The Kept-Up Academic Librarian

Documentary Chronicles The College Application Process Of First Generation Students

In the documentary “First Generation,” which had its New York City premiere at New York University on Wednesday night,  four such teenagers forge their way to become the first in their families to go to college. The film, narrated by Blair Underwood, chronicles the actions and anxieties of these diverse students, all living in California, from their junior year, when the college admissions process begins in presumptive earnest, until they are freshmen in college.In the film, one of the student’s mothers is depicted as having no idea how to pay for college, and not knowing whether the cost is required to be paid in full upfront. The students, themselves floundering through the process, make misinformed financial decisions that limit their college choices and may even stifle their academic potential. Read more at:
http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/13/first-generation-chronicles-students-difficult-path-to-college/?partner=rss&emc=rss

For French Faculty The Grass Is Greener In The U.S.

Academics are increasingly leaving France for the United States, which carries the risk of a “brain drain” in France, according to a report this month by an independent study group. Academics constitute a much larger percentage of French émigrés to the United States today than 30 years ago. The number of French scientists who leave France for the United States remains limited, but the exodus of the country’s most talented scientists could hurt the economy. Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/22/world/europe/22iht-educSide22.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Course On Zombies May Start A Trend

Zombies are everywhere these days. Last year they hit the best-seller list in a bizarre mash-up with Jane Austen called "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies." They have inspired math professors to devise statistical models for surviving a "zombie apocalypse." This fall, they'll star in the AMC TV series "The Walking Dead." And now, they're the subject of a new course, otherwise known as English 333, at the University of Baltimore. Students will watch 16 classic zombie films, read zombie comics and, as an alternative to a final research paper, have the chance to write scripts or draw storyboards for their ideal zombie flicks. Read more at:
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2010-09-06/news/bs-md-ub-zombies-20100906_1_zombie-apocalypse-prejudice-and-zombies-pop-culture