Human Experience Course Analysis

The Human Experience course, also known as, HMXP, is a general education course taught at Winthrop University. This course is the second of the General Education Core, coming between Writing 101 and CRTW 201. According to Withrop.edu, this course “explores the self and its relationship to education, to community, to the natural world, and to the sacred (General Education Core). Dr. Gloria Jones states in her letter to the students, “our hope is that you leave this class with greater self-knowledge and with an awareness of perspectives that are different from your own” (The Human Experience iii). Although some may say HMXP is not beneficial to their academic development, I will argue that HMXP should continue to be a required course for all
This looks into how our communities make us who we are and also looking at the groups that yourself belong to (The Human Experience 93). The first part of this section focuses on the social self, finding out who you are. David Myers wrote an article, Ingroup and Outgroup, which focuses on explaining that we are all apart of different groups, but are also not a part of other groups (99). This is an important read for students entering college because it shows how they may be a part of one thing but also shows them that they can be excluded from others. The second part of the self and the community is the diversity of the other. A reading in this section is White Privilege and Male Privilege, by Peggy McIntosh. This explains how White people and male people are privileged over others. This opens the eyes of those who don’t see this happening in their lives. One of McIntosh’s conditions that she can do, but others around her of different color cannot do states, “I can speak in public to a powerful male group without putting my race on trial” (142). As a white female, myself I can see this being true in our world today. I never realized these different scenarios before having to read this reading. The third and final section of the self and the community is alienation. This shows how one is separated from a group that they should be a part of. The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas, by Ursla K. LeGuin is a good example of this. This story is about a young child who is locked in a closet, and is the real reason that the city is happy. This brings to our attention that we may have something in our world that is locked away and is holding us up and allowing us to be the way that we are (172). Without the HMXP course, I would not have been exposed to these different articles that open the eyes of young