Sunday, August 31, 2008

ABOUT ME

hey everyone! my name is lane. i am from a very small town, in the farthest western tip of north carolina, called brasstown. it is a town full of mountain culture and craft, which fueled my desire to do something artistic with my life. i came to app in 2005 and this is my fourth year here. i decided to come to boone because my uncle lives here and my family has been visiting boone since i was very little and i have always loved it here. i am a senior now. however, because of my indecisiveness, i will not be graduating for a while. i started my college career having absolutely NO CLUE what i wanted to do. i have thought about everything from psychology to forensic chemistry to meteorology. my current degree path is graphic design, but i quickly realized that i wasnt fitting in there either. so, i plan on switching to IDS in order to create my own major where i am able to combine art and business. i originally wanted to concentrate in metalsmithing and jewelry design, but i might just say fine arts and get a little bit of everything in there. i am combining the art with the business so that hopefully one day i will have a successful and prosperous artistic business (doing whatever i finally decide on), or if the whole art thing doesnt work out, i will have a business background to fall back on.

ok...thats me in a nut shell. hopefully i covered everything i was supposed to. :-)

A little about me.

Hello. I'm erin. I came to App. in 2001 as a wataugan. I couldn't shake that interdisciplinary, so I began creating my individually designed major, combining art and sustainable development. I didn't get very far. I left App. my junior year to "figure some things out". Really, I traveled, became a massage therapist, and decided I wanted to finish my BA. So I came back, began the art program and I graduate in December. So, as of now, I am a studio art major with a minor in IDS.
So why am I studying what I am studying? I went to massage school on my mothers intuition, and ended up loving it! I'm studying art because that was always my special something. And IDS was thrown into the mix because it made sense of it all. Now that I have that sense, I want to go to nursing school when I finish up with App.

hey

hey everyone-im christina
interdisciplinary studies/individually designed

I started Appalachian in 99/2000 for interior design, but after coming extremely close to the end of that major and as well, finishing minors in art and sociology in 2005, I began to explore what i truly want to do and did not feel that an interior design degree would accomplish my goals.

I took 3 years away from the school to do as many random, interesting, and hopefully helpful things including Hurricane Katrina relief with the Red Cross twice in 2005 and working other various jobs with children who showed a wide range of abilities and challenges. I often had to find many 'original' solutions to problems I didn't know existed until i was met with them.

Long story short, i realized that I was using several aspects of my college education that i never thought I would ever need, from green building design and plumbing to family development and more social service oriented classes i have been in. I enjoyed that strange integration so much that I am returning under the interdisciplinary studies title, so that I can better and more properly apply the tools I was given and as well learn many more. Even though I know I will be challenged to better articulate truly why I am here I am grateful to be, and i think that is a good start?! I am really excited to meet everyone and learn what I can from such a diverse group of people this semester and look forward to learning from you all.

~christina f.

~

ally

Hey y'all. My name is Ally and I am a returning student to ASU. I was a biology major for my first 2.5 years here. I took 1.5 years off, and now I'm back for IDS Labor Studies but I'm considering designing my own because I'm still all over the place with my interests. I hope that this class will help me focus what I want out of college. I do a bit of political activism type whatnot here and there, and I'm looking into focusing on class struggles, minority relations, social power dynamics, and social change. OK, I'm about to attend a "know your rights" workshop up here in St. Paul, MN...so this will be all I can say for now. See you all in a week!

peace,
ally

Hello All!

My name is Katy and I'm from Charlotte. I am currently a junior majoring in IDS with a concentration in film studies and minoring in business. I had never been to the mountains until the first orientation the summer prior to my freshman year here. I had no idea what I was missing. I love it up here! Working in Charlotte over the summer was torture, I couldn't wait to get back up here and settle into my apartment.

I really enjoy going to the movies APPS provides for the students at Greenbriar and Grier on campus. When I find the schedule for the films this semester I will post a link here for everyone. I joined the Appalachian Student Filmmaker's Organization and I think it should be really fun. When they email me with the final meeting times and places I will post it here if any of you are interested in going.

Friday, August 29, 2008

Hello Everyone

I am William Lehman. I am a super senior here at ASU and have been loving my time at App since the first day I got here. I have worked in housing in res life as a nightstar and summer CA for a couple years now. I grew up in Japan from age 5-13 then came back to NC.

I am an IDS:Asian Studies w/ a concentration on Japan/Japanese and a minor in Teaching English as a Second Language.(TESL) I intend to go to Japan after I graduate to teach english in a cram school in the Kansai region, or possibly move to Hokkaido and teach up there with a focus on researching the Russo-Japanese relations in the Kurile. Maybe even spit out a book a few years down the road. Finally to come back to America and either teach Japanese or return to school for Veterinarian Medicine.

If you have any questions feel free to ask.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Introduction

Hey all. I have never done this blog stuff before so I hope I am posting to the right group and whatnot.
Anyway, my name is Brianna - better known as Bri. I am a military child and so I can't quite claim a particular place I am "from", so I generally just say I have been everywhere. I did live in Boone for nine years, moved away for my last three years of high school, and missed the mountains so much I came back for college. I have not regretted this decision at all. At ASU I am heavily involved with the International community and am loving every single minute - other than that I enjoy religious life, volleyball, and going to free concerts.
I am a Communication Studies BS and IDS: Third World Studies BA double degree-seeking student. I basically have big goals along with the other students of the course to make a difference, or attempt to, in this crazy world we live in. My heart is for those around the globe who suffer the most and yet are invisible - and so my passion lies within the means of global communication socially and through the government to make sure each voice is heard and that needs are met. After the needs come the wants of course. I love traveling and getting my hands dirty so I won't mind the work ahead, but after I finish at ASU I plan to make my way to Boston University for a dual-masters of Arts in International Relations & International Communication.
I think that about sums it up - questions? Ask on Tuesday =) Peace and Blessings
Hey friends,

my name is Kelly and I am a junior creating my major. I love working with people with disabilities and I really want to make an organization called Yahwah's World. The word yahwah in greek means "I be who I be" which is so fitting to the population I want to work with. So many time we get wrapped up in a name or a title that we classify people and judge them too soon. Yahwah's World is going to be a safe havent for people to come and be loved for who they are. I would love to have it be a life skills program during the school year for adults where they can come learn skills like how to count change, or set the table...basic things that they just need a little extra practice with. Also tied with that, having a mentoring program set up where a person who wants to be a big brother type person would have a child with disabilities and a child without, teaching that they have the same desire and dreams and that they are more alike than they might think. During the summer I would love to have a camp where they can come and learn about the great outdoors and just have fun. SO, I am doing IDS in order to gain skills needed to run and create a non-profit so im pulling from communications, and business as well as special education and minoring in social work.

That part was really long so i'll keep this short. Im originally from New Jersey, so I talk loud and fast and use my hands a lot. I love to write and play music and just learning new things. enough said.

Homework for T 9/2

Due by Midnight, Sunday 8/31

Check your campus email for an invitation to this blog.

Then post a brief paragraph or two telling the class a little about yourself, your interdisciplinary concentration, and your reasons for studying it.

Remember that this blog is public, so only post information about yourself you are comfortable with sharing. You do not need to use your last name.

Bring a printed copy of your post to class with you on Tuesday.

Be sure to read your classmates responses before class time on Tuesday.

See you then.

Derek

Kegan

Hello Class,

I am one of those seniors that Derek was talking about because i'm a transfer student, who just switched thier major from sociology to IDS indv. design. My focus is "A social Critique of the Fashion Industry." this focus stems from my pervious degree in fashoin design from FIT in NYC. I was fully emursed in the fashion industry and i was aplled that there was no space for critique or discussion of the effects of the industry as a social insitution. My hope with coming to ASU was to have a space to learn about the history, the effects of the indusrt on society and vice a versa. So far i have focused on gender and class in my analysis, two social constructs that fashion both strenghtens and is submissive to. I intend on furthering my fashion line in a socially consious way that moves the industry in the direction of supporting the people i cloth instead of further situating them in an oppersive social classification.

I came to ASU, in 2006, not ever being in NC or knowing anyone within 12 hours of Boone. I have enjoyed my time here and the community of ASU. I am an overly involved student activist, mostly focusing on transgender rights, labor justice, community building, and reuse of waste. I am grew up in metro Detroit, Michigan and moved to NYC after graduating high school. I was there for two years before moving to Boone. I intend on graduating in dec.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Welcome

Welcome to our Praxis class blog.

You'll be posting your class papers and assignments here along with information about campus events.

I will also be posting information about class meetings and assignments here, so be sure to check the blog often.

Derek