The article I chose is called “Why Arts Degrees and Other Generalist Programs are the Future of Australian higher education”. The article challenges the notion that generalist degrees, like a Bachelor of Arts, are inferior to specific qualifications, and the assumption that said degrees lead to joblessness. It highlights how arts degrees lead to jobs, citing research showing an increase in employment among humanities and social science graduates. The traditional idea of “vocations” is deemed outdated, with modern employers valuing problem-solving, digital skills, and adaptability over specific training for one career. In light of global uncertainties like the pandemic, climate change, and technological advancements, there’s a call to redefine “employability” and prepare graduates with adaptable mindsets and transferable skills. The article proposes a shift towards valuing generalist degrees, suggesting they equip students with critical skills like argumentation, emotional intelligence, and teamwork. The power of this article comes in the way of its forward-thinking and reasoning. I completely agree that the humanities are often undervalued and that we need to redefine outdated terms such as “employability” because due to advances in technology and the internet, there are thousands of jobs that exist now that didn’t 20 years ago. Back then and somewhat still today the market and “key to success” demands to become a lawyer, doctor, executive, or some other drone position at a giant conglomerate, with the unorthodox jobs being pushed aside.
Blog Post 3/23/2022 – A Sweet Time!
Hey!
Today’s post marks the start of our baking and dessert unit! We’re going to start with some ingredients, types of desserts, and materials you may need to get started! So this first post will be mostly informational, with actual recipes starting next week. We’re starting with cheesecake, then moving to macarons, then finishing with mochi (a popular Japanese dessert).
Note: The tools mentioned in the following text are ignoring many common kitchen tools such as large spoons, mixing bowls, and some mixing spatulas. Make sure you have the basics to continue!
Cheesecake
Cheesecake is an American favorite dessert and one of mine personally as well. While it’s rich and not efficient calorically, the flavor definitely compensates – as with most comfort foods! It’s a little different than most cakes, with cream-cheese-based batter filling up a usual graham cracker or cookie-based crust. Cheesecake is fairly simple to make but can be endlessly customized, with many fruit variations also popular. Tools you will need to make the cake include an oven, springform pan, and spatula to serve. Ingredients will be addressed in the recipe post for this food.
Macarons
Macarons are an Italian and French cookie variation that has become another American favorite over the years. The outside shells of the cookie are made out of meringue (whipped egg whites with sugar), and they are often filled with buttercream frosting or ganache. The perfect consistency is difficult to nail, but with practice, it’s fairly easy to get the hang of making macarons – and the pay-off is worth it. Tools you’ll need to make these delicious and delicate cookies include an oven, baking pan/ cookie sheet, parchment paper, a stand mixer/ whisk, and a piping bag. Ingredients will be addressed in the recipe post for this food.
Mochi
Mochi is yet another Japanese dessert that has taken the United States by storm in recent years, often appearing at Japanese Restaurants and Sushi Bars. mochi is a gelatinous rice cake created with short-grain glutinous rice flour, being soft, bouncy, and neutral in nature. The snack is often flavored with ice cream and other natural flavorings to make it more interesting! Mochi is a somewhat easy dessert to make as it requires somewhat simple ingredients, with the process being a majority of the work. Tools you will need only include a silicone baking mat, as the mochi can get pretty sticky. Ingredients will be addressed in the recipe post for this food.
I hope you enjoyed this information dump on the desserts we will be covering in the next few weeks, and I hope you stay tuned for the next post when we start making cheesecake!
Blog Post 3/9/2022 – Rolling it Up!
Hello again!
In this week’s blog post we will be finishing up our sushi unit with some techniques on rolling and forming sushi! This will be using the ingredients mentioned in the last post(s), so be sure you check those out first. We’re going to first go over the preparation of the ingredients than the actual steps on how to form your sushi.
Preparing Ingredients
Cucumber – Peel if desired, then slice thinly into strips until the cucumber resembles a “matchstick” consistency. Keep in icy water to preserve crispness while you prepare other ingredients.
Avocado – Cut in half, around the pit. Twist the two halves opposite rotations and gently pull them apart to separate halves. Carefully, while firmly holding the non-pitted half in your palm, tap your knife quickly into the pit until it slices only a little in – it doesn’t take that much force! With your knife partially stuck in the pit, twist clockwise until the pit spins and releases from the avocado. Holding the avocado half, slice gently away from you into thin strips, as to not pierce the outside skin. Take a spoon and generously scoop your sliced avocado flesh out of the skin onto a plate, and cover if desired until needed.
Fish – Slice thin, long, pieces against the grain of the fish, removing skin if needed. These pieces should almost look like extra-long rectangles of raw fish, slice them just large enough to fit in your rolls. Refrigerate until needed.
Nori – Slice a couple of inches of the seaweed sheet off so instead of a perfect square it’s a more manageable rectangle. Place it flat onto your bamboo rolling mat with the rough side facing you, and the glossy side facing the table.
Rolling and Preparing the Sushi
Note: To avoid the sticky rice sticking to your fingers instead of the seaweed, I recommend using a bowl of bold water to dip your fingers in before touching the rice. This keeps your fingers from sticking to the rice and makes the process much quicker and more comfortable. Also regarding the rolling mat, make sure the pieces of bamboo are horizontally facing you, to allow it to roll smoothly.
- With wet hands, grab a small handfull of rice and spread it across your nori sheet on top of the rolling mat, with a centimeter of seaweed peeking out on each end.
- In a line horizontal to you, lay out your cucumber, avocado, and fish pieces. Be conservative with this step as its super easy to over-stuff your sushi roll.
- Once your fillings and rice are in place, its time to roll.
- Just like the picture above, use your fingertips to slowly lift the edge of the mat and curl it into the center of the roll. Continue this, lifting your bamboo mat if it threatens to go into the roll, continuing the fluid motion until the two ends of seaweed meet.
- Now, use the mat to shape your roll, laying it down on top of the roll and firmly pressing on every side of the sushi to compress it and ensure its glued together properly.
- Using a sharp, wet knife, cut the roll evenly down the middle, then evenly down the middle of the halves, and so fourth until you have 8 even pieces of sushi.
- Serve with soy sauce, pickled ginger, and wasabi if desired.
And with that, we finish our sushi-making unit. I hope you found this short but action-packed post useful in utilizing the ingredients we mentioned the prior weeks to create some delicious sushi. I will include two links below on creating nigiri, the more traditional sushi type using just fish and rice, and another link on rolling in case you’re a visual learner and need some extra help. As always happy cooking, and I’ll see you next week!
Here’s a straightforward tutorial by WikiHow, a free information hub for almost any topic.
Here’s a different tutorial on making at-home nigiri with simple ingredients.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
BLOG POST 2/9/22 Noodles & Cooking
Photo by Anthony Marciano 
Photo by Anthony Marciano
Hello Again!
This week’s post will be a brief introduction to basic noodle types and shapes, and how to cook your pasta! This process will start off from my last post on creating pasta dough. First, some important things to know before we begin. Pasta dough is pretty glutenous and tough if not rested for at leave 30 minutes before being formed into noodles/ shapes ( so make sure your dough is rested! ). Also, this post is written assuming you have access to a cheap or basic pasta machine, because it will make the process of rolling the dough way easier. Just incase you don’t have a machine, I’ll throw in a basic failsafe way to make some noodles with just a rolling pin and chef’s knife. Alright, with all that said lets get started!
Rolling & Forming the Dough
Note: As you follow the steps below, be sure to liberally flour all surfaces the dough will be touching, including the dough itself. As pasta dough is stretched thin, interior sticky portions are exposed and annoying if not dealt with.
Here are some steps to getting your pasta ready to cook:
- Beat or roll out the dough until its just thin enough to roll through the widest setting of the flat roller attachment of your pasta machine.
- Guide the dough through the roller slowly, to avoid edge-tearing of you pasta sheet. Roll the dough through on the same setting a couple of times to make sure the thickness is consistent and your dough is constituted.
- Continue step two multiple times while continuously lowering the thickness of roller each – couple – passes through. Continue lower the thickness and rolling out your pasta sheet until you reach desired thickness.
Now that you have your pasta sheet, you could leave it as is and make lasagna, or follow the next step to create noodles! If you have a machine, simply run the pasta sheet gently and slowly through any noodle attachment you have, separating the noodles as they come out and gently tossing them with flour. Below I will include some instructions on how to make noodles without a pasta machine!
- Roll out your pasta by hand with a rolling pin or wine bottle until you have a desired thickness. Then, flour the top surface of the dough generously.
- Roll the dough sheet up loosly from two sides until they’ve ( so you will be met with a pasta scroll of sorts
- Then using a sharp knife, quickly and decisively chop across the pasta roll vertically, as if you were making cinnamon buns. The thickness of the noddles depends on how much space you leave in between cuts. When you’ve cut all the noodles, flour them once more then gently toss them around with your hands to unfurl your pasta.
Cooking Instructions
Below I will put the steps to cooking your fresh pasta! Don’t worry, if you made it this far you’ve already completed the hardest part – fresh delicious pasta is within reach! Things to note when cooking the pasta: Your water should traditionally be salted heavily in order to season your noodles. The general saying is your boiling water should be “as salty as the sea”, but if you’re sodium conscious cutting back is no problem. Also, fresh pasta cooks much faster than box pasta, so don’t even think about leaving it unattended because it will overcook. Now that we’ve gotten the disclaimers out of the way, lets cook!
- In a medium saucepan or pot, add 4-6 cups of water, or enough to fully submerge your pasta. I like to fill my pot a little over half way full, just be careful because it may boild over if you add too much water.
- Salt your water to taste and stir to dissolve the sodium, then wait until your water has reached a rolling boil.
- Gently lower your pasta into the pot and stir gently if you need to. The rolling nature of your water should be enough to move the pasta around so it doesn’t stick.
- Cook the noodles for around 3 minutes or until they’re floating consistently at the surface of the water. This means the pasta is “al dente” or “to the tooth” in italian, translating to the pasta having a little bite but still being tender.
- Remove the pasta from the pan with tongs and strain the water with a collander. Serve hot, use in a recipe, or refrigerate for later!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this comprehensive and basic guide on how to get started in preparing fresh, home-made pasta! In next weeks’ post we’ll be wrapping up our pasta unit by doing a deep dive into some intermediate pasta forming and traditional shapes that are loved by many, as well as some interesting techniques that can be used to spice up your dough. As always, happy cooking and I’ll see you all next week!
Scheuer & Core Handbook Reading Questions 9/6/21
Pre – Reading Prediction
After looking at the title of this article I predict that It will be about how critical thinking is used in a liberal arts education, and might also be about how both critical thinking and a liberal arts education are utilized in society today. I wouldn’t be surprised if the article is more focused on how to use your L.A.E today, reasons not to neglect it, and why so many people treat it as a “nothing degree”. To me the liberal arts are a way of thinking, or a very important set of skills and tools that you can use when you leave college. I think a liberal arts education teaches how to ask questions, communicate efficiently, and analyse situations with a view different from a degree in – for example – business, or mathematics.
Section 1
This section was about what a liberal arts education actually means, and how it relates to other degrees. Liberal arts are talked about as being a notion of free mindfulness, and critical thinking is a huge part of the key skills that are applied to a liberal arts education. It also talks about how the liberal arts somewhat exclude the sciences and focus more on the humanities, and how the many disciplines of philosophy create a way to understand human beings, societies, and nature. The main way to describe a liberal arts education is not a set of skills or data to absorb, but as a collection of ideas or questions – a way of thinking to promote flexibility and a free mindset.
“However unloved or misunderstood by many Americans, philosophy is the mother of liberal learning”.
I just really enjoyed reading this part and thought it was very interesting to learn about. I had never known that economics, psychology, sociology, political science, and linguistics – all different majors – were all connected and related to philosophy.
Section 2
This section focuses more on why the liberal arts are needed in today’s society and highlights our nation and how critical thinking and citizenship are key roles of democracy, and the three forms of citizenship. The traditional civic dimension embraces many activities within the public political sphere. Economic citizenship regards being a productive member of society and critical consumer. The third and most important humanities based form is cultural citizenship which focuses on cultural community engagement. This section finishes by discussing the importance of all occupations and how the liberal arts prepare students for civic, economic, and cultural sensitivity.
“One could argue for other forms alongside or within them: environmental, informational, moral, or global citizenship…”
I just wanted to relate this quote to the core handbook by saying that two of the forms listed (Environmental, Global) are two of the types of awareness included in section 3. This proves that many aspects of the liberal arts span and connect to different media within the subject.
Section 3
This section covers what critical thinking actually is by definition, and also talks about philosophy and its relationship with critical thinking. Because critical thinking is such a broad subject and is a way of thinking instead of a definable single skill, it’s very hard to describe. Most people can agree that critical thinking is defined by the ability to identify assumptions, draw inferences, distinguish between facts from opinions, draw conclusions based on data, and judge or weigh out the authority of a source. However, even including these many general skills, critical thinking still has more that defines it. The use of facts, ideas, and conceptual frameworks with the development of critical minds are all parts of a liberal arts education, with critical thinking being less of a describable skill but more a set of them to help students navigate the world today.
“Students who are college-ready have already absorbed at least the rudiments of this kind of critical thinking, even without formal training…”
I just thought it was very interesting to read how a lot of students are able to pick up critical thinking naturally, almost like how we pick up grammar by listening, reading, and writing. It makes me wonder how much students use critical thinking skills without even realizing it.
Section 4
This fourth and final section goes over the importance of critical inquiry, its relation to philosophy, and its use in today’s world. Like critical inquiry, there are many disciplines that define the liber arts curriculum including truth, nature, value, causality, complexity, morality, freedom, excellence, and language. Linguistic issues affect critical inquiry and philosophy in similar ways, and linguistic problems tend to be regarding meaning, reality, and our minds; and most people have to deal with these issues. The mentioned topics above aren’t shortcuts for understanding the liberal arts, but can help pave the way and show what students can learn and what useful skills they will acquire by gaining a liberal arts education. Finally, of course STEM courses are very important; however the spectrum of ideas, humanities, knowledge, and the ability to critically think are also very important.
“The STEM disciplines are obviously important to economic productivity, but so is the entire rainbow of human knowledge and the ability to think critically”.
I read this and could help but challenge/ question this statement. If this is true, then why have liberal arts education and critical thinking skills gone down in popularity more recently?
Core Handbook Connection
While many correlations and connections are tied to the UNE Core Handbook from this article, there is one in particular that I wanted to mention. As I said above this article mentions in the “Why Do We Need the Liberal Arts” section: Environmental, informational, moral, or global citizenship as types of communal engagement. In the “Core Themes” section of the handbook, they mention Environmental and Global awareness as themes “Created to provide a foundation in the liberal arts”. These two issues mentioned in the article and handbook show that they are necessary not only to build a foundation in liberal thinking, but also as reasons to keep liberal educations relevant in today’s society.
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Dweck Homework – Week 1 8/30/21
1) A growth mindset is a state of mind in which a student can comprehend the future and what it holds in regards to their improvement. For example, progress based learning puts you into a growth mindset because if you aren’t doing well now, you have the future to improve; and your grade is based on that improvement. “They understood that their abilities could be developed. They had what I call a growth mindset.”
A fixed mindset is a state of mind in which a student focuses on the present and not the future, getting stumped by difficult questions, failing, and then giving up because they don’t know how to cope with the stress of the moment. Fixed mindset students use “now” while growth mindset students use “yet”. “Instead of luxuriating in the power of yet, they were gripped by the tyranny of now.”
2) “First of all, we can praise wisely, not praising intelligence or talent.”
This is a very efficient way to reward students in my opinion. “Praising wisely” basically means rewarding students for the progress they have made overall instead of instant gratification or failure based on fixed mindset learning. This just sounds healthier and more helpful for students, including myself. One thing that does bother me is that this type of mindset could make students worry too much about the future, and stress about what it holds. Coming from someone whose mantra is take it day by day, the future can definitely be as scary as it is bright.
“We recently teamed up with game scientists from the University of Washington to create a new online math game that rewarded yet.”
This idea is also very good in my opinion, because it utilizes something that kids really understand and use today: video games. Educational games are great as is, but ones that reward progress are much more satisfying to play and learn from, in my opinion. This is a great way to engage students and help them develop a growth mindset in the 21st century, and is very realistic.
3) Dweck uses the example for almost this whole presentation of comparing intelligence to grades in school. She also uses the scientific description of “the neurons in their brain can form new, stronger connections, and over time, they can get smarter”. I personally believe that this is true in many ways, that intelligence can be measured based on how well we do in school (Math, Science, etc.). Dweck uses examples of fourth-grade students who live in the Bronx becoming the number one class on the state math test. While this is incredible and shows what a growth mindset can do, there are other forms of intelligence besides school smarts. I know a couple kids that did amazing in highschool with A’s and A+, but their social/ people skills sometimes lack. She also explains we shouldn’t praise intelligence because “That has failed”, but instead praise the process that kids engage in; which I agree with fully.
4) I feel that my fixed mindset moment would be with art classes that I’ve taken in the past. I used to be a huge procrastinator, and in Dweck’s words “in study after study, they have run from difficulty.” I would do assignments last minute and feel stressed up until that point, and I was exactly who Dweck was talking about having a fixed mindset. Once I realized that some teachers would gauge my academic progress based on how I’ve improved, I felt way less stressed and anxious than I did before. I had a commercial arts class that I took in Portland that was similar, where we’d do critiques and try to improve on our work next time if there was any criticism. This gave me room to breathe and felt way better than having huge projects with letter grades that, if I did bad; would make me feel like I did a ton of work for nothing. I’m very excited now because this semester I have a drawing and design class here at UNE, and the first day the teacher let us know that the class would be based on our individual improvement over the entire semester. This is a huge breath of fresh air for most students in my opinion, and the growth mindset learning should be implemented into more classes! Overall I think that this is an effective way to teach and learn as students.
