Long Weekend History Project

     I had originally planned on posting a blog entry about my game engine however I have simply been too busy working on my other homework projects this weekend. Instead I think I will talk a bit about that homework project, which I am writing for a non-computer science course.

     This semester at university I have been taking Artificial Intelligence, Software Engineering, Technical Writing and History of England. The first three courses are computer science courses and the third is a History course I am taking to complete my last humanities credit for graduation.

     I decided that taking a history course would be a fun way to get this last credit. I had taken a previous history course, history of modern Europe, a couple of semesters ago which I also really enjoyed. The history course I am currently taking covers the History of England starting from prehistory all the way up to the year 2000. Covering such a long time period over the course of 13 weeks has meant the course covers only a brief overview, but it has given me exposure to a wide range of topics. I am partly interested in English history because I have hopes of one day traveling to England, and by learning more about the past I will appreciate it more when I finally do travel.

A map I created for the project

     This weekend I have spent most of my time working on my end of term project which is an analysis of history books written for children. I had to select two children's history books and compare them with two contemporary scholarly sources. As well as comparing them I also had to use what I learned from the sources to write my own version for children. For my topic I choose King Alfred the Great, who was King of Wessex from 871-899 during the Viking invasion. Specifically I have been comparing how the children's histories and the scholarly sources write about Alfred's early battles with the Vikings.

     Along with History I have also taken a few other courses unrelated to my Major. In my first year I took an English course, that focused on studying fiction, and took both a micro and macro economics course. I have even taken two introductory Japanese courses.

     I have talked with a few other computer science students who I have listened to complain about how they were forced to take courses unrelated to their Major. However, I have really enjoyed taking these courses and I feel they have expanded my knowledge beyond the scope of my Major. The way I see it, I probably wont have the opportunity to take these kinds of courses again so I should take advantage of it while I am still at university, especially considering I will probably be graduating by the end of the year.

     I should probably get back to working on my history project, since it is still far from finished. I am getting really tired though, especially since I have spent the majority of my long weekend in my room working on homework. However, the end is almost in sight, one more week of intensive studying and then I finally get a break.