Humanities Story

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Book Reviews of 2021

I don't usually read a lot of books these days. The books I usually end up reading are more likely textbooks for my classes at Cosumnes River College. However, the books that I did read are from my Asian Humanities 320 class. Although there were some parts of the book that were a bit too difficult to understand, there were also parts of the book that I did enjoy reading about and took a keen interest in.  

Awakening: An Introduction to the History of Eastern Thought by Patrick S. Bresnan, 1999

  • The Awakening
    From reading this book, I was able to learn a lot about the different cultures in Asia. Some of the chapters I read about were the Indus Valley Civilization, Hinduism, Buddhism, China, and Japan. It was interesting to know how some of the early civilizations were able to adapt and pass down their knowledge to the next generation. Patrick S. Bresnan's Awakening was definitely a wonderful book to read.






The Bhagavad Gita: A Walkthrough for Westerners by Jack Hawley, 2001

  • The Bhagavad Gita
    This was another book that I thought was interesting as the main idea of the book is to live life to the fullest with purity and selflessness. The Bhagavad Gita is about a conversation between Arjuna and Krishna before the Kurukshetra War. Unsure of what to do, Arjuna asks Krishna for advice and Krishna guides him to the correct path. With this book I felt that it any path can be the correct path so long it is out of for the kindness and selflessness of others.





The Final Project

For our final project, the theme that we went with was how humanities affected the environment. 

What I liked best about the final project was the communication.

When we met for a group call it turned out that one of my group members was actually an old friend of mine back in middle school and high school, so it was great to talk to each other again and reminisce on the past.

In total, I spent about 12 hours onto the project as I wanted to make sure that everything was in order.

You can find our final project by clicking here.


In Conclusion

Thinking back on the first week for this Humanities class, I was really unsure of how the schedule was going to work. My expectations were to learn about the different cultures in Asia with the goal of passing this class. In the end, I was able to accomplish my goals and fulfill my expectations. The class sure was a lot of fun as I was able to meet new people as we strive for the same goal.

What interested me the most about the class was how open-minded everyone was when had our discussions. I felt like everybody was able to voice their opinions. What I learned in this class was how important the Silk Road was for traders during the Han Dynasty. Something that I had already knew was how Silk was made and how the Silk Mother came to be from the discovery of silk. From this class, I felt that I learned a lot about these civilizations and I hope I can pass down this knowledge to others as well.




Works Cited:

Bresnan, Patrick. “Awakening: An Introduction to the History of Eastern Thought.” Amazon, Routledge, 

    2021, https://www.amazon.com/Awakening-Introduction-History-Eastern-Thought/dp/1138063959. 

    Accessed 12 Dec. 2021.

Hawley, Jack. “The Bhagavad Gita: A Walkthrough for Westerners.” Amazon, New World Library, 2011,

    https://www.amazon.com/Bhagavad-Gita-Walkthrough-Westerners/dp/1511326905. 

    Accessed 12 Dec. 2021.




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