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place for animals to live. ed to take a course entitled “Art and Religion,”
Somewhere during the hike, it dawned on me taught by Dr. John Dixon.
that this forest was a place where death was op- The course tracked the development of art and
portunity. religion over the centuries and revealed how art
Death is a natural part of life. reflected the religion of the times. Dr. Dixon was
When I was an undergraduate at UNC Chapel an outstanding lecturer. I found it hard to take
Hill, majoring in political science, the university notes because I was afraid I would miss some-
began a pass/fail grading system. The system’s thing he was saying.
purpose was to encourage students to take cours- His lecture entitled, “If I Could Only Get My
es outside of their “comfort zone” in order to Hands on the Person Who Invented the Plastic
broaden their learning. I decided to take an art Rose,” was the most outstanding lecture I heard
course. I was certainly not an artist or comfort- in my four years at UNC. The point of the lec-
able evaluating art; but given the pass/fail sys- ture was that death gives beauty to life. If a rose’s
tem, I figured I would give art a chance. I looked blooms lasted forever, we would not appreciate
at the course offerings that semester and decid- them. The transitory nature of their life gives
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