Harrison Middleton Doctor of Arts

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by Phillip M. Perry, Nov 25, 2009.

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  1. sentinel

    sentinel New Member

    Are you claiming Northcentral University (NCU) has an institutional research base because it is regionally accredited (RA)? I surely hope not.
     
  2. Thanks for your responses, everyone. Here are some replies to specific questions:

    Prior to each 60-minute telephone conversation the student submits a list of proposed discussion questions ranked in order of priority. At least one question is expected for each author read for that section of the course. The discussions deal with the ambiguities or difficulties suggested by the texts. Finally there is a discussion on one or two passages pre-selected by the student.

    Understood. And a self-directed program can be put together using The Syntopicon which really does offer attractive and productive guidance for the in-depth pursuit of a topic. On the positive side, the telephone discussions stimulate new thinking and the professors often suggest additional readings culled from their own experiences. And the tuition is reasonable for a doctoral program.

    On the positive side the HMU policy does force the student to grapple directly with the canonical texts to develop interpretive concepts. This obviates the danger of using secondary sources as crutches to thought, a practice some students might otherwise fall into. The student may of course read secondary sources that are not cited in submitted papers.

    Hope all this helps.
     
  3. blackcoffee

    blackcoffee New Member

    My understanding is this approach is not unique to HMU, it is used at other Great Books schools, and is outlined in Adler's How to Read a Book.
     

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