Dr. Benjamin- Post 3

Chrissy Purcell

Freshman Seminar

Wednesday

Post 3

Dr. Benjamin’s Presentation

This lecture, while informative, was a dry, bland presentation. I was hoping for a class that was rich. Instead, all I got was a lecture about the people the buildings at Howard are named after. It did serve its purpose as an informative piece; however, I am still clueless as to how this lecture is related or interconnected with “The Eloquence of the Scribes.” Furthermore, while Dr. Benjamin did explain what a scribe is, I feel a bit confused about on idea of the power of beautiful language and voicing one’s self properly in the African and African American culture and how this relates to her naming of the names of the buildings. 

The things she explained seemed a bit rudimentary (who Howard University is named after, who the College of Arts and Sciences is named, etc.). I wish that our lectures worried more about equipping us socially, mentally, and spiritually for Howard University instead of who the buildings are named after. Subjects like talking professionally to professors, improving study habits, maturation and taking responsibility, and others make for a much more beneficial set of lectures than the ones we have had thus far, excluding Dr. Carr’s. Though I can not refute the validity of knowing the historic backgrounds of our new community as bringing the class of 2014 together, I can and do argue that there are more urgent and pressing issues at hand. With that being said, I can only hope that the upcoming lectures will be more in tune to the needs of the student body, instead of what the teacher feels is important.