Snowy First Week of Classes

Posted February 10, 2021 by Isabelle Raposo

I kicked off my final semester at Simmons by joining a doctoral-level course, Conducting Research (LIS 621), a few days before classes started. I became interested in biomedical research data management and medical librarianship this fall, and my research project for this course will allow me to explore that area of the library field. I’ll also learn the foundations of how to conduct social science studies!

The first meeting of LIS 621 on Tuesday was really exciting, especially after six weeks without classes. As always, it was fascinating to hear about everyone’s background and reason for taking the course. After some in-depth introductions, including sharing our research interests, we talked about the logistics of the course and then broke into small groups. In the Zoom breakout rooms, we developed definitions of the word “research” that would be helpful in the context of this course. 

On Wednesday, as soon as I had syllabi for all my courses, I put all the assignments for the semester into my calendar. I’m taking three courses (or nine credits, which is considered full time). LIS 621 meets for a live session every week, but Principles of Management (LIS 404) and Systems Analysis and Design (LIS 486) are completely asynchronous. It turns out that assignments for all my courses will be due on Tuesdays, so it will take some planning to make sure I don’t spend Monday and Tuesday every week frantically finishing my work. I should be able to make it work, though!

Other highlights of the week included not one but two snowstorms, a job interview, and some good books. For several hours this week, I’ve been immersed in Just Food: Where Locavores Get it Wrong and How We Can Truly Eat Responsibly by James E. McWilliams. It’s a pretty academic take on the global food system that interrogates the concepts of local food and organic farming, as well as exploring possible solutions to the environmental and economic problems of food production. I sometimes forget to read for pleasure during the semester, so I’m hoping to avoid that this spring. I find that placing holds on e-books through my local library helps me remember to read, since they’ll show up in my app unexpectedly when they become available.

This semester promises to be a challenge but definitely a fun one!