Final Blog: Episteme, Techne, Phronesis and Metis

I enjoyed professor Ellerman's class for Law and Society. The open discussions really helped me become aware of issues outside of my own life and understand how other people from different backgrounds see things. I took this class before at Cosumnes river college a few years ago and noticed big differences. Basically, the class I took at CRC was boring and I noticed that Professor Ellerman really wants his students to participate in the class and express their opinion. This may be why I lost interest in the class at CRC and dropped it. For the record, I never missed one day of law and society this semester so I suppose there is a reason why.

 I think Ellerman's approach for this class was effective and proved to teach things that people may not realize exist in their daily lives. Most of all, in this class you can see how laws clash with society and Vice versa when you and others are creating/discussing laws. Every person in society has a different idea of how things should work yet, whether or not we agree we still have to abide by these laws. Discussing these things with others helped me realize why these laws are in place to begin even though I may not personally agree with them.

Episteme: I learned a lot about relevant law subjects that are controversial currently such as "stand your ground", Structures of government, and stupid laws (California:No vehicle without a driver may exceed 60 miles per hour?). I also got a better understanding of what the constitution consists of and why it makes it great to be a citizen in this country as opposed to other countries.

Techne: I was surprised that I never missed a class. Did I learn to be punctual? I have had years of work experience and with that being said I have worked with many people but it was different than a work environment because at work we are not suppose to talk about issues that people feel strongly about. Many people feel so strongly about these issues that it creates problems and people simply can't work together. The subjects that are not allowed to be brought up at work are allowed in class and I appreciate the fact that everyone in class was polite and respectful to others opinions both in class and on the blogs. It is interesting to see people speak freely about their opinions on these confusing and troubling issues that cannot be spoken about outside of class.

Phronesis: When we watched "This emotional Life" I could feel many of the people's passion and heartache. It is interesting to see how much other's go through all over the country (and world). Sometimes I would begin to think "Do these people know how great they are?' or "Does this person realize how much they are hurting themselves/loved ones?". Some of the tragedies really hit home and I could imagine that at one point or another everyone in the class felt empathetic for the people on the show.

Metis:I think there should be more to do with the Nation state game. Given that the subject to learn is street smarts I think that there should be more reasons to trade and more reasons to go to war. After all, life consists of many battles to fight and many things to be gained so it would be good if perhaps there were a little bit more going on. I liked the natural disasters and the efforts groups had to make to build a wonder but once these things have been taken out there is no motivation to trade or go to war.

looking back......I enjoyed the class and would take it again if I could. It was both enjoyable and a great opportunity to learn about current events, laws, nature of government and the people that make society.