I’m sure that everyone has an opinion about the best class at Notre Dame and it probably varies by major, but for me, my favorite class at Notre Dame came as quite a surprise: my CSEM. Yes, that lovely requirement of all Arts and Letters majors.
When it came time to pick one, I was torn between two: Performance and Persuasion or 20th Century Europe. At the time, I was still a history major (or had just become one, since it was the end of freshman year). I was torn between two of my loves: theatre and Europe. I registered for Performance and Persuasion with Mark Pilkinton and figured I could always change my mind later.
Summer came and I didn’t think much about the class until it was possible to add/drop classes. I had rethought my decision and didn’t want to miss out on what sounded like a great history class, but then found out it was full. Performance and Persuasion it was going to be.
The first email we got from the professor didn’t bode well. The tone seemed a bit condescending and we had to read an entire book for the first class! Homework, coming off of summer vacation, just who did he think he was? I finished The Social Animal by David Brooks for the first day of class, not entirely thrilled by the fact that I had been forced to read an entire nonfiction book before my brain was back in school mode.
The syllabus wasn’t exactly heartening: four presentations (which had to be exactly five minutes) and four corresponding papers. The papers had to be within five words of the wordcount with no uses of “to be” in any form or the passive voice. Papers had rewrite options, but if you failed to adhere to the guidelines, you got a C-. Not fully understanding what exactly was meant by “to be” verbs, I got a C- on my first paper and had to rewrite three of the four to get a good grade in the class.
You’re probably wondering how on earth this wound up being my favorite class.
Nitpicking aside, I honestly learned more important skills in that class than any other. For one, I can give an exactly timed presentation that relies on minimal or no notes, in proper dress, with clarity and enthusiasm, including an effective one page corresponding handout, and I’ve learned how to be persuasive while doing it.
As I learned in CSEM, persuasion is an art. It’s not enough to get someone to agree with you, you have to get him or her to do something. If someone is willing not only to agree with you but also to act on his or her agreement, then you have presented a persuasive argument.
This meant that I found myself one Friday afternoon at a local military base learning about weapons and guns, because a lot of people (including me) have negative inaccurate perceptions about them. I can now tell you that we have some really cool military weapons and that with the right training and used for the correct purposes, I don’t have a problem with military use of them.
Another weekend I found myself on a walk with a classmate that I had been persuaded to get know outside of class. That trip to Starbucks and short walk turned into a two-hour life chat until he had to go to work. And once we started talking, we never stopped talking. We’ve now been dating for almost three years. How’s that for a good class?
I saw a lot of great performances (the other half of Performance and Persuasion) because of my CSEM. Since many of them took place on weekend nights, we had a few pre-show get togethers to socialize in a more informal setting.
My professor insisted we call each other by our last names, so I was Miss Fahs and I occasionally found myself at Reckers at 2:00am yelling, “Hey Mr. Carlson.” You get some weird looks.
Spending some time talking to each other outside of class helped us learn each other’s first names and it built one of the strongest bonds I have ever experienced in a class. We weren’t just classmates, we were people who built a community. And we learned how to give a great presentation, and write precise papers in the active voice. We also learned not to display “adolescent affect” and give excuses. There are no excuses.
One of my other favorite aspects of the class was that it allowed me to be creative and a bit bold. My final presentation was entitled: How to Host a Good Cocktail Party. I was half terrified my professor was going to fail me for my audacity. Instead, he loved how I wove the themes and lessons of the course into a presentation of how to prepare good cocktail party conversation. Walking around in a cocktail dress and heels all day was also pretty fun.
The presentation skills I learned have stayed with me. I can’t just sit and read something to a group of people, I have to actively be talking about something that I know well and have prepared in advance. I also learned the great value of getting to know my classmates, not just for yelling hellos across the quad, but also for building a community. Falling in love was another great takeaway and one that I get to celebrate everyday.
Performance and Persuasion wasn’t the perfect class, but it was memorable and I learned more useful skills in it than I have in any of my classes. Take classes that interest you. That’s the best advice I can give. Forget about a double major and a minor, take great professors and interesting subjects and you might just find your favorite class at Notre Dame when you least expect it!
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