GIST Course

Hi everyone. My name is Emma Thorp and I’m a freshman from Arlington, Virginia, right outside D.C. I’ll probably be an English major, which both excites and terrifies me. While there has obviously been a lot of technology that has influenced my life in significant ways, but my iPod is definitely my favorite one. I love it. It’s been so many places with me, from runs around my neighborhood to cross-country plane rides. Music is very important to me, and the ability to carry all of my music with me, wherever I go, whenever I want, is nothing short of miraculous. It goes everywhere with me.

Hi!  My name is Michael Franklin (but I go by “MJ”) and I am a junior English major at Haverford.  I am especially interested in this class because throughout my studies here in the Bi-Co, I find myself gravitating towards issues of gender and sexuality, discussing these issues in numerous English classes, an education class, and an Anthropology of Gender class.  That said, I am very interested in exploring the interaction between gender and science/ technology.

 Hi GIST, my name is Isabel and I'm a junior English major with a concentration in creative writing.

I suppose I will have to go with the rather overly-obvious answer and claim "The Internet" as my most formative technology (though it's tempting to claim the microwave oven and laud the joys of popcorn). More specifically, the parts of the internet used to communicate. The earliest memories of the internet that I am able to dredge up are of ICQ, a chatting program that I recall as being popular with my peers as a preteen. I also joined various forums as I grew up--I discovered that I could communicate with a whole lot of people, many of them very far away, and many of them way more interesting than my fellow preteens.

Growing up, I was always a performer. Throughout elementary school, I acted in plays and danced ballet. My career aspirations at this point were limited to anything that allowed me to be on stage, spotlight trained on me as I shared my talent with an audience. You might say that in my younger years, I was somewhat of an exhibitionist - I gained personal gratification from being watched. In fact, the larger the audience, the better. Many performances were documented on cameras and were both still and moving images. They're still at home, gathering dust. As I grew older though, this love for performance started to fade. Maybe it was because I was tired of it or maybe it was because I had reached adolescence and had turned into the angsty teenager that refused to listen to my superiors.

Hello, my name is Cara Takemoto. I'm a junior and a Computer Science major, Japanese minor from Wilmington, Delaware. I have tried and failed at both knitting and crocheting, however this winter break I tried my hand at sewing to find that I really enjoy it. I also like to read and write though I haven't had much time to do either for fun in awhile. Now, for the most part, I buy way too many books that look interesting and make it part way through all of them.

I would say the computer, and the internet in particular, have become a very integral part of my life. I don't remember how old I was when I first started using the computer, but I remember getting my first email address. I didn't really use it too much at first, and I remember wanting to use the internet but not really having any idea of what to do. Now, I use it for so many things, researching, socializing, procrastinating, studying, reading the news, shopping, playing games, it's harder to think of sections of my life that aren't at least somewhat 'wired'.

I think the internet has really allowed me a much greater access to information and different view points and opinions that I might not have otherwise encountered, which I think is indispensable. However, one drawback of my interactions with the internet would probably be that I think it has definitely contributed to the decline in the amount of books I read, and the number of distractions it provides. It's interesting how when I go off the grid and take the time to focus on something else for awhile how much I don't miss it.