The other day I noticed that Tulane University is offering a M.A. in classical studies, which their website says can be studied distance learning as a possible option. I don't know anything more about it, I'm just passing along the information. I haven't read Bear's 15th yet, so I don't know if he listed it. I do hope this is the start of a new trend, traditional B&M universities offering something other than MBA's.
It has been previously stated that small departments like Classical Studies might save themselves from extinction by offering a DL option, thereby casting a wider net for students. I hope it moves in that direction. I think it's a shame, for example, that you can't get a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Rhode Island. I'd be willing to be that if they offered a DL PhD option they'd get enough interest to support both a residential and a DL program. A little entrepeneurial spirit might help too. Jack
I agee. I searched and searched American schools for a good graduate DL program in philosophy and could not find one. I'm now seriously considering the British schools. It just seems to me that philosophy, literature, and history are made for DL. I completed most of a BA degree in philosophy and literature at a traditional university, and I can tell you that the majority of my study time was spent alone in my room reading and writting.
The whole field of classical studies is imploding. Numbers of applicants for even one-year contract slots run into the hundreds. Political correctness is even stronger (on "gender", not on race) than in most fields. Most departments have dumbed down so far that high-school Greek and Latin texts from the '40s are under a certain cloud of elitism as undergraduate texts. Grad programs are disappearing and departments are getting merged into modern languages, history, or what have you. Quite simply, the discipline is buggered. Trust me--I wasted several years finding this out. If you love the material, great, go get a degree. Don't expect a tangible return on your investment of time, however.
here's another one Another classics department for you: http://grove.ufl.edu/~hmueller/distance/ I agree wholeheartedly that philosophy, literature and history are all made for DL. There's just no strong fiscal reason to start a program from scratch, like there is for an MBA, etc. So this is one example of how marketing, education and the business world are all coming together through internet technology. I think most schools just aren't convinced that the business reasons are there for such a program. Chris
I agree very strongly with that. I did my BA in philosophy and religion and then did about 15 units worth of an MA in philosophy, both on-campus at San Francisco State, before quitting in order to take a job offer. (It was the opportunity to do CSUDH's MA in humanities that lured me back into school and into DL.) My recollection is that my on-campus classes consisted of reading, lectures, class discussions, seminar presentations and writing. Well, the communications technology obviously exists to allow a geographically dispersed group of people to efficiently do all of those things. I see few problems in inexpensively converting a philosophy graduate program to a DL format. I think that DL will encounter more problems in fields like chemistry, geology or medicine, where hands-on experience is essential. This is another reason why subjects like classics are tailor made for DL. Nobody studies something like classics or philosophy in order to get a high paying job. People study one of these things because it's their passion, because they are consumed by their subject. But if there isn't much vocational payoff to being a full-time on-campus graduate student, if the chance of landing a tenure track teaching position is almost nil, then a prudent student is going to keep his or her day job. That means that for many of us, graduate study is going to be, at best, a part-time pursuit. I'd like to suggest that there might be a large pool of potential students that could be tapped by a few decent DL programs that would allow part-time enrollment without demanding that a student drop everything, move to a university town and become a scholar-monk. The payoff is obvious: Students get the opportunity to do what they love. Scholarly fields get an infusion of new talent. And universities get additional enrollment, which justifies more teaching jobs.
There may be a couple of other factors to consider. The first is the cost of the degree. I'm all for part-time enrollment as this allows people to retain their employment. However, if there's a substantial chance that the student will never recoup their expenses as a result of that new position then you really can't expect them to spend too much. If the cost is too high most people will just read the books and let it go at that. Also, I believe that people who are involved in such educational endeavors are better employees. Smarter, more interesting, more motivated, more goal oriented, etc. I think that employers should support such efforts even if the studies are not directly related to the persons job. Jack
Some us learn for the sake of knowledge, not that career enhancement is an invalid reason for earning a degree. I find it hypocritical for B&M schools to deride DL as commercialized education, when most of them have jumped on the DL MBA and IT band-wagon. It seems that these schools are only concerned with education's profitability. In my home state the University of California system is so impacted that countless students are left out each year. While I agree that some subjects (lab based sciences for instance) are not feasible as complete DL programs, why not allow the other departments the flexability to educate the maximum amount of students? I believe that there are many students who have BAs in literature, history, philosophy, etc. who are employed in non-acedemic positions and would love to complete a MA or Phd for their own personal reasons, but are unable to fit into the ridgid structure of tradtional programs.
Well, good luck to you. As long as you are clear on the utility issue, go ahead. I would suggest that you look at recent articles by faculty at any school which interests you. They will probably happily send you offprints or tell you what they've written recently. This information will enable you to form an idea of the intellectual integrity--or otherwise--of the classics department in question. Should you at any time want recommendations on books for home study in classics, post your interests on the off-topic forum and I will be glad to make fairly informed suggestions.
