<p>After reading this article about the Flash Seminars that originated at UVa, I'm intrigued to find out if any of the current students here on CC have attended any of them. If so, what do you think of them? The Alumni Association actually brought one seminar -- "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" -- to NYC for the benefit of UVa alumni. I really enjoyed it.</p>
<p>A</a> University of Virginia student has a bright idea: 'Flash seminars'</p>
<p>Globalist, that’s a great article and a really interesting program - my D hasn’t mentioned anything about the seminars but she may not know about them. Great idea.</p>
<p>The next time I come to Grounds, I might try to sign up for one. I hope they let alums come since it’s not for credit or grades.</p>
<p>Ha! I was wondering if administrative faculty could go to them!</p>
<p>The only thing that struck a wrong cord in me was when Laura says that she “found it difficult to find an intellectual community here”…she was in PST for goodness sakes. Most of the conversations that I had with my UVA peers outside of class were kind of over the top intellectual…but I guess she didn’t find that to be the case.</p>
<p>I know I’m totally generalizing, but I find UVa people to be a very action-oriented bunch, which I think is one of our strengths. We’re very involved extracurricularly – either starting, leading or organizing clubs and activities. Even when we come up with great ideas, we just don’t contemplate them, we make them into a reality. (A clear example is Laura’s creation of Flash Seminars all together.) It’s a trait that UVa alums maintain after graduating. Perhaps (esp. being a Political & Social Thought major), she was looking for more people who were willing to take a break from doing to just simply think about ideas. If that’s the case, she’s enhanced that community. Good for her.</p>
<p>On a tangental note, if Tenniscraze was still here on CC, I would tell him to check out the upcoming Flash Seminar series. It’s all about the living wage, which he was very involved with while as a student at UVa.</p>
<p>[UVa</a> Flash Seminars](<a href=“http://www.flashsems.com/]UVa”>http://www.flashsems.com/)</p>
<p>Hi! I don’t post here much, but I’m a first year at UVa and I attended a Flash Seminar a few weeks ago. It was led by Professor Gary Gallagher and focused on the Civil War and its relevance in modern politics, and was absolutely fascinating! We talked for nearly two and a half hours, and Professor Gallagher’s obvious passion for the topic made it really special. In fact, he had given a presentation on the Civil War to most of the Democratic Senators in Congress who had come down to Cville only a few days previously. I would definitely recommend trying a seminar to anyone who is interested!</p>
<p>Thanks for the intel, Bluebutterfly. I hope the Alumni Association can bring some more seminars up to NYC, or better yet, perhaps we should create our own?</p>
<p>I attended Monroe Society as a prospective student and my host took me to one with the Mayor of Charlottesville.</p>
<p>So, as the title of that seminar stated, did the mayor make your feel Charlottesville is a good place to live?</p>
<p>It was strange. He started out by saying how Charlottesville is ranked #1 in everything, but 75% of the seminar was what they need to improve and why Charlottesville wasn’t so great…</p>
<p>Haha, that’s funny. I’m glad he wasn’t shilling for the town. It’s a great place, but there’s definitely room for improvement.</p>