The Kept-Up Academic Librarian

Turning The Economic Crisis Into Coursework

The financial crisis has brought upheaval to many corners of American life, but on college campuses around the country the turmoil is being embraced as a valuable teaching tool. Academics say they cannot recall a time when so much of the curriculum has had to be revised so quickly to reflect the sweeping developments in the economy. Business schools and economics departments are at the forefront of the overhaul, unveiling new courses and revamping existing ones. But professors of political science, sociology, American history and even English literature are also reworking lectures and syllabuses to include material on the crisis and its aftermath. Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/12/education/12courses.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

This Studies Area Is All About Hatred

Hate is everywhere, but the fundamental question of why one person can hate another has never been adequately studied, contends Jim Mohr of Gonzaga University, who is developing a new academic field of hate studies. The goal is to explain a condition that has plagued humanity since one caveman looked askance at another. Gonzaga founded the institute a decade ago after some black law students received threatening letters. It has since started a Journal of Hate Studies, hosted a conference and offered its first class on hatred last spring. The hope is that other universities will follow suit. Read more at:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091119/ap_on_re_us/us_fea_lifestyles_hate_studies

New Program Will Provide Funding For Students To Finish In Three Years

The Bachelor Degree in Three program, sponsored by Rep. Joseph M. McNamara, D-Warwick, will provide state funding for low-income students to take up to a year’s worth of college courses while still enrolled in high school, shortening the time they spend in college to three years. The state’s three public colleges — the University of Rhode Island, RIC and the Community College of Rhode Island — are expected to participate in the program. Read more at:
http://www.projo.com/news/content/education_bills_signed_12-03-09_HNGL759_v23.36160bb.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+StatelineorgRss-Education+(Stateline.org+RSS+-+Education)

UC Irvine Embraces Video Games

UC Irvine has long sought to be known for preeminence in fields such as engineering, medicine and business. But now the university is embracing a new discipline: video games. Once ridiculed within university halls as merely a nerdy pastime, computer games are being promoted to a full-fledged academic program at the Irvine campus, a medium as ripe for study as the formats before it: film, radio and television.
This fall UC Irvine established the Center for Computer Games & Virtual Worlds, and construction is underway on a 4,000-square-foot, 20-room "Cyber-Interaction Observatory" for faculty research. Read more at: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-uci-video-games30-2009nov30,0,7687377.story

Community College Honors Program Offers Quality And Savings

Over two arduous weeks last spring, Cassels sat with her parents and weighed the costs and benefits of each program until the list was narrowed to one: an honors track at the local community college. Cassels, 18, is one of an increasing number of high school graduates who pass over top-drawer public and private universities to become honor students at community colleges. Recession-wary students are flocking to selective two-year programs, which allow students to complete half of their college education for about $8,000, then transfer to a more prestigious four-year institution. Read more at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/29/AR2009112902831.html?hpid=artslot

Community Colleges Stretch Schedules To Meet The Demand

In an increasingly round-the-clock world, community colleges — already known for tailoring classes to help train people with the skills needed by local employers — must now stretch their schedules, too.

Among the latest offerings is Oakland Community College's new Weekend College. Beginning in January, students willing to spend weekends in a classroom and take online courses can earn an associate's degree in two or 2½ years. It's a shift in how colleges operate. Read more at:
http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2009/11/michigan_community_colleges_ad.html

Courses Designed To Give Students The Big Picture

College students interested in complex issues, such as climate change, have long faced an unappealing choice: plow through survey class after survey class, gleaning the basics from multiple subjects, or cram reams of extracurricular reading into their schedules. Through a different method of teaching, administrators at Rutgers University hope they’ve solved that dilemma. Rutgers launched three so-called signature courses this fall, where star professors in different fields lecture about one broad theme. The courses address what many educators describe as a flaw in traditional liberal arts curriculums, which expose students to specialized experts but rarely call on them to blend the knowledge into a "big picture." Read more at: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/11/rutgers_university_introduces.html

Let's Hear It For Liberal Arts Education

The cosmopolitanism of curricula at America' best liberal arts colleges is in tune with the wonderful diversity of student life. The great advantage of our cosmopolitan liberal arts education is that it allows students to explore international, virtual networks of knowledge while learning the virtues (the pleasures and effectiveness) of face-to-face conversation, team participation and cooperation. Whether learning music or biophysics, consistent personal contact with teachers and fellow-students deepens education. The key is that the students at these schools are developing skills, learning how to learn, in ways that will serve them for decades. Read more at:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-roth/liberal-arts-education-fr_b_360803.html

Show Long Gone But "The Wire" Courses Live On

"The Wire" ended nearly two years ago, but conversation about the show set in Baltimore is still going strong - particularly on American college campuses. When a noted Harvard sociology professor recently announced he was planning a course based on the HBO series about Baltimore's urban dysfunction, the university became the latest in a string of prestigious schools to study the drama. Middlebury professor Jason Mittell, who specializes in both American studies and film and media culture, taught a course last spring that was so successful, he plans to do it again next year. Read more at:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/tv/bal-ae.wire15nov15,0,3079244.story

Business Still Top Major At Many IHEs

New Jersey undergraduates with an eye on the future are choosing to be business majors, mirroring a national trend. Education or psychology is likely No. 2 at most schools, and biology and communications are also near the top. Further down on the list, newer programs in criminology and information management are on the rise. Despite two economic downturns, the ascent of the Internet, a real estate bubble, the launching of two overseas wars and even the start of a new millennium, the most popular majors haven’t changed much. And that, educators say, is because most students are looking to find majors that clearly lead to a job. Read more at:
http://www.northjersey.com/news/Business_major_most_popular_with_New_Jersey_students.html