golden Age of Athens (at Haverford); Tolkein, Pullman and their Literary Roots (at Swarthmore); and Women Poets: Giving Eurydice a Voice (at Bryn Mawr). Though these course listings may seem like I've used my college experience to reject all science-y things, I've always had an interest in biological evolution, and have been interested in taking this class since I was a senior in high school. With regards to what questions I bring to this class, I am most interested in the interplay between evolutionary imperatives and our personalities. I was intrigued by the David Brooks quote that Professor Grobstein showed to us in class. To what extent, really, does the "information that comes from deep in the evolutionary past [which] we call genetics" affect our current state of being, as opposed to the other flows of information from culture, family, education? For that matter, to what extent does genetics affect those other forms of information? And, keeping in mind the impact that genetics has on our selves, how much does our evolutionary past eventually affect and mirror the creation and evolution of literature? I look forward to exploring these questions and to discovering even more questions over the course (no pun intended) of our discussions this semester.