The last three semesters of Earth, Life, and Time have offered me the opportunity to examine numerous scientific topics in relation to the progression of time, and much of the coursework encouraged me to continue to think logically and critically as opposed to merely accepting everything I am told as fact. When examining the earth and its components, I learned that aspects of the world are much better understood when time is taken into account. ELT also examined the nature of science in order to understand what constitutes science and what does not. Not only did the program allow me to learn in the classroom, but it also offered opportunities to learn beyond the classroom through field trips which gave me the opportunity to see the scientific principles I had been learning actually in practice. Each semester of the program has had a different focus, but the themes of critical thought and scientific examination have been prevalent throughout the entire course.

The most integral aspect of the program is likely the weekly colloquium. It has been such an important aspect of my scholars experience because it has met regularly under the direction of Dr. Merck and Dr. Holtz. Throughout the past three semesters I have spent in the ELT program, we have examined a wide range of topics in colloquium. In semester I of the program, the colloquium seemed focus on the nature of science and geology; semester II emphasized topics relevant to evolution and .humanities; and semester III examined events in earth’s history and the impact of humans on the earth’s events throughout time. I really felt like the third semester of scholars helped me to look at the past material we had covered in a comprehensive manner by looking at the impacts of many of the things we learned in our first two semesters.

The in depth examination of the nature of science and logical fallacy throughout the first semester was something I really enjoyed because it is something that is very important to thinking individuals. Too many people accept ideas simply because they seem to be “scientific” without examining what science is and what it can or cannot do. While reading Carl Sagan, we explored in colloquium what it means for science to be pseudo, pathological, or junk. These are deviations from true science which discerning individuals should constantly be aware of in order to determine which principles or ideas are worth accepting. Though I am quite skeptical of skepticism, this discussion explored through lectures and the Sagan readings was beneficial to developing critical thought.

Throughout the second semester, I found it to be very valuable to investigate the history of life through exploring the theory of evolution by natural selection from species diversity to the evolution of human languages. The topics of this particular semester caused me to think the most about my beliefs and conclusions I had previously reached. While my views did not change simply due to this challenge, I was encouraged to carefully re-examine the logic behind why I accepted certain ideas and why I did not accept others. Though my views did not change, I know that I now have a better developed idea of the positions I do not accept, and I am more widely read on these subjects than I was before the second semester of colloquium. Apart from having my views challenged, this semester also offered me the ability to examine different aspects of the world’s diversity through the dispersal of people groups and the evolution of languages. I really enjoyed the family history project, and it was very beneficial to my developing a deeper understanding of my family history and, in a larger sense, to comprehend the mixed nature of all regions. This semester illustrated that many ethnicities have mixed throughout human history, so a “pure race” is quite impossible to encounter. I found that intriguing because I have never felt like I was a part of any particular country or had native traditions (apart from Appalachian!) since there are so many nationalities present in my family history.

The colloquium from the third semester applied a lot of what was learned from the first two semesters to the earth and its future. I found it interesting that, in semester one, we examined geology and the earth itself, and, in semester two, we explored the origins of life, particularly human life and its radiation across the earth. Semester three seemed to link the semesters together by taking what we knew about earth and humanity and examining the impacts of humans on the earth. We did this through group projects and in colloquium lectures to examine direct effects of humans on climate, natural resources, and biodiversity in the various places they settled. Group projects made the impact of humans on their surroundings very apparent and real, given historical geological data. Most of the time, college students do not really stop and ponder what is happening to the environment, so these exercises and discussions made the impact of humans very apparent and were very beneficial to understanding natural patterns and how we affect them. It was also good to allow students to ponder what can be done about current resource consumption and carbon emissions, which affect global temperature, so students may begin to develop ideas about how to deal with the current issues which we are faced with in our present world.

In addition to offering a regularly meeting colloquium, the requirements of Earth, Life, and Time also include supporting courses which supplement the material we learned in scholars. History 110, one of my supporting courses, was concurrent with some aspects of the beginning first semester of colloquium, which dealt with logical fallacies and encouraged students to examine ideas instead of simply believing what they are told. The major theme of this course was memory management, which studied the way that historians record facts. Like scholars, this history course encouraged students to examine history from a comprehensive perspective by incorporating data into research, as opposed to forming a conclusion based simply upon what is taught. Another supporting course, BSCI 106, was concurrent with the second semester of the colloquium, as it delves into topics of evolution and natural selection. This course emphasized evolution as a fact and detailed how evolution works in populations to select ideal genes. It was exceedingly interesting to participate in this course as it detailed a history of life which ranged from plants to animals and people. Like the third semester of colloquium, this course also showed some of the impacts of humans through time and encouraged students to consider what should be done about the negative aspects of these impacts.

Outside of classroom settings, Earth, Life and Time has offered many opportunities to learn on the field through field trips to various locations. I felt that I participated the most when I was on field trips examining the things Dr. Merck and Dr. Holtz showed us. In my first freshman semester, I ventured to Sideling Hill in Western Maryland to view the interesting geology of the hill and to examine different specimens of sediment. Before actually examining Sideling Hill, the group explored a nearby geological deposit. There, I found a fossil impressed by a brachiopod which is a lovely paperweight which I currently have proudly displayed at my home. We also looked at rocks which had been formed in the presence of quickly moving water, and the interesting thing about this rock was that it could be broken with bare hands. That’s right, I broke a rock with my bare hands on an ELT field trip. I thought that would be the only cool place I would get to venture with scholars, but I also ended up participating in a field trip to New York, and, recently, field trip to the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian Aerospace Museum. Each of these field trips has been a very different experience, but I know I learned quite a bit from each one and will certainly miss spending my weekends on field trips when I am out of scholars.

In addition to ELT teaching me much and providing me with stuff to do on weekends, it has also allowed me to learn with people I most likely would not have encountered had I not been in the scholars program. It determined where I would live my freshman year, so I began the year with something in common with most of the people on my floor. That was beneficial to learning different concepts explored in ELT since we were in such close proximity. I read with a few people, especially when I lived with them freshman year, so it offered good accountability for me to get my readings done on time. It was also really good to actually live the people I went to class with because we, on occasion, talked about some of the things we did in scholars. I thought that was great because it allowed us to logically discuss different positions on some of the ideas offered in ELT. When people disagree, each person develops a stronger basis for why they endorse their position. This was beneficial to learning how to think because, sometimes, careful thought about a subject reveals that the evidence supports the other position. This allowed each of us to carefully think about our views, see things from other perspectives, and, occasionally, change our minds.

After learning in so many different ways throughout the past three semesters of ELT, I expect my experience will shape my future. I will continue to critically examine ideas and information in order to discern what is worth believing. I am not really sure how it will impact my postgraduate and professional work, but I can speculate that, as a genetics and history major, I will incorporate the information I have learned in ELT. I will continue to pursue scientific subjects in relation to time, as I have in ELT, and will continue to think logically and avoid accepting fallacious ideas.

Last modified: 08 December 2008