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Some koi at Porter on the UC Santa Cruz campus. Once long ago I was a first-year in those dorms. #koi #ucsantacruz #portercollege https://www.instagram.com/p/BsT2t-OHUgW/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=sf6ri15i58k4

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Where's Leonardo DeCarp-rios? #ucsc #portercollege #koifishlove @ucsc (at Porter College)

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I just love hitting random strangers with my hoop. From an event at #ucsc this weekend #portercollege #hooper #hoopnerd #ledhoop #juggling

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Core Course Fosters Intimacy at Large University

It seems like everyone comes into Porter, or for that matter college in general, with some partially formed notion of what the first couple of weeks are like. Typical answers might include mingling, bonding, learning, and a healthy dose of partying. And indeed, there may have been a party and some bonding, but a good portion of those first weeks at Porter College were devoted to Nietzsche and Heidegger. Porter had a trick up its sleeve—the Core Course.

The course, officially named Composition, Creative Inquiry, and the Arts, is a ten week, seminar-based art and writing class. Apart from reading German philosophy, we workshopped essays, discussed contemporary issues in art, wrote a research research paper, and created artwork. If that doesn’t sound interesting enough, let me explain further. 

In a class of around 20, we got to discuss some of the most important authors’ works from Gertrude Stein to Plato. And if you were to consult me a few months ago about what the words dialectic and ontological meant, I would have only scratched my head. But now, after reading excerpts and essays of text after text, philosophical jargon doesn’t seem as inaccessible. Sure, hermeneutics isn’t a part of my daily vocabulary, but at least now I have some semblance of what it means. However, the course was more than just vocabulary building. As a class, we dealt with major contemporary issues. Is conceptual poetry (e.g. Kenneth Goldsmith) art? Is there a racial divide within conceptual art? Is viewing art a dialectical experience? Of course, we didn’t come to any groundbreaking conclusions, but the process was edifying in itself. Best of all, it was all done as a college and not just as a class.

For those first months, Porter was learning as a unit. In the dining hall, you could ask any freshman, “What’d you think of the Orwell reading?” Even in the worst case scenario, they would have some idea of what you were referencing, and in the best case, you’d have an interesting argument. 

At a large, public universities—universities that are often criticised for being too large and disconnected—this was essential to creating a more personal atmosphere. Solidarity was strong, and Porter felt small.

                                                                                       —Maxwell Shukuya