The West Wing & 4 Questions

Q1. What current, popular and Emmy winning TV show takes place in the White House?
A1. The West Wing

Q2. What school did President Barlett graduate from, according to a recent episode of the West Wing?
A2. The London School of Economics?

Q3. Can you complete a degree from the LSE and include it on your CV (see UoL external and archives)?
A3. Yes

Q4. Do the "experts" in these parts who say that an "American" degree will have more value than a foreign degree (partially because they will have better name recognition) know what they are talking about?
A4. No

 

You cite the non-existent CV of a fictional character on an overrated (IMO) TV series as evidence.........of what?

You're making some progress Ken, you're trying to back up your assertions with evidence. It's fictional evidence, but at least you've dropped the "do your own research" line.


Bruce

 

Glad I'm not the only West Wing addict around here.

Yeah, dissing the London School of Economics as sub-RA is a silly and uneducated sign of provinciality, though I can't say I've ever seen anyone actually do it. But I know what you mean in general. It's not a rigor thing; it's a conformity thing. And in my experience, conformity is a waste of time for everybody but wusses.



Cheers,

 

Re: Re: The West Wing & 4 Questions

I'm with Tom. I think that this is a bit of a straw man. When people talk about comparing foreign and U.S. degrees, I believe they're talking about schools like Charles Sturt which are not well-known in the U.S. Using the London School of Economics in your argument doesn't work because it is a well-known school around the world.

BTW, I'm a West Wing fan as well. One of the few shows that I never miss.


Tom Nixon

 

Logic Please

I still find Ken/Walter's continued insistance that British Degree=Good and US Degree=Bad to be silly and juvenile. There are, of coarse, good DL US schools and good DL British schools. In general is the US student better served by a US degree or a British degree? I think a quality program from either one would be fine. Then we come to his insistance that H-W=Great and Excelsior/TESC/COSC= horrible. I mean come on man let use some of that quality education to realize both are very good programs.

 

Re: Re: Re: The West Wing & 4 Questions

Agreed; the London School of Economics is up there with Oxford and Cambridge (and actually trumped them both in a recent Times ranking, if memory serves), so this is not what folks usually think of when they're talking about foreign degrees.

This is my attitude as well; I fail to see why this has to be an either/or scenario.


Cheers,

 

I'm also wondering if the LSE reference was a bit of a tweak at the real President, who is a graduate of Harvard Business School. It's fairly well-known that the fake President (Martin Sheen) is no fan of Bush, or of Republicans in general.


Bruce

 

where did murphy brown go to school?

Where did Murphy Brown go to school? Where did Bob Newhart get his psychology degree? Where did Becker get his MD? Where did Alley McBeal learn to practice law? (assuming she practices law?) Where did Principal Skinner get his teaching degree and teaching license?
The study of modern mythology is quite interesting. The question is does it mean anything in the "real world". We know that old nursery rythmes had two purposes, one to have something to tell children, the 2nd to point out real, and imagined dangers in life (the woods are dark and dangerous Hansel & Gretal).
I really don't think our modern mythology is as meaningful. Where did Bobby on the Practice go to law school? Does it matter?
Would anyone base a significant life choice such as which college t attend based on a tv show?
Then again, people are buying all the time from scripted infomercials. Maybe it does matter? Why aren't distance learning colleges jumping on the infomercial bandwagon. Something a little more meaty than the "how to buy and sell real estate" and the other diet and self-help education infomercials.

 

If memory serves, the LSE was referenced in the first season (during the Clinton Administration) as well, so it was probably the fictional answer to Clinton's Rhodes Scholarship. (But then the whole idea behind Bartlet is that he's supposed to be an academic-turned-governor-turned-president; Bush was an entrepreneur-turned-governor-turned-president, and Clinton and Gore were both lawyers-with-designs-on-politics-since-college. Totally different resumes, I'd expect.)

I'd say The West Wing and Ally McBeal are the only two network shows I really make any effort to watch every week, and Ally's optional these days (though the new storyline, with the kid and the partnership, is very promising--even if I don't see the whole point of putting Bon Jovi on there).



Cheers,

 

Re: where did murphy brown go to school?

Absolutely; public perception has more to do with name recognition than actual rigor, so if (for example) Bobby practiced in California with a degree from a specific unaccredited correspondence school, a degree from that school would suddenly be worth an awful lot more.

Indirect case in point: Remember Good Will Hunting and the People's History of the United States?


Cheers,

 

Two words, Tom: Female Viewers. As an aside, Jon Bon Jovi is very good friends with the latest Boston sports hero, Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick.

I admit the only time I've watched a whole episode of West Wing was the post-9/11 show, the one where Rob Lowe turned everything into a let's-all-get-along, diversity love-fest, which isn't my style. I look at it now as the show I have to avoid while I'm waiting for my favorite one to come on, Law & Order.


Bruce