Major in a Minute: Political Science

Max: We organize our society in a political fashion, so the management of this society is important to every individual. I think the study of it to make it better is a really noble pursuit.

Jelena: What we try to do is sort of temp down a little bit of the cynicism that exists among young people about "oh politicians." We show them that any change that they want really has to be from within the process.

Max: I'm wearing a tie right now because I got the Georgia Legislative Internship. I'm seeing how the committee and the house system works, how important house leadership is...

Jelena: You can have an international relations concentration comparative politics, political theory... We also have a pre-law concentration. In order to be a successful law student you need to know about all sorts of press and making cases that come out of politics.

Students who choose our major should ask themselves if they're interested in politics, do they follow the news, do they want to have some service to the public?

Max: I really just want to try and help out with whatever I do.

One Minute Wine: Riesling

More breaks shall ensue as I see fit.

 

A sommeliers once told me a great tip that he was doing at home(?). Pour your wine before your guests arrive and when they're over the threshold simply hand them a glass.

I love to do this with German Riesling because it's a wine nobody would ever ask for, but you always know that when they take that first sip you're gonna get that 'Oh, that's nice. What is it?'

The trick of German Riesling is it's balance between the acidity, sugar, and fruit.

Now this has a very expressive aroma. You get lime, and you also get white flowers.

*Sips* I would probably describe that as off-dry. Lovely mineral finish. The great thing about this wine is it's 89% so you can have a second glass at lunch.

J.J.Prum's Riesling Kabinett comes in at around 11 pounds or 18 dollars a bottle.

Major in a Minute: History

Jared: An understanding of history is a way for people to enter the broader discussions about what type of world do they want to live in.

Michael: The power that someone has in writing history can really effect today.

Jared: There's all sorts of cultural knowledge that a history degree gives you.

Michael: Whether it's religion, economics, you can study that from a historical point of view.

Jared: History majors have a wide open field.

Michael: Learning how to read and write well, critical thinking, research, does I think, carry over.

Jared: You could be a copywriter, you could work in an archive, you could work in a bank.

Michael: I'm a history major with a pre-education track but they have a pre-law track and they have a world history concentration. In high school you get a very surface level teaching of history and in college you're able to go more in depth. Why did this event happen? Why did the people that were involved, why were they involved?

Jared: History is a constant rediscovery of things that people thought were said and done.

Major in a Minute: Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

We now go back to your regularly scheduled Major in a Minute transcriptions. (For those wondering, there are 27 videos total.)




Amira: The focus of Women's Studies is to really shift the ways that you've been used to thinking about the world.

Crystal: We're not just studying women's lives but studying gender itself and looking at how race and class and sexual orientation effect our everyday lives.

Amira: Women's Studies is really grounded in a social justice framework. It's really interested in asking questions about various sets of oppression. People are really interested in questions about gender. What do we understand woman to mean, what do we understand man to mean? A lot of folks will go on to things like advocacy work, social work, law school...

Crystal: By having a gendered analysis of really prominent social issues it provides a whole other lens with which to view what's happening and to really create social change.

Motivational Minute - Breaking out of Your Comfort Zone

Let's take a small Majors in a Minute Break and do something a tad bit different. We're talking a little motivational fun, while still following the "short video" routine.




"On to today's Motivational Minute I'm your Vibrancy Coach Elle Swan.

Today's topic is how to break out of your comfort zone. One of the biggest differences between successful people and those that struggle is the presence of comfort zones.

So your comfort zone is that imaginary line that you have placed around the borders of your life. This line is made of limiting beliefs, beliefs like 'I can't,' 'It's too hard,' 'That's impossible,' or 'It'll never happen for me.'

Your life, with these thoughts, is like driving a car with the emergency brake on. It makes moving forward much harder than it needs to be. In other words your comfort zone is dragging you down but you can take action to reverse your direction.

One of the best ways to break free is to change your daily routine. For example, if you usually wake up at 7am, instead wake up at 6:55. If you usually check your email before you get dressed, turn those tasks around. You can have a more fulfilling and successful life if you're willing to change your patterns and then let go of those brakes.

This has been your motivational minute, I'm Elle Swan. Make it a vibrant day!"

Major in a Minute: Sociology

Adia: Anyone is a good fit for Sociology if they're interested in understanding what we call the social world.

Jennifer: If you're a people watcher it's great because it's the study of groups of people.

Adia: A Sociology major really gives you a unique understanding of why things are happening the way that they are.

Jennifer: We learn a lot about issues. All kinds of social issues.

Adia: There is a Race and Urban Studies focus, a Sex and Gender focus, and a Family Health and Life course focus. It often really sparks a desire in people to try to effect change.

Jennifer: It's one thing to read about low wage and actually see what low wages do to someone's life. You can be a solution if you just give your time.

Adia: It also gives good preparation if you're interested in going into a field where you have to relate to or understand people and society.

Jennifer: A lot of people I know are also interested in sexuality, so they want to do something that's geared towards LGBT or Women's Rights. Then there's also public policy because if you know about people than you know about what policies need to be passed to better their environment. The sky is the limit.

Major in a Minute: Gerontology

"By 2050, one out of every five persons in the world will be over age 60. There's never been a more important time to study aging.

Gerontology is the interdisciplinary study of aging and older adults. The Gerontology Institute at Georgia State University has been educating students for over 30 years.

We offer a Masters Degree, Graduate and Undergraduate Certificates, and an Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Minor.

Because Gerontology can be a focus within any discipline, our students go on to pursue careers in law, policy, research, public health, advocacy, social work, nursing, business, and more.

Anyone looking for an exciting career in a growing field and who has a passion for effecting change is a great candidate for Gerontology. To learn more about the Gerontology Institute please visit our website at www.gsu.edu/gerontology"

Major in a Minute: Journalism

Skylar: Journalists have the responsibility of communicating important things that are going on in a way that everyone can understand and decide do I agree with this, do I not agree with this and what am I going to do about it.

Leonard: You get to meet people, you get to travel, and you get to exercise freedom of the press.

They can develop research methods, critical thinking, the ability to ask the right questions so that when you've finished working on the story you have something that's not been told before.

A good fit for a journalism major would be a person who has a good deal of curiosity. Also persistence when people say no.

Skylar: You have to learn how to interact with other people and make them feel comfortable.

Leonard: Anything involving writing is an open field. Public relations, politics...

Skylar: A lot of journalism now is web based, blogging, twitter, social media... We're the next great reporters, we're the next great journalists.

Leonard: There's so many opportunities in journalism. The key thing is having information that people want.

Major in a Minute: Speech

Jaye: The speech major is all about how to create messages as well as then perform the messages and analyze the impact of those messages.

Bianca: It's learning about getting the information to the audience correctly and effectively... Making sure the audience understands it the way you want them to.

Jaye: Students will take courses that focus on persuasion, argumentation, the rhetoric of social movements, as well as communication development, communication disorders, but also communication and aging and aspects of interpersonal communication.

Bianca: The way you dress, which words you choose, how you stand at a podium, it's all very important.

Jaye: Many of our students go into business, law, politics, education...

Bianca: This major has helped me come out of my shell and learn how to do things in front of crowds that I never thought I'd be able to do.

Major in a Minute: Applied Linguistics

David: The first day of my first class of intro to linguistics I was sold. I knew I had to know more about the things I say and why I say them.

Sara: We get people who just love words, talking about where they come from and etymology.

David: If you've really enjoyed languages from High School than we're the place to be.

Sara: We find out about different language families, different writing systems, different sound systems...

David: We really break down the English language so that we can build it back up again so that we can teach it.

Sara: In addition to our degree programs we offer English as a Second Language classes.

David: My passion to travel the world fit perfectly with applied linguistics.

Sara: Students have gone to China and Mexico...

David: Japan, Korea, the Czech Republic.

Sara: There's a great need for English language teachers. We have students who work with the refugee or immigrant communities. They go into journalism, to law school...

David: The applied linguistics program at Georgia State is just fantastic, especially for those who are looking to get out into the world while teaching and contributing to other people's success.

Major in a Minute: Computer Science

Anu: Computer technology touches every aspect of our life. Everything is constantly evolving.

Howard: You learn new things. What computer science major doesn't like getting new toys? I'm dealing with a mini golf project. We're allowing the user to make their own mini golf course. If they want mountains, they can put it on the course themselves.

Physics, Chemistry, and Biology were my strongest subjects.

Anu: I always have enjoyed working on puzzles.

 If they've been strong in math than that would be a good candidate for computer science. They can tailor their degree. If a student is interested in computer graphics they might pick up a minor in film or game based learning they can pick up a minor in psychology. They'll hopefully become more marketable as they go out into the work field.

As they progress through their classes they start to learn how to think very critically. What they're learning is to be able to be a scientist when they're out in the work field.

Major in a Minute: Neuroscience

Bradley: The brain is the origin of human behavior. By studying the physical circuitry you can actually begin to understand how the brain works.

Elizabeth: Neuroscience is trying to answer questions about the brain and the nervous system from every angle, every aspect. Computer Science, Chemistry...

Bradley: Physics, Philosophy, Biology, Psychology... All of those fields have come together to help us understand how the brain works. A person who studies neuroscience can enter the bio-medical industry, working in a laboratory or being a lab manager.

Elizabeth: Science education, science writing... I'm a really curious person and I want answers. Neuroscience allows me to explore the questions that I have, the concepts that intrigue me, and contribute to what's already known.

Major in a Minute: Theater

Frank: Performance is one of the most basic things we do in our culture. From the actors who get on stage to perform, to politicians giving speeches, to sports teams choosing uniforms.

Andre: I(?) was a very shy and quiet kid and theater was just a way for me to come out of my shell and express myself.

Frank: We have a performance program in which we work primarily on acting, directing, and writing and then there is a design and production program in which they work on scene design, technical theater, lighting, costumes, props...

Andre: You're majored in theater but you have to have an allied field. For that you can just do something like business, or math. You have to learn how to portray emotions realistically. You learn different ways to move...

Frank: At the same time we are studying the theoretical aspect in classes and incorporating them into our performance work as well. Theater is also design, film, literature, philosophy... all rolled into one.

This blog

Hello,
My name is Brittny, but I prefer to be called Alex as that will be what I hope to change my name to sometime in the future.

If you've stumbled upon this blog chances are you might be a client looking for some help transcribing documents. To you (and anyone else) I say welcome. Other visitors may include people looking for the transcripts to the youtube videos that I have posted here.

For this first group of transcriptions I figured that the Majors in a Minute would be a pretty useful tool for some folks. I may even try to keep the blog educationally based but that's not a decision I'll make here.

Either way, enjoy my transcriptions
(And to potential clients - I hope I am what you are looking for.)

-Brittny/Alexandria

Major in a Minute: Biology

Ronald: Biology makes me want to learn more about the world. You're always learning something and it's never what's just in front of you.

Carmen: We like to see students that are curious, that have a lot of questions about themselves, their environment...

Ronald: My favorite part of biology would have to be human health. You'd be amazed at how many processes go on in our bodies that we don't know about. There is also the microbial world, bacteria, environment, animals, nature...

Carmen: Our undergraduate students are encouraged to get involved in undergraduate research.

Ronald: Learn the scientific method, learn how scientists approach a problem.

Carmen: I think you get more aha moments when you get students involved.

Ronald: You definitely have to put in a lot of work.

Carmen: Get to know a faculty member.

Ronald: They always make time for students. There are biologists in law.

Carmen: Environmental science, Medicine, dentistry, veterinary science...

Ronald: It's great to learn about the world that we can't see.