MetaFilter posts tagged with college

"The Muslim Georgetown"

escabeche — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 18:01:04 -0800

Zaytuna College in Berkeley, CA will accept its first students in the fall of 2010 or 2011. Founded by Sheik Hamza Yusuf and Imam Zaid Shakir, it will be the first accredited Islamic college in the United States, open to men and women of all religions.

Ce soir sera une bonne soirée!

Rhaomi — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 12:56:54 -0800

On September 10th, to celebrate their initiation week, 172 communications students at the University of Quebec at Montreal decided to put on a show. After weeks of preparation, the costumed and prop-wielding crowd enacted an exuberant, complex, and flawlessly-choreographed performance of the Black Eyed Peas song "I Gotta Feeling" that sprawled through the campus's multi-story Judith Jasmin Pavilion... and they did it all in one continuous take (on their second try). The feat is just the most recent example of "lipdubbing" -- a video phenomenon where a single camera moves through a crowd of highly coordinated lip-syncers in a single seamless take, with the original recording dubbed over the finished product. Though the basic concept was pioneered by viral videos like the Numa Numa Dance and OK Go's "Here It Goes Again", the current model for lipdubbing was conceived by Vimeo founder Jakob Lodwick, who coined the term after dubbing a recording of himself singing "Endless Dream" by Apes & Androids. According to technical writer and blogger Tom Johnson's analysis of the video, the best lipdubs appear "spontaneous, authentic, participatory, and fun." Lodwick's video was followed up by a Vimeo business partner's staff doing their rendition of Harvey Danger's "Flagpole Sitta" (previously). The technique soon exploded in popularity -- everything from web magazines to TV studios to hospitals got into the act. But perhaps no group took to lipdubbing better than universities. Following the lead of The University Lipdub Project (original video), colleges from multiple nations adopted lipdubbing as a way to showcase their campus life and school spirit:

School, Nation - Video info - Song Institut Universitaire de Technologie de Rouen, France - 140 people - "Thriller" by Michael Jackson HEC Paris, France - 120 people - "Lollipop" by Mika l'Université de Poitiers, France - 56 people - "I Don't Feel Like Dancin'" by the Scissor Sisters Mines de Saint Etienne, France - "I Don't Feel Like Dancin'" by the Scissor Sisters IUT Belfort/Montbéliard, France - 353 people (a world record) - "La Confession de Monsieur Connard" by Les Tock'art HEC Montréal, Canada - 150 people - "Mamma Mia" by Abba Institut Notre Dame de la Providence, France - "Toi + Moi" by Grégoire Ecole Polytechnique, France - "Love Is All" by Roger Glover Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany - "LMU" (original song) IHECS, Belgium - 100+ people - "Banana Split" HEC Montréal, Canada - 172 people - "Summer of '69" by Bryan Adams European Business School, Germany - "Tell It to My Heart" by Dyane Taylor, "I Get Around" by the Beach Boys ESC Dijon, France - 95 people - "Working Together" by Gonzales Essec Business School, France - 200 people - "Let's Get It Started" by the Black Eyed Peas Emlyon Business School, France - 300 people - "Pop the Music" by Triim, "Video Killed the Radio Star" by Buggles ENSIC, France - 85 people - "Hot N Cold" by Kate Perry Campo Limpo Paulista College, Brazil - 56 people - "Ultramen" by Santo Forte

Bonus one-shot goodness:

Children of Men's climactic 6-minute one-shot scene (spoilers) Honda's "The Cog" (previ-ously) The Way Things Go (previously) Bike Hero (previously) Slydini's Newspaper (previously)

Marble Hornets

boo_radley — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 16:35:34 -0800

Alex Kralie, a film student, was shooting his student project in 2006. It was never completed, due to what Alex called "unworkable conditions", and his friend and classmate talked Alex into handing over the raw footage. The name of the film was to be Marble Hornets, and that's the name of the youtube account used to released interesting or odd snippets from Alex Kralie's aborted film. Marble Hornets Introduction Marble Hornets Episode #1 Marble Hornets Episode #2 Marble Hornets Episode #3 Marble Hornets Episode #4 Marble Hornets Episode #5 Marble Hornets Episode #6 Marble Hornets Episode #7 Marble Hornets Episode #8 Marble Hornets Episode #9 Marble Hornets Episode #10 Marble Hornets Episode #11 Marble Hornets Episode #12

Salsa has always outsold ketchup.

resiny — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 05:36:27 -0800

For these students, Martha Graham, Pan American Airways, Michael Landon, Dr. Seuss, Miles Davis, The Dallas Times Herald, Gene Roddenberry, and Freddie Mercury have always been dead. Each August since 1998, Beloit College has released the Beloit College Mindset List. It provides a look at the cultural touchstones that shape the lives of students entering college. It is the creation of Beloit’s Keefer Professor of the Humanities Tom McBride and Emeritus Public Affairs Director Ron Nief. It is used around the world as the school year begins, as a reminder of the rapidly changing frame of reference for this new generation. The lists on the website go all the way back to the class of 2002 (that is, 1998). Class of 2012 thread Class of 2011 thread

21st Century College Gender Gap(s)

l33tpolicywonk — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 20:43:21 -0800

Linda Sax's The Gender Gap in College argues there is a qualitative difference between how men and women experience college: on engagement, self-confidence and achievement. The growing gender imbalance in college admissions may also result in higher rejection rates for female applicants which, Kenyon College Dean Jennifer Delahunty Britz argues, is a paradoxical result of the women's liberation movement. Women represent 58.7% of college graduates in the US.

Pay To Work But You Don't Get Paid?

Xurando — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:00:49 -0800

"Out of college money spent see no future pay no rent." Looking for a solution? Have your parents pay for an unpaid internship for you. Some students are skeptical.

Learn, Money Back, Guaranteed

jabberjaw — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 23:23:47 -0800

You can rank U.S. colleges by subjective, random methodologies. Or, you can rank colleges by what really matters: how much money you'll make after you graduate. Spoiler: Ivy Leaguers make more money.

She should sue because 70,000 dollars later, she's still ignorant.

Pragmatica — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 11:25:35 -0800

Jobless College Graduate Sues Because She's Still Jobless A recent college graduate is suing her alma mater for $72,000 -- the full cost of her tuition and then some -- because she cannot find a job.

NYU in the Emirates?

oldleada — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 15:58:00 -0800

Is the world ready for a global university? Apply now! (via) About every other Friday for most of the past year, John Sexton, the president of New York University, would duck away from his offices above Washington Square to teach a small seminar class on the American separation of church and state. Sexton has always maintained a full professor's teaching load, which is unusual for the chief executive of a large university. What was even more unusual in this case was that the class met 11,000 kilometres away, in Abu Dhabi.

Livin' Large

emd3737 — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 06:32:26 -0800

Ever wonder what it would be like if you showed up to your freshman year of college...and your roommate was a 7'2" Division 1 basketball player from Holland? The author of sports blog Basketbawful is currently publishing a series of stories describing that exact experience. These chronicles vacillate between hilarious, shocking, depressing, and disgusting, but all are extremely entertaining. Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4. Part 5. Part 6. Part 7.

Big Spook On Campus

Joe Beese — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 10:11:46 -0800

The 2004 Intelligence Authorization Act included funding for a pilot program that provided scholarships in exchange for recipients completing at least one summer internship in the intelligence agencies. The Pat Roberts Intelligence Scholars Program (PRISP) was praised in National Review but criticized by humanities organizations as a threat to academic integrity. The 2010 Intelligence Authorization Act [400kb pdf] submitted to Congress by Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair makes the program a permanent budget item. Program applicants are encouraged to use discretion before disclosing their interest in the Agency to friends and family.

On College and Cubicles

Chinese Jet Pilot — Fri, 22 May 2009 09:46:09 -0800

The Case for Working With Your Hands.

In the boardrooms of Wall Street and the corridors of Pennsylvania Avenue, I don’t think you’ll see a yellow sign that says “Think Safety!” as you do on job sites and in many repair shops, no doubt because those who sit on the swivel chairs tend to live remote from the consequences of the decisions they make. Why not encourage gifted students to learn a trade, if only in the summers, so that their fingers will be crushed once or twice before they go on to run the country?

Body of Work

inconsequentialist — Thu, 14 May 2009 03:18:32 -0800

Tonight in Tempe, a forgiving, but not quite forgetful, President Obama gave the commencement address at Arizona State University. A little over a month ago, President Obama was invited by Arizona State University to speak at their spring graduation ceremony. As previously discussed here on MeFi, the honor of the invitation was overshadowed by the school's refusal to signal its appreciation of the President's successes by granting him an honorary degree. After more than a few public complaints about this decision, Michael Crow, president of ASU, offered an apology for any offense and made assurances that the President would be duly recognized by the university. ASU's acknowledgment of Obama ultimately took the form of a scholarship program bearing his name. ASU spokeswoman, Sharon Keeler, supplied the university's official justification for denying Obama the degree, explaining that, “the University awards honorary degrees to recognize individuals for their work and accomplishments spanning their lifetime... Because President Obama’s body of work is yet to come, it’s inappropriate to recognize him at this time.” President Obama responded to this characterization of his achievements by making it the driving theme of his message to the ASU graduates. "...it may be tempting to fall back on the formulas for success that have dominated these recent years. Many of you have been taught to chase after the usual brass rings: being on this "who's who" list or that top 100 list; how much money you make and how big your corner office is; whether you have a fancy enough title or a nice enough car. You can take that road - and it may work for some of you. But at this difficult time, let me suggest that such an approach won't get you where you want to go; that in fact, the elevation of appearance over substance, celebrity over character, short-term gain over lasting achievement is precisely what your generation needs to help end. I want to highlight two main problems with that old approach. First, it distracts you from what is truly important, and may lead you to compromise your values, principles and commitments. Think about it. It's in chasing titles and status - in worrying about the next election rather than the national interest and the interests of those they represent - that politicians so often lose their way in Washington. It was in pursuit of gaudy short-term profits, and the bonuses that come with them, that so many folks lost their way on Wall Street....you can make your mark in smaller, more individual ways. That's what so many of you have already done during your time here at ASU - tutoring children; registering voters; doing your own small part to fight hunger and homelessness, AIDS and cancer. I think one student said it best when she spoke about her senior engineering project building medical devices for people with disabilities in a village in Africa. Her professor showed a video of the folks they'd be helping, and she said, "When we saw the people on the videos, we began to feel a connection to them. It made us want to be successful for them... The second problem with the old approach is that a relentless focus on the outward markers of success all too often leads to complacency. We too often let them serve as indications that we're doing well, even though something inside us tells us that we're not doing our best; that we are shrinking from, rather than rising to, the challenges of the age. And the thing is, in this new, hyper-competitive age, you cannot afford to be complacent. That is true in whatever profession you choose. Professors might earn the distinction of tenure, but that doesn't guarantee that they'll keep putting in the long hours and late nights - and have the passion and drive - to be great educators. It's true in your personal life as well. Being a parent isn't just a matter of paying the bills and doing the bare minimum - it's not bringing a child into the world that matters, but the acts of love and sacrifice it takes to raise that child. It can happen to presidents too: Abraham Lincoln and Millard Fillmore had the very same title, but their tenure in office - and their legacy - could not be more different. And that's not just true for individuals - it is also true for this nation. In recent years, in many ways, we've become enamored with our own success - lulled into complacency by our own achievements... ...you can make your mark in smaller, more individual ways.... I think one student said it best when she spoke about her senior engineering project building medical devices for people with disabilities in a village in Africa. Her professor showed a video of the folks they'd be helping, and she said, "When we saw the people on the videos, we began to feel a connection to them. It made us want to be successful for them. That's a good motto for all of us - find someone to be successful for. Rise to their hopes and their needs. As you think about life after graduation, as you look in the mirror tonight, you may see somebody with no idea what to do with their life. But a troubled child might look at you and see a mentor. A homebound senior citizen might see a lifeline. The folks at your local homeless shelter might see a friend. None of them care how much money is in your bank account, or whether you're important at work, or famous around town - they just know that you're someone who cares, someone who makes a difference in their lives. That is what building a body of work is all about - it's about the daily labor, the many individual acts, the choices large and small that add up to a lasting legacy. It's about not being satisfied with the latest achievement, the latest gold star - because one thing I know about a body of work is that it's never finished. It's cumulative; it deepens and expands with each day that you give your best, and give back, and contribute to the life of this nation. You may have set-backs, and you may have failures, but you're not done - not by a longshot." Extra Credit: Unlike the unruly crowd Press Secretary Robert Gibbs faced earlier in the afternoon, Obama was not once interrupted by the ring of a disrespectful audience member's cell phone.

if only college were more like the movies

needled — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 16:59:35 -0800

20 movies which make you wish you'd gone to college from UK flim critic Jo Berry. While Berry is based in the UK, 15 of the 20 films take place in U.S. colleges, and of the remaining five one is A Yank at Oxford. (Berry is a former reviews editor at Empire magazine, who has written about film for publications such as The Guardian, as well as writing The Essential Guide to TV on DVD: Over 700 Of The Best, Worst And Weirdest Shows and Chick Flicks: A Girl's Guide to the Movies: A Girl's Guide to the Movies Women Love.)

Rethinking the higher education computer lab at U of VA

porn in the woods — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 09:10:22 -0800

Time to reconsider the traditional campus computer lab? The University of Virginia has begun a three-year process of shutting down its public computer labs to shave costs, citing 99% laptop ownership of incoming 2007 students and the predominant usage of free software in their computing facilities. Issues such as printing and software distribution have yet to be ironed out. [/. thread]

Is it time to move beyond grades?

you just lost the game — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 12:15:25 -0800

There's a growing sense that the current system of college grading is broken beyond repair. With grade inflation and student entitlement running rampant, is it time to explore some creative alternatives? Or is grade inflation just a myth?

Hampshire Divests from Israel?

lunit — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 08:12:16 -0800

Did Hampshire College Become the First to Divest from Israel? It is being reported that Hampshire has divested from 6 corporations that provide Israel with military equipment and services in the Occupied West Bank and Gaza. Students for Justice in Palestine claim success. But the University claims that the decision had "nothing to do with Israel." This move is being hailed as a landmark victory by the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions campaign which calls on "people of conscience all over the world to impose broad boycotts and implement divestment initiatives against Israel similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era."

Videos of university courses

Kattullus — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 14:59:36 -0800

Academic Earth collects lectures on a wide variety of subjects from UC Berkely, Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Stanford and Yale that the universities have released under Creative Commons. The site is still in beta so it doesn't quite have the thousands of lectures its frontpage promises. It has many full courses, for example Benjamin Polak teaching game theory, Amy Hungerford on the American novel since 1945, Charles Bailyn's introduction to astrophysics, John Merriman on the history of France since 1871, Shelly Kagan on death and Oussama Khatib's introduction to robotics.

Delta Project on Postsecondary Education Costs

SeizeTheDay — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 13:07:25 -0800

The Delta Project recently released a new report on Trends in College Spending. The NYTimes summarizes.

No College for You!

mecran01 — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 09:10:50 -0800

Dirty Secrets of College Admissions Via The Daily Beast
All of your worst suspicions confirmed. One favorite: “After the letters came out, one father called me to complain his son hadn’t gotten in. He said he was an advisor on several TV shows and movies. So I asked him which ones, and he told me the show 90210. Well, that was my favorite show, so I asked him to give me some good gossip. Then the next day I got this huge package filled with stuff from the TV show: original scripts, autographs, etc. And I called him up and said, ‘Thanks for the cool package, but there’s still no way your kid is getting into this college.”

Avast ye!

Horace Rumpole — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 15:12:44 -0800

Professor Mills Kelly of George Mason University had his History 389 class spend the fall semester on a class project about the intriguing figure of Edward Owens, the "Last American Pirate". They blogged about their research, made videos for YouTube, and gave Owens a Wikipedia entry. The story even got some media attention. There was just one problem: History 389 was a class on historical hoaxes, and Edward Owens was their fictional creation. Professor Kelly actually warned readers of his blog in advance that the hoax would be coming, and argued that "we need to be playful sometimes in the study of history and that this course is a good way to do just that, even as we do some serious learning along the way." But others question the costs that the class's learning experience might have for the rest of us. There's a good article at the Chronicle of Higher Education if you have subscriber access. (Via).

College Students Are Feeling the Squeeze

etaoin — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 08:16:35 -0800

The economic mess is squeezing everyone but many college students are really feeling it. Syracuse University has made an emergency appeal for aid for 400 current students who may not be able to return for the spring semester without an infusion of cash; Harvard University lost an incredible 22 percent of its very fat endowment but is trying to raise money through a $600 million bond issue. At least a dozen states are trying to balance their budgets by raising tuition, some at mid-term, bringing some protests. Of course, huge increases in costs are not new. And maybe exaggerated expectations of what colleges should provide play a role.

pay to play

plexi — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 08:19:02 -0800

Sadly, colleges are on track to become unaffordable for most Americans.

Men Against Rape

lunit — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 08:47:42 -0800

Men Can Stop Rape is part of a growing movement to stop rape, sexual assault, and sexual violence by focusing on educating men. There are efforts to change the climate on college campuses and curriculum at Haverford, Tulane, Kansas State, Idaho State, University of Wisconsin, University of Texas, University of Minnesota, University of Maine, Portland State, Harvard, University of Rochester, University of Delaware, Franklin and Marshall, and Colorado State, to name a few. Want to start your own? Here's how. Not in college? There's There are regional associations in Atlanta, Pennslyvania, Maine, Madison, Gloucester, Amherst, Washington, and Wyoming and national and international organizations like National Organization for Men Against Sexism, The Safety Net, One in Four, V-Day Men, The White Ribbon, Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, Meninist, and A Call to Men. There's also a men against violence Webring. How much do you know about sexual assault? Test Yourself!

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the plurality of clients was business administration majors

Afroblanco — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 15:45:02 -0800

Remember Laura K. Pahl, the girl who was famously humiliated for trying to buy a term paper over the internet? Perhaps she should have gone to a professional.