December 21, 2000

2:57 PM

Deep Springs Collegeis a small cult of undergraduate males in Nevada. They claim to be smart, but I know better.
They sell eggs, milk, and T-shirts, and attend seminars. Showing their sensitive side, some of the students have posted thoughts on changing the "historically male" institution to permit women. (via a little bird.)
posted by rschram (2 comments total)

California.

I have some friends who have taught there now and again. It's not some sort of bastion of male privilege, or a cult. It *is* a very odd place--you work at the ranch half the day and go to school the rest. Classes are demanding, focused and short. Nobody pays tuition--everyone is on scholarship plus the labor program. It's all-male because it's always been that way and it's so small that everyone is worried that change will destroy it. (The faculty isn't all male, by the way.)

I dunno, it's definitely an outlier on the education spectrum, but worth paying attention to, whether you ultmately agree or not. I teach at a school with over three million (well, OK, fifty thousand) students--I spent today grading a hundred final exams from one class--and I can testify to the sense of moral bankruptcy I sometimes feel from this sausage-factory model of education and all the rationalizations and compromises that come with it. From this perspective, Deep Springs can look pretty good.
posted by rodii at 7:02 PM on December 21, 2000

Mailing address is in Nevada. Must be right on the border. I'm a Nevada native and Dyer barely scratches the conciousness so a quick search on Yahoo maps shows it to be very near the border, between Bishop and Tonopah. Lonely place.

I'm intrigued by it, seems like a great way to learn and get prepared for life.
posted by mutagen at 9:26 PM on December 23, 2000