I hope you can find something you like in the course catalog which was released yesterday. Remember to

• Complete the onboarding (check your legal name, personal info, contact info etc)
• Create your Academic Plan if your advisor would like that
• Make an appointment with your advisor: regardless of the plan, advisors will want to meet with you! It's part of what makes Muhlenberg Muhlenberg!!
• You can save your built schedule (<-- this looks really useful!)

And remember there are Labs where you can get answers to all the questions you have: here's the schedule.

Shameless plug for my courses:

• HST269: Intro to Traditional China (survey from the very beginnings to 1800 so you get the 200-300 years "for free!" if you've taken either HST271 or HST439)
• HST380: Edge of Empire: China and Its Neighbors (foreign relations and interactions with the wider world before 1800). Includes Xiongnu (are the Huns? come and find out!), Turks (yes!), Japan, Korea, Tibet, the "mysterious" south, the Mongols (of course), and many, many others. Oh, and your new best friends, the Manchu, as well. 😀

Schedule for today:

HST271

I will add the posts for Week 10 to the randomizer and load it to the webpage, and then you can begin to comment on the blog posts using Hypothes.is (group HST271). That link has all the info on what to do and four blogs from the Randomizer. Comments are due on Monday night. Don't forget to collect your points in the Canvas Declaration Quiz! (linked in the assignment description) Webpage for week 11 will be up later in the day - I am slammed with meetings this Friday.

HST471

Webpage for week 10 will be up on Friday or Saturday, but it will mainly say the following two things: Write write write Submit your 5-15 report on Sunday Remember a full first draft is due on Friday, April 23! Write write write Rewrite rewrite rewrite Remember you can draw on me as a source of support if you get stuck or feel you're not making progress! Make an appointment (Tue-Fri, 8am-6pm timeslots) or via email/Google Chat

Fun Stuff: Of Books and Bears:

Be careful when you venture into the library in search of sources for your projects! I still think this is the most extreme case of "the dog ate my homework", but I'd love to hear what stories you have to share!

A friend of mine just sent me this passage from a letter of Peter the Venerable (of Cluny) to Guigo (of the Grand Charteuse): ‘Send us, if you please, the larger volume of St Augustine's letters, for a large part of ours has been accidentally eaten by a bear.'

🐻 📖🥺

— Innocent Smith, op (@InnocentOP) October 1, 2020

There is a children's book based on this little line, and you get to learn all about manuscript production in medieval Europe. Check out Brother Hugo and the Bear! It makes for a great gift for anybody who loves books and calligraphy, regardless of age.