By ian brook fisher '07, Senior Assistant Dean
Winter break is always a challenging time for administrators at Reed. In addition to cold winds and endless drizzle, the days are shorter and the campus is emptier. Students often depart for home in the middle of December, and the campus turns into a quiet and beautiful place.
But now, with classes beginning on Monday, students have returned to campus in force. They're still not out early in the mornings, when we make our way to our offices from the parking lot, but you can feel the difference on campus. There's a buzz in the dining halls, echoes from classrooms down the Eliot Hall, and liveliness all around, bolstered by a spirited and joyful return to the Reed community.
This week is our traditional week of Paideia, a time in which students, faculty, and staff can teach any class that they are interested in teaching. I walked by a packed room of students and staff discussing Dr. Who, while a smaller conference assembled across the hall to tackle the finer points of Infinite Jest, David Foster Wallace's magnum opus. To see our full Paideia schedule for 2012--along with clever class descriptions--click this link for a full PDF.
A tidbit for those afraid of links:
Don't Lick the Spoon: Adventures in Edible Chemistry
Taught by Galen Miley, Ilsa Kirby, and Kayla Sheridan
This Paideia, we--a small band of culinarily inclined chemists--set forth on a crash course in deliciousness: focusing on texture modification, clarification, and spherification, this introduction to molecular gastronomy promises to challenge your understanding of food, flavor, and the limits of liquid nitrogen. Gather your courage, your goggles, and your spoons: science just got tasty.
Indeed. Welcome back to school everyone!
Note: The geese above are not Reedies, but we were happy to host them for awhile.
