Small Hidden Gem at a Big Private U

Parent Cafe
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<p>Parents of sophomores and juniors, this information cost me over $600 to learn</p>

<p>AND I'm going to share it with you. I paid $600 because S decided, Sunday afternoon, that he changed his mind - he really did want to attend the Open House, TODAY, for the college that I will (soon) mention. Got the cheapest possible flight, which wasn't, left the house at 5AM, flew in, and flew back in time for play rehearsal - the closest I will ever get to jet-setting, not exactly dinner in Paris.</p>

<p>[Drum roll] The Next Great Thing is the **University Professors Program*<a href="UNI">/i</a> at Boston University. I called it "hidden" because we just stumbled across it while researching BU last year. It is only mentioned in passing in the college guidebook compendiums, and not advertised heavily, as far as I can tell.</p>

<p>UNI has about 240 students, and is the only interdisciplinary college in the US. Every student designs their own major with intensive advising, and each student's degree has a unique name. The mission of the college is to provide a force for "the synthesis of disciplines that is beyond the juxtaposition of pieces" (Prof. Bruce Redford, Director), to be an "antidote to excessive specialization and fragmentation" in contemporary education. Prof. Redford went on to say that the faculty is extremely distinguished (they provided bios of all 25 that are currently teaching - faculty used to include Saul Bellow, among others includes Sir Hans Kornberg (bigtime genetics), etc. etc.) and all of them are committed to extensive teaching and advising of undergraduates. There is intensive 1:1 faculty interaction, discussion.</p>

<p>Seven of the professors who are teaching the freshman core courses spoke - they were wonderful. (Please please please, can I go back to college?) The purpose of the core is to "develop the art of thinking" versus just 'learning material' and being tested, which arms the student with the ability to "demystify" faulty reasoning. Three core courses, all of which emphasize analytical methods and refine the student's approach to asking questions and posing answers - the literature and social sciences are writing intensive - the professors review the draft with the student, suggest revisions, then grade the finished work. </p>

<p>Courses for 2005-2006, six semester courses taught by different professors - For literature, the first semester is poetry - Aristotle's poetics, sonnets, and Paradise Lost, second semester is story-telling - narrative, oral history, popular music, drama, etc. The sciences core first semester is physics as a liberal art, using the text From Alchemy to Quarks - math proofs, such as infinite prime numbers, why you can't represent Pi as a fraction, etc., astronomy, physics, chemistry - historical famous authors, original texts, guest lecturers include the discoverer of chaos theory. Sir Hans Kornberg's 2nd semester course has no textbook - he claimed that his field is changing too rapidly, said that any advance in the sciences has to be "fought for, wrested for" and that "no civilized person should be ignorant of what is involved in stem cells, cloning" and so on. {He said that every year, a few UNI students work with him in his lab several hours a week as experiential learning.} The social sciences core is ethics and politics - first semester is Plato, Aristotle, Hume, St. Augustine, Kant, Nietzsche. The professor said that in today's world, we cultivate a "tough self" but that what is needed is a "compassionate self" and that civilization needs to understand that "private good" is related to "public good" in that there is a "common good." The second semester is taught by an anthropologist, focusing on methods in social sciences and religions, texts are white papers, articles, lectures, some hands-on culture analysis blending critical understanding and experiential reality.</p>

<p>There is also is a year-long seminar in literature (here I got a bit confused)starting with the Greeks and Romans, ending with Paradise Lost. In the second year, there are special UNI offerings and upper level courses in the various colleges of BU as determined by student and advisor - program culminates in major thesis. Three students who just completed their thesis spoke about their work - they were truly immersed in their projects - an example is a young woman who wrote a biography of an Italian poet, including original translations of his work and editing, with reference to translation theory. She was glowing, and concluded by saying that "I was thrilled that UNI allowed me to tailor my studies to my interests!"</p>

<p>They sponsor a lecture series for the students that showcases the faculty's interdisciplinary interests and includes outside lecturers. The UNI student government acts as a social activities generator - retreats, parties, dinners, teas, holiday programs - and some events include the faculty as participants. The students can apply to live in a UNI brownstone, beautiful building, or they can live anywhere in university housing.</p>

<p>For admissions, four SAT IIs are required - Writing, Math (I suppose either one), a Foreign Language, and Literature. There is a longish essay about the student's academic interests - hint - the topic must be interdisciplinary. They are looking for very intelligent, mature students who will delve into the educational riches that are offered. APs do not replace core courses, but may be used for advanced placement in other courses in junior and senior year.</p>

<p>In short, UNI seems to be an excellent program for the "liberal arts" focused student, having a classical foundation but more broad, since it embraces contemporary works/disciplines as well. Someone asked about pre-professional preparation, and the answer was that pre-law was easy, pre-med either required additional coursework in the sciences or the student could replace some of the core science courses with, say, organic chemistry. They do not encourage that, but they will work out a plan with a student who wants to prepare for an MD.</p>

<p>IMO, it meets or exceeds the level of contact with great faculty that would be offered at a top LAC, with all the resources of BU at the student's disposal. As an almost-was-once-upon-a-time academic, I was very impressed.</p>

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<p>This sounds fantastic. I will have to check it out. Do you, by any chance, have a link to a web site about it?</p>

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<p><a href="http://www.bu.edu/uni/main/index.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.bu.edu/uni/main/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Not everything is on the web site, but you can get a good start.</p>

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<p>Yulsie, sounds great. Is your son now strongly considering this program?</p>

<p>And if your son goes to BU, he is going to take a course by Elie Weisel, right?</p>

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<p>I hope so. He was so tired that he feel asleep in the taxi to the airport, slept on the plane, and went right to rehearsal - I haven't gotten the 'laser-like assessment' yet, I will post back here if it's worthy of publication (it must be more forthcoming than his typical pithy comments, such as, of Swarthmore following a full day visit, "another liberal arts college.")</p>

<p>Elie Weisel, you guessed it, teaches in the University Professors Program, two upper division courses - Literary Responses to Oppression and The Book of Genesis.</p>

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<p>Yulsie:</p>

<p>I heard Elie Wiesel deliver a series of talks on radio and even at that remove, he was mesmerizing! It is a fabulous program.</p>

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<p>Marite, do you think graduate schools would know about the program, such that they would be thinking UNI versus just BU, or would one get that effect solely through the recommendations from noteworthy faculty?</p>

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<p>I don't know how the transcript would look like. I would imagine that the rec-writers would mention the program and their recs would carry weight.</p>

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<p>Sounds a little St Johns'ish, wish I could retire and get another degree, sigh. Great resource to share with this group</p>

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<p>Yulsie, Thank you so much for pointing this out. I have been through the BU site several times over the years and NEVER found this. Sounds like a terrific program.</p>

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<p>"UNI has about 240 students, and is the only interdisciplinary college in the US."</p>

<p>It's a Johnny come lately. The Evergreen State College in WA has been interdisciplinary from its inception. Student's also design their own major, etc. (<a href="http://www.evergreen.edu/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.evergreen.edu/&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p>

<p>It was selected as one of Newsweek's 10 Hottest Colleges of 2004.</p>

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<p>There are several LACs that are essentially interdisciplinary, and others that offer interdisciplinary programs and "create-your-own" majors, but this is a nice alternative that is not very well-known.</p>

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<p>Yulsie, and your S has the Trustee Scholarship as well--- what more could you want? Wow! </p>

<p>The lengths we go to as parents never fail to impress me. The money, the time...for our kids.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
"UNI has about 240 students, and is the only interdisciplinary college in the US."

[/quote]
</p>

<p>That was what they said at the program, it is probably true in a more restricted sense, that it was founded as such.</p>

<p>kinshasa, thank you for throwing a bone (good job!) to a very tired mom! It is definitely a wonderul option - I got a quick assessment when I finally asked him what he thought - "Pretty cool!."</p>

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<p>I am going to put in a plug for the good old College Catalogue. While web sites are wonderful, it is often easier to find a great program like the one at BU by thumbing through the "Cataloge" than randomly stumbling upon it on the university web site.</p>

<p>At every college we visited we asked for a copy of the College Cataloge and were happily given one every time. We found info on Rensselaer's AI Minds and Machines interdisciplinary degree program this way and attended its open house during Medalist Day. That pretty well sealed the deal with our son then and there.</p>

<p>Ask for the College Catalogue!</p>

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<p>Thank you Yulsie! I have added this to the list for son to look at, and requested info from the site along with bookmarking the site for son. This is something he might enjoy.</p>

<p>Thanks again, especially for giving descriptions that are not included at the web site.</p>

<p>Kat</p>

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<p>Ok, a few more links - articles, etc. </p>

<p><a href="http://www.dailyfreepress.com/news/2004/09/29/Spotlight/Bus-Most.Unique.Program-735336.shtml%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.dailyfreepress.com/news/2004/09/29/Spotlight/Bus-Most.Unique.Program-735336.shtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p><a href="http://www.dce.harvard.edu/pubs/alum/2002/08.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.dce.harvard.edu/pubs/alum/2002/08.html&lt;/a> (an alum of the UNI graduate program)</p>

<p><a href="http://www.bu.edu/uni/faculty/listing.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.bu.edu/uni/faculty/listing.html&lt;/a> (faculty list - bios clickable)</p>

<p>I did a Google search, and it is page after page of CVs and descriptions of the various professors and people who did BAs, MAs, and PhDs at UNI.</p>

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<p>Hate to be a wet blanket, but...</p>

<p>The program sounds fantastic; like other posters I wish i could take it.</p>

<p>But many years ago my brother was in an interdisciplinary program in its early stage (James Madison College at Micgigan State). The program featured mainly a combination of psychology, sociology, literature and political science courses. The diploma read that he had received a BA with a major in James Madison College, or something like that.</p>

<p>Reaction of most prospepctive employers and graduate schools: what the heck is that supposed to mean? What did you take in college?</p>

<p>OK, that was back in the time when a college degree was sufficient qualification for a lot of jobs. And now James Madison is said to be a known prestigious program in the Midwest. Some interdisciplinary programs, well constructed, really make a lot of sense. But some look like just someone's idea of an academic dilettante's good time.</p>

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<p>I hesitated to post but I have to second Dadofsam. I also hesitated because I was trying to reconcile the gushing praise of Yulsie with the information on the website. Having read, "[Drum roll] The Next Great Thing is the University Professors Program (UNI) at Boston University." I was looking for the details with great anticipation and ..... while I see the biographies of a wondeful faculty, I do not see what is so UNIque about the program. Please understand that I am not trying to be snide. I recognize the merits of the program but do not see how it could qualify as the NEXT GREAT THING. First, despite its revamping, the program is well over 30 years old. At that age, you hardly qualify for a Cinderella status. Then, is this program REALLY that different from the ubiquitous Honors and Multidisciplinary programs that seem to surface everywhere? Is this program really unique, and how does it differ from the PLAN programs at the University of Texas, or from numerous similar programs at other institutions. It seems that the "reinvention du jour" is to create a small college inside a large university and hope for a symbiotic relationship that will ONLY be positive. Further, what is unique in combining a core program with a set of electives and studies abroad? Aren't there hundreds of schools that just do that? What is so unique about being able to create a distinct major, and aren't the risk of confusing future employers real by being too eclectic? </p>

<p>Please understand that I am mostly posing questions and not attempting to belittle a program I know very little about. I just like to know what I missed.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
I recognize the merits of the program but do not see how it could qualify as the NEXT GREAT THING.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I used that phrase because in three years, I have never seen a reference to University Professors on this site - even some of our most prolific posters, who are de facto college counselors, were not aware of the details of the program. </p>

<p>Most of CC, students and parents, are looking for a top quality education. Most read the USnews rankings and are aware of where BU falls in that list. I assume that many student researchers with top stats, or those parenting a student with top stats, would pass it by initially on that basis, never knowing that an elite program for 'renaissance-oriented' students exists there, one that, for the right student, could be a perfect fit. I was extremely impressed with the program and the professors who will be teaching next year's classes, therefore posted out of altruistic motives - public service to CC, guys, public service, or as one of the professors said, the "compassionate self" contributing to the "common good." </p>

<p>The UNI does not seem to advertise much (try Google - you will find it in recitations of graduate degrees, professor CVs, etc. but very little about the program itself). The concepts and features that I find to be worthy of admiration are described in the initial post. </p>

<p>
[quote]
First, despite its revamping, the program is well over 30 years old. At that age, you hardly qualify for a Cinderella status.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>It appears that you overlooked the substance of the information and got distracted by my enthusiasm. I find many things to like about all of the schools to which S applied (as evidenced by my enthusiasm for St. Mary's College, for instance).</p>

<p>
[quote]
What is so unique about being able to create a distinct major, and aren't the risk of confusing future employers real by being too eclectic?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>My son is 99.9% likely to continue his education for a number of years after undergrad - the employment factor in general is of very little concern to us at this time - I presume that a future employer will look at the graduate/professional degree. Further, my own career is a good example of the sometimes non-linear relationship between education and profession - degrees in philosophy, 25 years in information technology. One of the very best features of this program is that, by design, it is meant to support the considerable capacities of the developing mind in an exploration of the varieties of knowledge by overcoming the barriers between disciplines (as one example of a scholar who has advanced this theme, check out <a href="http://www.2think.org/hii/wilson.shtml%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.2think.org/hii/wilson.shtml&lt;/a> Consilience - The Unity of Knowledge (Edward Wilson). </p>

<p>Not all intelligent, motivated students would be attracted to this program. If they have a strong preference as high school seniors for a pre-selected major or one area of study, either sciences/math or the humanities or the social sciences or education, etc., they would probably not find it to be a viable option. However, if they have broad-based interests and an intellectual/scholarly bent, it could be ideal.</p>