Welcome to PCJ!
This time of year has been, to say the least, hectic. Coming home from a summer full of work and travel, I had had a little over a week to get over my jet lag and brace myself for the coming 8 months. This was the same position I’d found myself in last year, but this time it felt different. I made it through that “scary” first year unscathed, and was entering the new year with a solid group of friends, several clubs and organizations I was involved in, and enough experience to know how to handle the stress. There was however, to quote Donald Rumsfeld, one “known unknown:” my new program.
After much deliberation and a lot of (read: overwhelming) research into various programs, I decided to declare my subject POSts: a double major in English and Peace, Conflict and Justice (PCJ), as well as a minor in Art History. English and Art History were no-brainers: throughout High School, I had intended to study English, and Art History was my “indulgent” program to satisfy a need for creativity. In the previous year, I had taken courses in both, so I knew, more or less, what I was getting myself into, as well as the types of people I’d find there.
As for PCJ, that was a whole other story. I found out about the program early last year and decided to take the necessary courses just in case I decided that International Relations wasn’t for me. While the promises of a tiny program, diverse student body, interdisplinary approach and focus on conflict resolution appealed to me, I still didn’t know what to expect. Upper years I know in the program tried to explain what the experience was like to me, but the answer I got most often was “you have to see for yourself.”
So I did.
I’m just over a month into the program, and I have to agree that the program is best understood when it is experienced first hand. That being said, I hope this blog can still serve as a window into my experience here, and shed some light on what, so far, is proving to be an awesome major.
As for the course content, I’ve been really happy with PCJ260. This is the only course I’m currently taking where the professor not only values student input, but makes it an integral part of every lesson. In just over a month, we’ve covered the breakup of the former Yugoslavia, human nature, aggression, and Beethoven’s 5th symphony. We’ve looked at philosophy, sociobiology, anthropology, psychology and graphic novels. Strangely, it all makes sense. How, you ask? You’ll have to see for yourself.
The biggest highlight by far has been the social atmosphere of the program. Even though the program is very small and all the students will probably get to meet each other at some point, I still appreciated the attempts made by the PCJ society, as well as the other students, to make the 260s (this is our name now, the term “froshie” is apparently no longer in vogue among future world leaders) feel welcome. Although I missed most of the first event where everyone introduced themselves, I really liked the movie night the PCJ Society hosted. As an avid fan of movies, popcorn, pizza and (now) PCJ, I had such a good time getting to get to know my peers more; at least enough to share a couch with them and listen to Colin Firth try to say “people” as “a-people.”
There was also a welcome back party at the Munk School that was welcomed back the entire program, not just the incoming students. This somewhat more serious event was a nice contrast to the more casual events preceding it, but I did get to meet faculty and Munk School personnel that I had previously only met through e-mail, Skype, or word of mouth. Putting the two events together, I think it gave me a good feel for both the social and the academic aspects of the program, which seem to be balanced out pretty well right now. The PCJ Society will also be hosting a trip to Hart House Farms in November, so I look forward to seeing how that goes and recapping the highlights here in this blog! Between the orientation events and the near-immediate slue of opportunities to get involved (Work-study! Class rep elections! The PCJ Conference!), it was easy to buy into the program and its culture fairly quickly, and it’s one of the main reasons I’m as happy as I am with my choice.
One final thing to comment on: the PCJ lounge. I absolutely love it. Not only do I feel very cool punching in the passcode to get inside, it has a caffeinating station, free printing*, study space, a computer, and what might be the coziest couches on campus. Nestled in the basement of Munk, it’s reminiscent of a womb. And in a place like UofT, comforting spots that can be both a study and social space are hard to come by.
That’s all for now, folks. Stay tuned to find out how our trip to Hart House Farms went, and what my experience here in PCJ continues to look like.
*The printer is currently out of toner. Stand by for more information on this matter.