I do believe that these are excellent. Though I may not agree with all of them word for word…..it is by far the best list I have seen in my mere 28 years on this planet. Be sure to check it out.
Archive for the 'Academia' Category
An interesting list from my Stanford education listserve. Certainly more lighthearted that last week’s post. I am also proud to note the my alma mater is represented in the list.
Is it just me, or does it seem that the Northeast is more represented than all the rest of the nation?
Have an interesting courses you have taken, or know of that you believe should be included on the list?
Top 25 Strangest College Courses
Published on Monday January 28th , 2008
College is a time for self-expression, freedom from parents, the pursuit of knowledge and exploration of a new career. If Mom and Dad (or the bank) knew what kind of courses their savings were funding, you might be yanked out of your academic bubble and into a much more economical and practical community college. Read on for more of the 25 strangest college courses.
1. Mail Order Brides: Understanding the Philippines in Southeast Asian Context: If you’re an anthropology or women’s studies major at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD, consider getting your credits with this class, which is designed to “help explain the stereotyping of Filipino women.” While the class is expected to be taught in all seriousness, PhilippineNews.com reports that Professor Fenella Cannell “cautions prospective students not to submit fake applications for pen pals and/or spouses and to view the information as purely part of academic exercise.”
2. Tightwaddery, or The good life on a dollar a day: Alfred University’s demonstratively anti-capitalist course attempts to debunk contemporary culture’s popular myth: “Spend money and you’ll be happy.” According to the official class description, “On a theoretical level, we will consider how living frugally benefits your mind, your body, your relationships, your community, and the environment. On a practical level, we will examine personal spending habits [and] sharpen bargain-hunting rip-off-detecting, and haggling skills.” While they’re at it, maybe they can help drive down gas prices?
3. The Phallus: When the Los Angeles Times printed the headline “I Got an A in Phallus 101, readers were no doubt confused. But not so confused, we’ll bet, as the parents of the Occidental College students who really did come home with grades from the course simply titled The Phallus. Occidental’s Critical Theory and Social Justice department plans to discuss topics like “the relation between the phallus and the [I have to remove this word to keep filters from blocking some of the e-mails, RR], the meaning of the phallus, phallologocentrism, the lesbian phallus, the Jewish phallus,” and even “the Latino phallus.”
Continue reading ‘Top 25 Strangest College Courses’
This came across one of the listserve’s I am a part of as an educator…..however I must admit that I was quite shocked and put off by this individuals “Rules of Engagement.” Sure, they include some common etiquite, however I think that some of them go over the top and transport one back to a more formal Victorian-esque era of learning. Heck, now-a-days it is not totally uncommon to see or meet a professor out for a drink and interact with one in a social matter. His rules (to me at least) place the professor well up on a pedestal, way out of bounds for some of the interaction that today’s college students has come to appreciate, and even expect. The article is below:
The Rules of Engagement: Socializing College Students for the New Century
By Neil F. WilliamsIntroductory comments by James Rhem, publisher, NT&LF.
When Professor Neil Williams’ article on how he confronts classroom incivility came over the NTLF transom (and there is actually a transom in our new offices), I reacted to it rather strongly and not favorably. Professor Williams had contributed a nice piece on “shared quizzes” earlier and so his name on an article was encouraging, but requiring students to exchange greetings with him at the door and creating a formal rule about covering one’s mouth if one yawned? These, among others, seemed beyond the pale of college teaching. Did students really need this level of coaching in manners? And if they did, was it a college professor’s job to continue raising these children? The Forum has engaged classroom incivility before - “The Teaching Tribe” (V6 N4, 1997) and “Teaching and Crowd Control” (V6 N6, 1997). Could things have degenerated so much in ten years? The Forum’s discussions in 1997 leaned heavily toward the Zen- influenced work of Robert Boice (First-Order Principles for College Teachers, Anker, 1996); Neil Williams takes a rather different approach. As time passed, while I knew how I felt about it, I wondered what Forum readers would think of Williams’ approach. Let me know: I’ve set up a survey at http://xrl.us/ bbycw. Take a moment and register your reaction. - J. Rhem
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Rude and inappropriate student behaviors in our college classrooms seem to be more prevalent today than at any time in recent memory (Amada). Colleges and universities have opened their doors to a melting pot of students from different states, countries, cultures, and socioeconomic backgrounds with an ever-widening range of academic ability and interests. As many students come to college ill-prepared and under- motivated for the academic experience, large numbers also arrive without an understanding of the basic standards of classroom civility, etiquette, and socialization the professors think they ought to possess (Clayton). Student demographics are changing rapidly and “professors can no longer assume that there is a commonly understood set of behaviors that will be adopted within the classroom” (Gonzalez and Lopez).
In most cases, our students are not surly or rude intentionally, but they can be immature, disruptive, annoying, insubordinate, or uncivil. Usually these students don’t realize they’re doing the wrong thing even though their behavior comes across to their professors as offensive, inconsiderate, inappropriate, and thoughtless (Young). It’s just that some of them simply don’t know how to conduct themselves any better than they currently do in our classrooms. So . . . what to do?
Common Expectations
Faculty need to be clear about what kind of conduct and actions will and won’t be accepted or tolerated. Bray and Del Favero write that “faculty and students should share common expectations of what constitutes appropriate classroom behavior . . . consistency is a key to this common understanding.” Ignoring low-level acts of classroom incivility in the hope they’ll disappear doesn’t work. Faculty failure to address such behaviors appears to condone them (Feldmann). It’s critical to let students know when they are “over the line,” and professors (like parents) are very likely to be distressed by what they get when they don’t confront the inappropriate behavior of their charges.
What had been loosely structured and often unclear expectations for student behavior in my own classes are now a formal course document called “The Rules of Engagement.” The following examples are a short version of the big list, but these seem to apply across the curriculum. College students, for the most part, benefit from the structure and information the Rules provide. The Rules are easy to follow and apply, and as long as they are explained clearly and “enforced” immediately with consistency and a smile, there are few complaints. In fact, most of the Rules have no consequences, need no enforcing whatsoever, and simply take care 0f themselves.
The Rules are divided into four categories: Academic Integrity - how students will handle the social component of their academic responsibilities, including papers and test-taking; Respect for the Professor- how students will conduct themselves inside the classroom; Respect for the Students - how they will treat one another inside the classroom; and Interactions in an Academic Community - selected key guidelines of general social etiquette on a college campus.
The following list includes samples from the four categories of the Rules of Engagement; they are not listed in any type of hierarchy of importance. They are intentionally written in an imperative style, and the italicized remarks are for the reader’s convenience.
Continue reading ‘The Rules of Engagement: Socializing College Students for the New Century’
Who wants to pay $300 for the Microsoft Office Suite? There are too many options out there to even consider such a thing…especially for your typical college student. Thus some excellent options for those not wanting to pay homage to the Microsoft monster. Some replace the typical office suite, others aide in note-taking, social-networking, bibliographies, research, etc. All are worthwhile, and useful beyond the university realm.
Depending on your school, your perspective of your professors is bound to be different. At small schools they are generally considered to be more accessible and personable whereas at larger schools the stereotype is that they are researchers/writers/publishers first and educators second. This is not always the case, but I do believe that most would agree with the general stereotype.
However there is one way in which they are all similar; they are people. This is imperative to keep in mind. People need interaction. People need acceptance. Professors are no different. It just may be the case that you need to initiate it (at least more so at a large school).
The benefits of getting to know your professors are indisputable.
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You have a resource as a reference later in life (probably better than your HS driver ed. teacher)
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Extra help when class becomes more than you think you can handle (yes, they have office hours, but getting to know them can lead you beyond that)
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Someone to bounce ideas off of (especially if they work in your field of interest)
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A source of research work
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Access to various events or places on campus which previously may have not been accessible to you
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An adult perspective (that is not your parents) who understands where you are at in your life
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A friend
Now, this is not something easy to achieve with every professor. Some certainly lend themselves to these sort of relationships more than others. But if it is something you want, be patient and persistent. Remember they are human too, and they have probably has thousands of students like “you” over the years.
Don’t be afraid to set yourself apart from others. Find something that you have to offer to them. Something that shows them you are interested in them, and that you’re not just looking for that boost in your grade that most students are.
Such relationships have certainly benefited me. I am still in fairly regular contact with an English professor I had for a few classes at my first school. He still has some of my work from back when I was there, and I know that if I were ever ambitious enough to try to get myself published (English was not my major), he would be the first person (after my wife) who I would have read my work.
So get out there…and get to know your professors as more than teachers, get to know them as people!
17
Sep
College Whines
How many of us have ever complained that a course that we took in school “wasn’t relevant”? Then this post is for you!
Being in education myself, the whole “whining” thing is incredibly prevalent, however I don’t remember it so much throughout my collegiate education. I see more of it in the younger students that I have. In any case, an interesting post from Lifehacker.
Back to School: Ten common college whines - the last time I checked the link to the prof’s page did not work, but if you read the comment thread, you’ll get the gist.
What are some other things students whine about in college?
Every year U.S. News & World Report ranks the best schools in the nation. It does so into various categories…
- universities
- master’s universities (by region)
- business programs
- liberal arts colleges
- comprehensive colleges (by region)
- engineering programs
To see the various lists and see where *your* college places click here
13
Aug
Who Needs Harvard?
“Competition for the Ivies is as fierce as ever, but kids who look beyond the famous schools may be the smartest applicants of all…”
An interesting article about the shift away from the fierce competition of the Ivy League and towards more accommodating, student oriented colleges. Read the entire article here
If you are from a small town and considering going to a large university it is inevitable that you will hear the comment “isn’t is soooo big?” from someone. Implying that you will simply be “another number” within the university. Well I am here to tell you that is not the case.
First of all, you are only another number if you allow yourself to be. If you blend into the masses and do nothing to separate yourself from others you will be just another number. But that will happen regardless of the size of the school which you attend.
Now, I will speak from experience. My first school consisted of about 950 students, small by all comparisons. My second school (after I transferred) topped out at around 30,000 students on campus. There is no question that there is a considerable difference between the two. Not only in sheer number of people, but in the size of the campus.
Here is the key: It does not matter which one of the two schools you are at. You will see the same people day in and day out at each school, and there will always be people who you truly never meet. You will always have classes in some buildings, but not in others. That is the nature of college. The location of classes is based on your field of study. You will not have a class in every building.
At both schools you will have your group of friends who you socialize and such with. There will also be those people who you see outside of class at different events depending on what social circles/activities you are involved in.
Therefore, as I have said. Big schools are not that big. I never even came close to meeting all the people at my big school. And many of those who I did see, I saw on a regular basis over my two years there. The fact that the school was 30 times bigger did not matter. You can only see or be involved with so many people.
Now there are other advantages/disadvantages for schools based on their size, but that if for a later time.
What are your thoughts on school size? Do you agree?
"Rocks for Jocks" may be an easy A, but it is also a waste of time unless you actually care about the differences between igneous and metamorphic rocks. The purpose of electives are not solely to pad that GPA that took a hit through two semesters of organic chem. They are also there to allow you to pursue interests outside of your primary scope of interest. Use them as such.
Cupcake classes are nice, but in the end all they leave you with is an inflated GPA and books that are worthless, and I have already spoken about being passionate about things. This is exactly where it applies!
Find classes that you care about. Classes that interest you. Classes that will broaden your knowledge base, and make you a more "well-rounded" person. It does not matter if you are a biology major taking a 400-level poetry class. If it is something you are interested in (and God-forbid, passionate about), you will be successful. Not only that, but you will leave with more knowledge about the world than if you took the typical cake walk class. Your transcript will reveal this as well. Potential employers will see that you challeneged yourself with tougher classes that counted, and that interested you…rather than 100-level classes that you sleep through.
Not only that, but think about the costs of college. Many of us will be in debt for the next 30+ years, paying back college loans. I am personally indebted $47,000+ at this point. That much in debt, should you be wasting your time with classes that mean nothing to you?
Take classes that interest you! Classes that mean something, and classes that you will get something out of!
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