Day 10:
Today was our last planned out day on the trip! All that’s officially left is a seminar that’s taking place tomorrow morning to recap. Today was another museum filled day. We started out with a great tour of the British Library. I really enjoyed learning about the architecture of building and the different resources they offered. I was so impressed by their business research and how easily accessible their resources are. I was also really impressed with their treasure section and thought seeing the magna carta and the original new testament was so cool. Next we went to the Wellcome Center and saw really interesting exhibits primarily focusing on physical health. It had a great section on the history of medicine and another exhibit that was more contemporary focusing on current issues like obesity. Lastly we went to the Freud museum, which was also his final house. Despite being very tried and hungry I enjoyed learning more about Freud’s life and seeing the infamous couch.
I was most surprised today to learn about the plethora of resources available to anyone at the British Library. Knowing that other people pay upwards of 6,000 pounds to read what they just offer blew my mind. Having this understanding will help guide me in the future to look for and use the resources that are available to me.
The big spot for looking at religion and psychology today was definitely Freud. It was interesting hearing about how he considered himself a god less and penny less Jew. Freud was pretty well known for being an atheist, but towards the end of his life he began to appreciate how being Jewish impacted who he was and how it created a culture. I think religion can play so many different roles in people’s lives, I think it can come and go as necessary. By being on this trip and realizing the overall impact religion has had on different society’s and on mental health I have realized similar to Freud that religion no matter what you believe plays a big role in how people interact with each other culturally and how people view themselves. Religion often forces people to be more introspective, and can also make them feel more guilty or remorse. Religion plays a role in creating groups, often as we have learned on this trip in groups and out groups with severe consequences. It has been enjoyable to pay close attention to this topic as this trip has progressed.