If you’ve received any literature from Furman, chances are, you’ve seen the word “engaged” somewhere on it.

And by somewhere, I, of course, mean plastered all over.

Maybe you have heard of Engaged Learning touted on a campus tour, but what is it really? Well, last Friday, we saw engaged learning on display all over campus.

Officially, engaged learning is taking the lessons learned in the classroom and applying them to the real world through research, internships, and so on. I know that it sounds like typical college-speak, but Furman really does make a conscious effort to make students participants in the learning process, not just passive learners.

On Friday, classes were cancelled (woot!) and the entire day was devoted to putting the research, talents, and experiences of students on display. Thus was Furman Engaged!

Literally the entire day was filled with presentations and performances. Here are the ones that I went to (and trust me, there were a LOT more)

The Venetus A - the chicken scratch that you see along the margins has never been translated. Until now.
9:00 – Classics: Translating the Venetus A. My seminar professor, Dr. Blackwell and his Greek students are busily translating the commentary on the Venetus A manuscript. In case you don’t know, the Venetus A is the oldest existing copy of the Iliad, and the commentary along its margins has never been translated. Cool.

10:30 – Modern Languages and Literatures: Theater and Poetry Live! Recitations in Modern Foreign Languages. The Spanish department presented several reading of Spanish sonnets from the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods of Spanish literature. Next up, the French department presented a dramatic reading of scenes from La Cantatrice Chauve (The Bald Soprano), a French absurdist comedy. ‘Twas hilarious. Finally, the German Department presented Aschenputtel (Cinderella). Except, this was the Grimm’s Fairy Tale version, which is not quite the same as the Disney version. (Read: more gore) I’ve got to say: I like it better this way.

Lunch – Furman University International Student’s Association’s International Food Fest. Our international students prepared food from their homes. I got a plate piled high with Indian, Ghanaian, Caribbean, Italian, and several others that I can’t remember. Needless to say, it was delicious.

And free.

12:45 – Chemistry - Student Research Presentations. Being the science nerd that I am, I found the presentations of student research really interesting. If you don’t know, Furman has one of the best Chemistry departments in the nation and the research that these students are doing is on par with research that is done by graduate students at other universities.

2:10 – Music and Physics - Song to the Moon. With the renovation of the Science complex, Furman now has it’s own planetarium. So, the Percussion Ensemble teamed up with the Physics department to present Dvorak’s “Song to the Moon (Mesicku na nebi hiubokem)” underneath the moon. This place is so cool.

As I said, this list doesn’t even come close to enumerating all of the cool things that were going.

Turns out “Engaged Learning” isn’t just rhetoric, it’s reality.