Back To School

Cara/Andrea here,

  As some of you know, this spring I went back to school. Back to university, to be more specific. I’m co-teaching an undergraduate seminar on historical romance at Yale with fellow author Lauren Willig, and the experience has been amazing. I’ve had such a wonderful time engaging in discussions with our students, and I hope I have been able to impart some of my knowledge—such as it is—about the Regency genre. (But more on that in a future blog . . . to the right is where I teach. Our seminar room is the two twin leaded glass windows to the left of the archway gate.)

In addition to the satisfaction of teaching, I’ve also really been enjoying just being around an academic environment again. The creative energy just thrums through the air. Like music? Check the campus bulletin boards and you see there are recitals  in chamber music, jam sessions of jazz, rock ‘n roll, hip hop . . . you name it. Like art? There  constantly rotating student exhibitions in painting, sculpture, photography, computer animation and graphic design. And the libraries routinely showcase some of the university’s more esoteric collections, including Babylonian seals, playing cards, musical instruments and fossils. As for theater, it’s flourishing—seems there is some sort of play going on most every night.

Everywhere you turn, there’s something HAPPENING. People are experimenting, testing, shaping, honing their ideas. There’s an exuberance, an excitement about the process of learning, and no fear of failure. Imagination is at play! It’s incredibly inspiring. I find myself walking with a real bounce in my step.

This week, there is a special conference sponsored by the Medieval Academy of America. Here are some of the topic listed: Medieval Elementary Education: Schools, Schoolrooms, Schoolbooks; Outside In, Inside Out: Medieval Theologies of the Self; Literature and the Courts; The Middle Ages in Film . . .There’s also an interactive exhibit on Lyme disease at the natural history museum . . . a woman’s lacrosse game  out at the athletic fields . . . a lecture on Japanese choreography . . . an exhibit of letterpress posters.

Some afternoons before class, I wander through the main library, gleefully accessing the stacks and online data bases that my precious university ID gives me access to. I’m currently working on a historical mystery manuscript and needed some information on the stock exchange in 1813 London. Finding it here was way more fun than google. I discovered hard-to-get books were right at my fingertips. (I had to laugh when I checked one out and saw that I had been given it for a year!) When I ran into a snag, a research librarian answered my e-mail query within 24 hours. (To the left is one of my favorite stone carvings in the main library. It shows a sleeping student overwhelmed by a pile of books.)

Insert an audible sigh of bliss here.

I appreciated my college days, but I would probably appreciate them even more now. (there is that old adage that youth is wasted on the young.)  I would love to go back to school for a semester and really immerse myself in learning a whole host of new subjects. I know little about Tudor England, and would love to explore that world.

I know that I’m probably not going to become a full-time student any time soon—life gets more complicated as time goes by. But if you are like me and love learning, here’s something that you might find of interest. There is an online site called Open Yale. If you go there, you will find 25 classes from a wide variety of disciplines available to download as podcasts video lectures or text files. Each selection is the exact set of lectures heard by an undergraduate enrolled in the class, (complete with reading list, etc.) And they feature some of the top professors at the university. Best of all, it’s free and open to “all who wish to learn.” (I’m proud of my alma mater—they feel it’s a Good Thing to share knowledge.) I’ve downloaded “Introduction to Ancient Greek History.” Professor Donald Kagan (shown above) is a legend at Yale, but somehow I missed him first time around. Now I get a second chance. I’ve also just put a course on Milton’s poetry on my i-pod, and the courses on ‘European Civilization, 1648-1945’ and ‘Introduction to the Old Testament’ look really interesting.

So how about you? Would you like to go back to college? What class would you love to take?

Comments

[theo]

I'd love to go back to college. I'd immerse myself in Gaelic studies. It's a subject that has fascinated me since I was old enough to appreciate my Scots gran's magical faerie tales that I'm not sure are just tales now that I know more ;o)

Alas, there is nothing around me like that. So maybe I need to move to Great Britain to do that, huh? ;o)

[Andrea Penrose]

That sounds wonderful, Theo. There are a number of Gaelic immersion courses in very scenic parts of Scotland and Ireland. When I visited the Arran Islands, I saw a number of students who were there for a session. That would be Amazing. Maybe it would make a great vacation idea. Or check you local community colleges—you would be surprised what great and offbeat offerings you can find.

[Janilee]

It is why I went back at 39 to get my master's degree in anthropology.

[Andrea Penrose]

Hooray for you, Janilee! I think I'd enjoy trying for a Master's In English History. Or spending a year at Oxford.

[Susan Wilbanks]

I'm 39 now and I'd love to go back to college. Every once in awhile I toy with the idea of getting a Masters in History, only last time I researched it I decided there was nothing much I could *do* with a degree short of a PhD, and I couldn't work full time, write, AND work toward an advanced degree at the same time.

I do at least work at a university, which gives me access to its library system. Just last week I stopped in for one book on 18th century India and came out with four after finding unexpected treasures on the surrounding shelves. There are few scents I love more than the old book aroma of a university library's stacks.

[Andrea Penrose]

Oh, Susan, I so agree with you about the smell of books—there's something seductive about the scent of old leather, paper and ink.

I always find interesting things next to the book I am looking for too—that's one of the real pleasures of a library.

Maybe one day we'll both find the time (hah!)to devote to a Master's Degree. In the meantime it's fun thinking about it.

[Lyn S]

I am 49 and just started my EdD program. I am very bad though, I just found a stack of Andrea Pickens romances at the used bookstore and bought them to read in the tub. Oh and a Nicola Cornick and Anne Gracie, too. They are thinner than my text books so that is how I am rationalizing them.

Now I tell my family that my perfect vacation would be the 2 week seminar course at Oxford where you live in the dorms and eat in the hall (I think it is the same one they used for Harry Potter movies). My family thinks I am nuts, but expect that from me.

I love learning and I think that is why I enjoy historicals so much. A fun taste of the times and if I am intrigued I can go to the library or Internet and find out more.

Please keep writing historicals, I need them (and bubble baths and chocolate) to keep me on an even keel.

[Mary Gramlich]

Going back to school and getting a bachelor's is on my bucket list and I think about being a student again every time a new semester starts. While retirement is a ways away maybe someday I can go back and study philosophy or theology and just absorb everything I could.

Maybe it is the love of reading a textbook that I enjoy more than the classes and tests!

[Andrea Penrose]

Oh, Lyn, that is such an amazing compliment. Thank you so much. That I am bath-and-chocolate worthy is high praise indeed! LOL

I think I became a fan of historical because of they made the past come alive in such an interesting way. I love learning too, and it's such fun to pick up snippets about smuggling, or period fashion, etc.

Good luck with your studies (don't let the Wenchly books be too much of a distraction) I'll be your at Oxford any day!

[Andrea Penrose]

Mary, somehow I'm sure you'll find the time to achieve your goal. Learning is really a gift to give yourself.

[maryjoputney]

"'Twas very heaven indeed!" Thanks for reminding me of the sheer excitement and love of discovery that goes with a great university, Cara. (Of course, broken hearts, weeping in the shower, and mood swings are also a part of the package, at least when young. *g*)

Lyn S., you DESERVE that study vacation in Oxford! I lived there for two years, and it's the most beautiful little city. I give you permission to make it happen. *g*

[Andrea Penrose]

Mary Jo, LOL at the angst of college life as well. Those moments get tinted by the rose-colored glssses of time (As I said, youth is wasted on the young!)

I'm very envious of your two years in Oxford. I'd love to spend at least a term there.

[Patricia Rice]

While I love learning, I dislike learning according to someone else's ideas of what I should do. Not that I'm opinionated or anything. It took me years to complete a degree, going to various state colleges while raising kids. But I spent a good deal of that time teaching the younger students because I had experience and they didn't. School has never been an uplifting experience for me. I'm thrilled that you're finding your milieu though!

[Andrea Penrose]

Pat, that's very interesting. Learning is a very subjective thing. I happen to love a college environment, as well as unstructured study, but can see how it isn't for everyone.

[gina martin]

If you ever want to swim in the deeply rich waters of theatrical literature, pay a visit to the Yale Theatre Library. I had the opportunity to spend a 4-day weekend in New Haven when I was working on my master's degree in theatre, and I spent several hours in that library just soaking in the history and intellectual wealth those books and scripts held. It was like asking for a drink and being given nectar of the gods. *big sigh*

I get giddy just remembering it, and it was 11 years ago!

[Andrea Penrose]

Gina, thanks for the theater tip. The treasures in New Haven are amazing. I just read an article about the Law School Library, which contains some of the oldest and rarest legal books in the world. Will have to go look at both!

[Lyn S]

I have to chime in again. To everyone who wants to got to school. Just do it. I decided in my 30s to become a teacher. It was easiest to get an M.Ed to get certified. I had a 45hr a week job and a kindergartner (husband) too. The college dean said I could do it. Somehow (ok, I never dusted and we ate lots of pizza and Chinese food), I got my degree. Strangely enough time expanded to get everything done and the intellectual stimulation of school gave me such a high that I had extra energy (until my last semester). I was pregnant for my daughter my last semester and everything was great until the day I was so big, I didn't fit into those funny school chairs with the attached desk. As I stood there sobbing, my professor tasked two guys to find a regular chair and table.

So there really is no reason to not go to school. If finances or fear are the issue, take one little class at a community college. Take online classes then you can work at your pace in your jammies. Just go for it. I guarantee you will love it. And if not I will send you some chocolate.

[Andrea Penrose]

Thank you, Lyn! A lovely post, and I heartily agree.

[renaissance costume]

I graduated last 2003.. I'm now working and I really really miss college.. :) I miss my buddies and all those fun we had. I also miss studying most of the time..

[Kim in Hawaii]

Cara, you tease us with this fabulous blog! If only I could go back to Ivy League School … but if I could go back to school, I would enroll in courses that were not part of my Math Major, such as History and Languages. Romance books have taught me the value of history and language so I would like to learn more about both! I am immersing myself into the Hawaiian history (which corresponds to European and American history). But the language is a bit difficult with its overabundance of vowels (the language uses the 5 vowels and 7 consonants - H, K, L, M, N, P, and W).

Luana kula - enjoy school!

[Andrea Penrose]

Kim. you remind me of a wonderful line from an animated film I saw where one of the characters is always smiling and saying, "So little time, so much to know!"

I am hopeless in math, so am in awe of your talents and couldn't dream of doing more in that field. But there are so many things I'd love to explore. Languages would be wonderful . . .I'd love to learn Italian.

I'm so glad that our books have helped spark an interest in history , which in probably my first love. Maybe you would enjoy the Eorpean history course from Open Yale.

Good luck with Hawaiian. Some of those words really do look daunting!

[Pam Rosenthal]

I've been auditing classes on and off at San Francisco State University for some years now. No, it's not Yale, but it has an excellent little classics department, where I learned loads about the Parthenon and its marbles (for THE EDGE OF IMPROPRIETY) and much much more (I did Greeks, my husband did Romans -- and found out what the British Museum looked like in 1829 for me).

And in the coming months, my husband and I are going to have an especial treat -- our son, who teaches Victorians at Johns Hopkins, will be sending us his lecture notes on Eliot, James, Hardy, and Conrad. For a pair of adoring, bookish parents, it doesn't get any better than that.

[Andrea Penrose]

Oh, wonderful, Pam, your own private professor! Sounds like you raised him right, LOL!

The classics classes sound great. I loved your descriptions on Edge of Impropriety.

[Janice]

I'd been fascinated with Ancient Egyptian culture ever since I read Mara, Daughter of the Nile as a kid. I thought of Egypt as much like California only without the earthquakes and with more crocodiles. And cooler outfits.

Back in the 1980s there was a professor of Egyptology at UCLA named John Callender, and he gave evening Extension courses. Unlike many extension courses I'd taken which were on a pop level aimed at putting paying butts in seats to raise funds for the university, his were the same courses he taught during the day - the only difference was that if you wanted a grade, you would do the research paper or whatever, and if not, he still treated you as an intelligent person with a genuine interest in his subject.

I had read and taken several Egyptology courses before, but his were the best. He didn't mind explaining things and he had a quiet subtle sense of humor.

He was a standup guy too; when his department wanted to get rid of another prof becaues he was Middle Eastern and the departmental politics were against him, he stuck up for the guy. He could have lost his own job but he did it anyway.

Alas, he died of AIDS in the first wave of deaths in that terrible time. Right now, I probably couldn't tell you any longer the difference between one predynastic potsherd and another, but I will never forget him.

So that's what I'd like to do - go back in time to his classes, and the friends I made then, and give him a big fat warning to watch out for himself better.

[Andrea Penrose]

Thank you for sharing your story, Janice. A love of learning is also inspired by great teachers, and John Callender sounds like a very remarkable person. Be glad he touched your life—you and your appreciation of all he gave to his students is a celebration of his memory.

[Patricia Barraclough]

I loved college. I never got to go back to graduate school. Thank you so much for the information on OPEN YALE, I'll be checking it out. The university here has a program for seniors that I was able to take advantage of before I got a job. Now that I'm not working, I'm going to check into it again. They have seminars once a week on a wide variety of topics.
My daughter just finished her Masters in counseling. She has worked in admissions at a state university and is currently an advisor and admissions counselor at a community college. She sees many students trying to fit school into a very busy life, many older than she is.
There is nothing like the atmosphere on a college campus. There is so much going on and so many opportunities - concerts, guest speakers, and special events & exhibits. What's not to like.

[Andrea Penrose]

Glad you liked the link, Patricia. It's a wonderful resource, and I am loving the lectures on ancient Greece.

I think everyone, young people included, find that life is so complicated that fitting in advanced school is difficult. But oh, it is SO worth the effort.