Home is Where the Brain Is

This past week, I put 'Hello Political Science, I missed you...' as my FB status. While it did not elicit the response I desired, a friend of mine commented saying that it was a sad - not in the weepy way, but a 'wow, your life sucks' - sort of comment. Given the fact that I don't think my life sucks (no You, this doesn't mean I give You license to change that), I was disappointed with the comment. I was more upset not at the perception of my life being boring, but at the inability of my friend to see beyond the nonchalant tone of my status towards its real meaning.

I graduated from my undergrad with a double major in Political Science and Asian Languages & Cultures. While I did better on my ALC courses, mostly because I basically studied languages and was (and still am - I think) quite adept at learning them, I enjoyed the PoliSci and International Affairs side of things much more. Politics has been a passion ever since I represented Syria at a High School Model United Nations in April 2003 (less than a month after the start of Iraq War #2) and had to sit between the 'honourable' delegates from the USA and the UK, whilst debating the legality of the war. My interest and love for it - polisci that is - was solidified the following year, during which I represented Pakistan on the UN Security Council and single-handedly got ourselves a much-coveted permanent seat at the table. We were debating UNSC reform and the Indian delegate that got called in to respond to Pakistan's (my) plan for UNSC reform and resolving the Kashmir issue was particularly inept. She had no idea that Partition had occurred along religious lines (and she was actually Indian!)

Anyway. During the first term of my M.A, I took 2 courses that could have fallen under the realm of politics. The first was called Global Political Thought, but we discussed issues of time, colonialism and various conceptions of modernity much more than real - or imagined - political occurrences. The second was a Theory and Methods course. While we read some political philosophy, we were mostly concerned with issues of authorship, identity and such.

So, it was a hard term, as I was confronted with terms and concepts that I'd never really dealt with or thought about. This will betray my ignorance, but at the start of the term, I couldn't have defined terms like 'teleological' or 'ontological', and yet they were being thrown about in the same way that I use concepts like 'the invisible hand' or 'the legitimate use of force' or 'the end of history.'

This term is completely different. Three of my four classes are real political science courses. I understand and know the literature and am, as a result, much more engaged with it. This is my territory, and I'm glad to be back. Now, back to the problems of democratic transitions.

*Massive smile of academic bliss*