Title: Discussion Module 1
Course: Canvas Practice Course > Section: Module 1 - Learning about myself

Topic: “Six Degrees of Separation”

It is sometimes held that each of us is separated from other persons by only six (or fewer) paths in our lives.  For example, I recently attended a Symposium sponsored in Washington, DC by the Kennedy Center.  One of the keynote speakers, a man who had retired from a government job, spoke about how corporate policy is developed,  a favorite subject of mine.  I noticed that he was from Pennsylvania, where I was born and raised.  Then I read in the program bio that he had served in the Pennsylvania Legislature for some years.  My uncle also is a retired Pennsylvania Legislator.  My “connection” to the speaker was confirmed when I approached him after his speech and he indeed remembered working with my uncle when they were both Legislators.  In this instance, my six degrees included:

1.    I attended a Symposium in Washington, D. C.

2.    I was inspired by a speech by a person from Pennsylvania.

3.    I was born and raised in Pennsylvania.

4.    I read that the speaker had been a Pennsylvania Legislator.

5.    My uncle was a Pennsylvania Legislator.

6.    He and I were connected by our relationships with my uncle.

In this class we most likely will not find “six degrees of separation” as clearly as this experience was for me, but I'll bet there are ways that our paths very well may already have passed.  Your job is to explore how you might have known each other in “past lives.”  Begin by sharing the following bits of information about yourself.  Then start comparing to that of other class members.  Find at least one thing you share with another class member – where you grew up, what school you attended, your favorite recreation, or whatever you might discover from getting to know each other to demonstrate that we do, indeed, live in a small world – then post it to this first week discussion.

Remember:

State your attitudes as clearly as possible, using a good topic sentence, several developing sentences, examples and/or statements, that support your topic.

- Pay close attention to sentence structure and good grammar.
- You should post at least twice.

Point value: 50