Student Blogs

 Hello! 

My name is Aquila. I'm a first year student here at UBC student and I'm hoping to double major in Political Science and FNIS. I decided to take this course orignally as I was looking for classes that would fufill my literature requirement, and this course stood out to me. I think the course structure is very interesting in terms of grading but also as it gives us as students a lot of freedom in our learning while also giving us the chance to interact and share with others our thoughts on the literature. Growing up I was always surrounded by books and literature of all kinds, so I'm very excited about this class. I think it a good way to get out of my comfort zone and challenge myself with new texts. Many of the texts are unlike those I have read before and I'm hoping they allow me to expand my views and the variety of what I read.

The fact that all of these texts are translated adds an interesting layer to this course. I have learnt Spanish for the past six or so years, and so I have an understanding of some romance languages at a very basic level. Along with this I can appreciate the complexities that come with translating a text, and reading a text that is not in its original language. I think this will be an interesting thing to keep in mind during the course. I hope to learn more about the connections between Romance languages and cultures; to explore why Romance languages and culture are connected outside of their shared heritage. In its own way, I think this can help us to understand why other groups/languages throughout the world have been condensed into a single category such as, "Romance/Romantic". 

Building off of this, I thought about the question: how can Romance Studies help us to explore and understand intercultural and intracultural relationships? As I understand, while similar, Romance cultures are still unique from each other. Their similarities are what cause them to be grouped together but they still all have their own seperate identities. They are not the only culture/language for which this has happened, so I wonder if exploring Romance Studies allow us to, in turn, understand other cultures/languages that are categorised similarly.

I look forward to being in this class with everyone!

Aquila

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Hello everyone! My name is Daelyn Wagner and I am a first year arts student here at UBC. As of right now I am not sure what I will major in however I am leaning towards majoring in Economics. I enjoy learning about the way that our economy runs and survives and I think that […] read full post >>

Hi! Despite us being online, I hope everyone is having a great start to the New Year. 2022 Woop Woop! My name is Marie, and I am a 4th-year international student pursuing a degree in Sociology. Born in Khartoum, Sudan raised in Geneva, Switzerland, I hope to use my knowledge and upbringing in creating empathetic […] read full post >>

Hi my name is Daniel Pliego and I am a first year student. I was born and raised in the north of Mexico City, where I lived my whole life before moving to Canada. I am planning to major in Mathematics and probably do a minor in commerce but I am in bachelor of arts […] read full post >>

To begin reading Marcel Proust’s “Combray,” I am experiencing feelings of anxiety that I will not make it through. The opening paragraph of part 1 speaks of going to bed, with a candle, and a nice book. I would be doing that now if I could find myself a hard copy of this novel. I […] read full post >>

 Hi everyone!! My name is Taia and i am a first year student here at UBC in the faculty of arts. I am from Vancouver, British Columbia and have lived here my whole life. I enjoy going to the gym and listening to music in my free time. My greatest passion is competitive cheerleading which I have done for over six years now. I have been lucky enough to get the opportunity to represent Team Canada through competitive cheerleading, so when I am not studying, I am at practice. Although I was born and raised in Canada, I come from several different cultures and ethnicities, which I take pride in learning about. I am excited to learn about the literature that was written originally in different languages, throughout this course. It was interesting to learn that most of the literary texts or novels that we will be studying and reading in this course are originally written in different languages. I think it is really cool to see how the texts are when translated into English from their original languages and how it may differ from texts written originally in English. Literature is something that really interests me as well as reading so I am very excited for this course. I am excited to learn how to properly read texts well and really absorb the impact and understanding of these specific texts. I think this will help me in the future and give me a better understanding of literature as a whole. Something that I found interesting in this week's lecture is that the "Romance World" is not a specific place, country, or area, but it is something that is imagined or created. It is interesting that it is something based on people and cultures versus specific places. I am looking forward to learning more about romance studies and literature in general. I am also looking forward to the assessment method of this course and I am excited to see how it turns out. I have not experienced a grading method like it before, but I think it is really great that there is so much certainty with the grade that you are given and that the assessment method is very self reliant, unique when compared to other courses. I think this will be a great experience to apply myself more and dedicate that work that goes in to getting the specific grade that I want.

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 Hi everyone!! My name is Taia and i am a first year student here at UBC in the faculty of arts. I am from Vancouver, British Columbia and have lived here my whole life. I enjoy going to the gym and listening to music in my free time. My greatest passion is competitive cheerleading which I have done for over six years now. I have been lucky enough to get the opportunity to represent Team Canada through competitive cheerleading, so when I am not studying, I am at practice. Although I was born and raised in Canada, I come from several different cultures and ethnicities, which I take pride in learning about. I am excited to learn about the literature that was written originally in different languages, throughout this course. It was interesting to learn that most of the literary texts or novels that we will be studying and reading in this course are originally written in different languages. I think it is really cool to see how the texts are when translated into English from their original languages and how it may differ from texts written originally in English. Literature is something that really interests me as well as reading so I am very excited for this course. I am excited to learn how to properly read texts well and really absorb the impact and understanding of these specific texts. I think this will help me in the future and give me a better understanding of literature as a whole. Something that I found interesting in this week's lecture is that the "Romance World" is not a specific place, country, or area, but it is something that is imagined or created. It is interesting that it is something based on people and cultures versus specific places. I am looking forward to learning more about romance studies and literature in general. I am also looking forward to the assessment method of this course and I am excited to see how it turns out. I have not experienced a grading method like it before, but I think it is really great that there is so much certainty with the grade that you are given and that the assessment method is very self reliant, unique when compared to other courses. I think this will be a great experience to apply myself more and dedicate that work that goes in to getting the specific grade that I want.

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 Hello everyone! My name is Breanne and I am a third year student majoring in fine arts. I'm from/ living in Surrey, which is a city roughly 30 minutes from UBC. I have always really enjoyed drawing and painting but in my last year of high school i decided to take it a bit more seriously, which is why I have decided to pursue art as my degree! My goal is to one day teach art in high school and even university if I decide to pursue a masters. In the winter, I spend most of time snowboarding with my friends as this has become my absolute favourite thing to do over the past few years. Aside from snowboarding, I also play ultimate frisbee! I have been playing since grade 9 and it has definitely been one of the funnest and most competitive sports i have ever played! I also love going on hikes and exploring the outdoors 🙂

Unfortunately there's no particular reason as to why i chose to take this class aside from the need to fill my literature requirement. I guess you could say I chose it because "Romance Studies" sounded like one of the more interesting options! Before our first zoom meeting, I honestly had no idea what the course structure or content would be like. After hearing about how the course is structured/ how we are graded, I am very excited to read and expand my knowledge on the various topics. I am very interest in history, as well as art history so I feel as though I will truly enjoy this class. 

The first lecture provided some food for thought regarding what most people know as the "romance languages". I also find it very interesting that the goal of this course is to study literature from other languages, yet we will be reading everything in english! Nonetheless I am looking forward to taking this course. 

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 Hello everyone! My name is Breanne and I am a third year student majoring in fine arts. I'm from/ living in Surrey, which is a city roughly 30 minutes from UBC. I have always really enjoyed drawing and painting but in my last year of high school i decided to take it a bit more seriously, which is why I have decided to pursue art as my degree! My goal is to one day teach art in high school and even university if I decide to pursue a masters. In the winter, I spend most of time snowboarding with my friends as this has become my absolute favourite thing to do over the past few years. Aside from snowboarding, I also play ultimate frisbee! I have been playing since grade 9 and it has definitely been one of the funnest and most competitive sports i have ever played! I also love going on hikes and exploring the outdoors 🙂

Unfortunately there's no particular reason as to why i chose to take this class aside from the need to fill my literature requirement. I guess you could say I chose it because "Romance Studies" sounded like one of the more interesting options! Before our first zoom meeting, I honestly had no idea what the course structure or content would be like. After hearing about how the course is structured/ how we are graded, I am very excited to read and expand my knowledge on the various topics. I am very interest in history, as well as art history so I feel as though I will truly enjoy this class. 

The first lecture provided some food for thought regarding what most people know as the "romance languages". I also find it very interesting that the goal of this course is to study literature from other languages, yet we will be reading everything in english! Nonetheless I am looking forward to taking this course. 

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Hello everyone! My name is Lynette and I’m in my third year at UBC, majoring in Media Studies. I’m from Vancouver and I’m interested in art and photography. I have a great passion for European literature and have read a lot throughout my childhood, and by taking this course I’m hoping to read more and […] read full post >>

Hello, friends! My name is Neko Smart and I am a second year Arts student. I grew up in Victoria, B.C., and am now residing in Vancouver with my cat, Gremlin, an adorable yet thoroughly messy roommate. I am an avid reader and writer; in high school, I started a slam poetry team on a […] read full post >>

My name is Muskan Shukla (she/her), and I am a second-year student planning to do a major in English and a minor in History. I am from India, but I have lived in Latin America for 13 years of my life, in which I spent my last two years of schooling in India. I have […] read full post >>

Hello, It is I a 4th-year student that’s majoring in Philosophy and minoring in Creative Writing. Still have no idea what to do just yet but am very excited about where life takes me. Maybe something to do with sports, or maybe in movies, or maybe with the wild animals. The possibilities are endless. Although […] read full post >>

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 Hi! 

My name is Sidney Grigg. I'm currently in my second year and still have not figured out what I would like to major in. I'm leaning towards Psychology or Sociology but definitely still need some time to decide. I have lived in Vancouver my whole life and do not plan on leaving. Although I live Downtown and not on campus, I'm super lucky to live in a city like this where everything is so easily accessible. I love living downtown and definitely plan to stay here forever. Besides my studies at UBC, my dream career path is to become an actress. I've been acting since I was about 12 years old and hope to continue to pursue this dream of mine while still studying at UBC (just incase that doesn't work out haha!) This passion of mine really came out of nowhere, but I'm so glad I decided to take on the opportunity of getting an agent and started auditioning. As much as an amazing career path it would be, it also has become a hobby of mine. Other hobbies of mine include travelling, trying new restaurants/foods, and honestly just relaxing watching movies or TV shows. 

As I've read in many other blog posts, I did decide to take this course to fulfill my literature requirement. I was a little hesitant going into the first lecture yesterday because I had no idea what to expect. I'm so glad I'm not alone when saying I am super excited for this course based on yesterdays lecture. It was so different than what I was expecting, in the best way possible. I was also worried about the structure as I've never seen a course done like this, but I'm looking forward to trying something new. I believe this structure will help me hold myself accountable and also push myself to do more than the bare minimum which unfortunately I don't always do! I was never big on reading, but through the pandemic I've read a few books and enjoyed them a lot. None of the books listed for this course is anything like what I've been reading so I'm excited to broaden my type of literature. I did french immersion from kindergarten through grade 12 of Highschool so I would say I'm familiar with some aspects of romance languages, but definitely have tons of room to learn more about this topic! 

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