Elissa Israel
Major: Religion
Hey there, first years! IÕm from Rockville, Maryland, which is right outside of Washington, DC. I came to Oberlin planning to be a psychology major, but after taking classes from what felt like ten thousand departments, I settled on religion, with tentative plans to add another major and/or minor, possibly philosophy or law & society.
At Oberlin, I work for the ExCo (Experimental College) committee, which helps figure out which quirky student-taught courses will be offered each semester. There are a bunch of great ones being offered this semester, like The History of Chocolate and Calvin & Hobbes, respectively. I also work at the radio station, WOBC, as a DJ and a pop music director. Working at the station has taught me many things about music and the media that you canÕt learn in the classroom. If youÕre interested in getting involved in either ExCo or WOBC, IÕm available for questions and whatnot.
Definitely take advantage of the music scene on campus. I was way too ignorant of all the goings-on on campus my first year, and I missed a lot of awesome shows. The various concert/programming boards always deliver a host of great performances, and the Con is a little piece of classical/jazzy heaven in the middle of Ohio.
Short List of Favorites
Local Cuisine: Agave burritos. So delicious.
Favorite Authors: The Russians: Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Nabokov. So good.
Favorite First-Year Courses
RELG 217: Christianity in the Early Medieval World. Kind of a tough course, but lots of interesting readings and this course led me to take five other religion courses.
CINE 101: Intro to Cinema Studies. Interesting for anyone, no matter how much you know about cinema.