my Islam professor was kind enough to give us a fairly extensive study guide for our mid-term; out of 35 "sample" (i'm guessing most of the test is going to come straight off the study guide) vocabulary words, i can identify 22 without having to consult my notes, even if i can't give complete explanations. that's not bad. there are ten essay questions, and i could take a reasonable stab at answering seven of them right now, and one of those, we're only getting to the material for this week. i'm pretty pleased. it's nice to feel like i'm actually learning something. :)

this class is actually "Islam in the Modern World", which is mostly the history of, well, Islam in the modern world. dur. :) there hasn't been a whole lot of actual explanation about Islam-the-faith, save a very basic crash course so that those of us who don't know anything about Islam at all wouldn't be completely lost. apparently the same professor i have now is going to be teaching an introduction to Islam-the-faith next fall, and i'm pondering taking it, if i can fit it into my schedule. it's really interesting stuff, when i'm not busy complaining about his reading schedule. :)

of course, i've got to, you know, make sure i fit some sociology courses in and around the religion classes, so i can graduate next May.