Minerva is a lot of very different things to roughly 130 people. I am a member of the Inaugural Class, which although it is the second intake class, it will be the first graduating class from the Minerva Schools at KGI. That will happen (hopefully) in May of 2019. Right now, I am nearing the end of my Freshman year, and have only two weeks of classes left until I can exit the dorm into the bright (maybe) sunlight and blink without the specter of fast approaching deadlines breathing down my neck. There should be a bit of background on this, though, or the timeline of this blog will just get insanely convoluted. It might even turn into something like Interstellar where love is the fifth dimension. (See, I am funny.)
December, 2014
-'Twas a cold day in Bavaria, and I was warming myself beside a roaring fire in the sixteenth century farmhouse I was currently calling home.
Yeah... it didn't really happen like that. I was in my room with a window overlooking a rather impressive pile of Bavarian cow manure going through facebook after school in the middle of a dreary December. An ad appeared, and for the first time in my life (I swear) I clicked on it. It was selling something along the lines of "University built for the 21st Century, 7 Cities, Help Build a University!," or something. My memory is impressive, but not that impressive. It took me to a beautifully designed webpage of an apparently brand-new university. I read everything on the site, and thought that it sounded too good to be true. So, I did what every other child-of-the-information age would do, and I googled it.
The first few pages were filled with references from very reputable news sources. These were mostly positive, a few skeptics were sprinkled in. Also present were some vociferous critics. Two in particular still pop up today, almost a year later.
"The Minerva Delusion" is a classic must read for anyone who wants to learn how to make hasty generalizations, assume worst intent, and above all, condemn a project and its backers before it even exists. Chris Peterson, despite your fears, Minerva is not actually a for-profit school.
"Granted, it might not be the same as actually attending an elite school with a terrific education and meritocratic admissions and financial aid.
But then again, neither is the Minerva Project."
Come on, that is just vitriolic, Chris.
The second classic in the canon of anti-Minerva literature is John Seery's lovely attack-piece/op-ed on both Kevin Carey and his book "The End of College," and Minerva. I'm not completely certain where his opinions on technology enhanced learning intersected with trombone courses, but as a quick rebuttal, you can, and I have learned much about playing the trombone from jazz masterclasses posted on Youtube. You just have to play along and practice the technique. Most playing time for musicians is actually spent in individual practice, as Malcom Gladwell manages to find out in Tipping Point. Playing in groups is, of course, important, but nothing stops you from improving greatly on your own. During his lengthy rant he brings up a supposed paraphrase from the Minerva staff during negotiations about student mental health.
"that their advanced biometric screening devices in the admissions process will keep out such troubled individuals."
I know Ben Nelson, him saying anything close to this fairly unbelievable. It's a little far-fetched, not to mention that that concern is baseless. We have a staff psychologist who we can request to see anytime, in addition to more psychological and mental health support programs than you can shake a stick at.
After I made it through those scathing criticisms I came upon something of much greater literary quality. Graeme Wood's "The Future of College," is a holistic look at the possible futures of higher education, and concentrates on Minerva during his time with the Founding Class at the beginning of their year in 2014. He does find some troubles with the Minerva plan, such as the lack of research and possible for-profit motive, but also balances it with a deeper look at what Nelson talks about. I highly recommend reading it.
There are more neutral and pro-Minerva articles out there as well. None quite capture what is actually like to be student here, though. Quora offers some better answers. Some come from my compatriots, and others from Minerva staff.
Anyways, back to the story. I decided to apply, mainly because it sounded awesome, and the application was free, so there was little downside to applying to something with a 2% acceptance rate. It was a bit like Pascal's Wager.
I went through the whole process, including assessments, writing out 10 (now 6) accomplishments, counselor information, and swearing that I had never been convicted of a felony. Then, I waited.
March, 2015
I got a mysterious email. "You will know in 24 hours," it said. I waited the requisite 24 hours, until the middle of the night of March 26th. I opened the page again, and cursive writing began to write itself on my screen. "Grant, we invite you to join Minerva..." I was shocked. Then I fell asleep again because it was four in the morning.
In April I committed and carried on with my life in Germany.
August, 2015
I flew to San Francisco at the very end of August for the start of Minerva. The first week was called Foundation Week. It was basically a rapid introduction to everything Minerva, combined with a feast, a private concert, and an obnoxious amount of walking up and down hills.
After that, classes began. There were also numerous issues maintaining stable wifi in the dorms, and some platform stability problems. The tech team worked tirelessly to fix these issues as fast as possible, and after around three sessions everything smoothed out.
At first it was a bit disconcerting to be in a purely online class. The professors also seemed to not be completely comfortable with the platform. But we were also not comfortable using it yet. It was a learning curve for everyone. As the weeks went on, both we, and our professors became quite skilled at using the platform to convey nearly as much emotion and body language as one would have in an in-person seminar. The learning does still feel very personal. The classes are small enough that every professor knows your name, and your individual personality. We get a wide variety of perspectives from our professors. One lives in Budapest, and worked for the World Bank. Another was a war reporter, and lives in Boston. Others live in Canada, and some just down the street in the Mission. That diversity in thought and experience more than makes up for any deficiencies in personal interaction. It feels like you know the professors, and it also feels like the professors know you.
April, 2016
A Holistic Retrospective
The curriculum itself is for the most part, fascinating and engaging. The classes do require far more concentration than lectures than I have been in. When the Active Learning Forum (ALF) is working properly and all in the class are well-prepared, it is a formidable challenger to the Ivory Tower tradition of information transmission.
That said, it is of great importance that all in the class are fully prepared for the class. Nothing hurts peer-instruction based active learning like cluelessness. Once that tragedy of the commons hurdle is crossed, the learning process is fairly straight forward.
Minerva utilizes a much higher level of written essays and assignments than most universities. The word limits are fairly low and strict in order to help teach the parsimony that is valued in the working world. Although it seems counterintuitive at first, the low word limits possibly compel you to think more deeply about the truly important parts of the subject at hand and omit those that muddy it. The essays teach the art of brevity effectively.
December, 2014
-'Twas a cold day in Bavaria, and I was warming myself beside a roaring fire in the sixteenth century farmhouse I was currently calling home.
Yeah... it didn't really happen like that. I was in my room with a window overlooking a rather impressive pile of Bavarian cow manure going through facebook after school in the middle of a dreary December. An ad appeared, and for the first time in my life (I swear) I clicked on it. It was selling something along the lines of "University built for the 21st Century, 7 Cities, Help Build a University!," or something. My memory is impressive, but not that impressive. It took me to a beautifully designed webpage of an apparently brand-new university. I read everything on the site, and thought that it sounded too good to be true. So, I did what every other child-of-the-information age would do, and I googled it.
The first few pages were filled with references from very reputable news sources. These were mostly positive, a few skeptics were sprinkled in. Also present were some vociferous critics. Two in particular still pop up today, almost a year later.
"The Minerva Delusion" is a classic must read for anyone who wants to learn how to make hasty generalizations, assume worst intent, and above all, condemn a project and its backers before it even exists. Chris Peterson, despite your fears, Minerva is not actually a for-profit school.
"Granted, it might not be the same as actually attending an elite school with a terrific education and meritocratic admissions and financial aid.
But then again, neither is the Minerva Project."
Come on, that is just vitriolic, Chris.
The second classic in the canon of anti-Minerva literature is John Seery's lovely attack-piece/op-ed on both Kevin Carey and his book "The End of College," and Minerva. I'm not completely certain where his opinions on technology enhanced learning intersected with trombone courses, but as a quick rebuttal, you can, and I have learned much about playing the trombone from jazz masterclasses posted on Youtube. You just have to play along and practice the technique. Most playing time for musicians is actually spent in individual practice, as Malcom Gladwell manages to find out in Tipping Point. Playing in groups is, of course, important, but nothing stops you from improving greatly on your own. During his lengthy rant he brings up a supposed paraphrase from the Minerva staff during negotiations about student mental health.
"that their advanced biometric screening devices in the admissions process will keep out such troubled individuals."
I know Ben Nelson, him saying anything close to this fairly unbelievable. It's a little far-fetched, not to mention that that concern is baseless. We have a staff psychologist who we can request to see anytime, in addition to more psychological and mental health support programs than you can shake a stick at.
After I made it through those scathing criticisms I came upon something of much greater literary quality. Graeme Wood's "The Future of College," is a holistic look at the possible futures of higher education, and concentrates on Minerva during his time with the Founding Class at the beginning of their year in 2014. He does find some troubles with the Minerva plan, such as the lack of research and possible for-profit motive, but also balances it with a deeper look at what Nelson talks about. I highly recommend reading it.
There are more neutral and pro-Minerva articles out there as well. None quite capture what is actually like to be student here, though. Quora offers some better answers. Some come from my compatriots, and others from Minerva staff.
Anyways, back to the story. I decided to apply, mainly because it sounded awesome, and the application was free, so there was little downside to applying to something with a 2% acceptance rate. It was a bit like Pascal's Wager.
I went through the whole process, including assessments, writing out 10 (now 6) accomplishments, counselor information, and swearing that I had never been convicted of a felony. Then, I waited.
March, 2015
I got a mysterious email. "You will know in 24 hours," it said. I waited the requisite 24 hours, until the middle of the night of March 26th. I opened the page again, and cursive writing began to write itself on my screen. "Grant, we invite you to join Minerva..." I was shocked. Then I fell asleep again because it was four in the morning.
In April I committed and carried on with my life in Germany.
August, 2015
I flew to San Francisco at the very end of August for the start of Minerva. The first week was called Foundation Week. It was basically a rapid introduction to everything Minerva, combined with a feast, a private concert, and an obnoxious amount of walking up and down hills.
After that, classes began. There were also numerous issues maintaining stable wifi in the dorms, and some platform stability problems. The tech team worked tirelessly to fix these issues as fast as possible, and after around three sessions everything smoothed out.
At first it was a bit disconcerting to be in a purely online class. The professors also seemed to not be completely comfortable with the platform. But we were also not comfortable using it yet. It was a learning curve for everyone. As the weeks went on, both we, and our professors became quite skilled at using the platform to convey nearly as much emotion and body language as one would have in an in-person seminar. The learning does still feel very personal. The classes are small enough that every professor knows your name, and your individual personality. We get a wide variety of perspectives from our professors. One lives in Budapest, and worked for the World Bank. Another was a war reporter, and lives in Boston. Others live in Canada, and some just down the street in the Mission. That diversity in thought and experience more than makes up for any deficiencies in personal interaction. It feels like you know the professors, and it also feels like the professors know you.
April, 2016
A Holistic Retrospective
The curriculum itself is for the most part, fascinating and engaging. The classes do require far more concentration than lectures than I have been in. When the Active Learning Forum (ALF) is working properly and all in the class are well-prepared, it is a formidable challenger to the Ivory Tower tradition of information transmission.
That said, it is of great importance that all in the class are fully prepared for the class. Nothing hurts peer-instruction based active learning like cluelessness. Once that tragedy of the commons hurdle is crossed, the learning process is fairly straight forward.
Minerva utilizes a much higher level of written essays and assignments than most universities. The word limits are fairly low and strict in order to help teach the parsimony that is valued in the working world. Although it seems counterintuitive at first, the low word limits possibly compel you to think more deeply about the truly important parts of the subject at hand and omit those that muddy it. The essays teach the art of brevity effectively.
Nothing made of manly means can be perfect. Minerva has made great strides forward in innovating higher education. It has at last applied what science has learned in the last 100 years about how to help people learn. It has pared down much of the bureaucracy that pervades modern higher education. But that is not to say that an ideal higher education system or experience has been achieved. There is still so much progress yet to be had. There was little certainty about what was going to be taught in our classes this year. The same will hold true for the remainder of my Minerva experience. Feedback is given and acted upon. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not.
For all the intention that goes into making everything we do extraordinary, failures still occur. Those best laid plans go awry. That does not, however, mean that we give in. We embrace the uncertainty that the future holds. We improve. We change. We adapt. We challenge. We keep moving on. Throughout each setback, each triumph, each disappointment, and each moment of happiness, we learn. We certainly have not made it there yet, but it is in this way, that we will eventually, Achieve Extraordinary.
Like In Motion Eternal on Facebook for more great content!
And as always, please show your support through shares and likes!
Like In Motion Eternal on Facebook for more great content!
And as always, please show your support through shares and likes!
