Week 2 Blog

Initially I was quite hesitant to begin the Foundations in International Studies course. I had heard from friends who had done the course the previous year that the subject was very in-depth and required students to complete many assessment tasks. The debates and essays were a particularly daunting task for me, as I come from a faculty which does not require you to write many essays or participate in any debates.

My pre-conceptions were, however, significantly altered after the first class debate. People were given the opportunity to share their views and opinions in a non confronting way and challenge others to broaden their own personal perspectives.I

n particular I the topic “We lose something valuable when a language dies” very interesting and thought provoking. Both sides of the debate came up with new and interesting ideas, several of which had not occurred to me. An example of this is the idea that when a language is forced upon an individual or community the person/s affected may no longer fit into their own society nor the new society forced upon them.

I now find the debates an interesting and informative aspect of each tutorial.