classes this quarter...

so i promised this a long time ago, but i didn't ever get around to it, sorry.
i'm not very motivated this quarter. i think i wore myself out last quarter, and now i'm doing it again! none of my classes is spectacular, but none is terrible, either, which is good! so here's the run down...


development tools and practices
actually, this class is over now! it was a 2-week intensive that ended last friday. it was a class about, well, tools and practices that we can use when doing development. we had several guest lectures, including Ravi Jayakaran, the developer of the 10-Seeds Technique. 10-Seeds is a participatory poverty alleviation and development tool to gain information about a community and help the community see their needs and assets in new ways. we also talked about property rights, appreciative inquiry, micro-enterprise development, and sustainable agriculture. all in all, it was a good class. honestly, i'm a little ashamed at how little i learned the second week. i'm not sure i really could have done any better, my brain was full and i didn't get a chance to process much. i have a few papers to write as assignments for that class, and i'll see how i feel after writing the first 2 papers this afternoon. in general, i feel this class would have been more beneficial if i had already been in situations where these tools would have been helpful. as it is, i can just add it to my tool belt and hope for the best in the future. btw, the class was "taught"/organized by my favorite teacher, bryant myers. go bryant! and yes, he was in the back of the class on facebook one day. i love this guy!

community organizing
technically, i'm auditing this class, but it's a really involved audit. and i'm excited because i get to try out some of the things i learned in development tools and practices. we're working in a community in LA, the MacArthur Park/Westlake area, just west of downtown. this is a largely central american community, but there are plenty of others around. it used to be a mecca for drugs and violence, but now it's a mecca for fake IDs. mama's hot tamales has been instrumental in this change. tonight there's an event we're going to called "Tamales de la Paz", so i'm pretty excited about it!

this class has been interesting thus far... the point is basically to do research in the community and present our findings to the pastor of a church in the community, assessing its assets, needs, and opportunities for further development - spiritually, physically, economically. i'm a little overwhelmed, but i'm excited. this class is taught by michael mata, in conjunction with world vision.

culture and transformation
this class is taught by sherwood lingenfelter, who is also the provost here at fuller. he's an interesting man, and this class, in a way, is a review of how important culture is. so far, i haven't learned much new material, but i am putting it together in new ways and reviewing material and refreshing it in conjunction with my new experiences. i'm not very excited about my group project for this class, which is the assignment i'm presently putting off by writing this post. the class reading is good, though, and it gives me new frameworks and ways to describe things, which makes my organizational self happy.

teamwork and leadership
this class is co-taught by the SIS dean, Doug McConnell, and Shelley Trebesch. the first class was a little painful (boring lecture, unclear assignments), but it's gotten better. Doug is a great lecturer: engaging, realistic, and personable. i love him. the group project for this one is more to my liking. my team is GREAT, and we've decided to create a framework for a church to engage a local international community by creating an ESL Cafe. right up my alley, maybe i'll even try to implement it at my church!

so that's my quarter in a nutshell. some good stuff, some hard stuff, and some stuff i'm just not motivated for (so what's new?).

time to get to work!!!