stray thoughts on Russian and education

[Alina Israeli]

>I just returned from my freshman seminar where I gave what my students have
>called my 'Four Magic Years' lecture (some of them hear it 2-3 times).  In
>it I remind students that --except in extraordinaty cases- never again in
>their lives will they be able to set aside four years of their lives to
>explore any question or issue they wish, from the outer reaches of outer
>space to the inner recesses of inner space:  what is the universe, what is
>the earth, what is Russia, what are Russians (French, Guyanese, Chipewas,
>etc.), what is it to be an American, who am I, who should I be, what is the
>mind, what are the parts of the mind?  They will always have parties,
>social organizations, athletics in their lives but never four years with an
>enormous library and specialists who have devoted their careers to
>answering just these questions.  The suggestion is that when decision time
>comes, they should do what they can only do at a university and not choose
>those things which they can do any time, any place.
>
>The question is whether it works.   Maybe it is -- we have 3 more in 1st-
>year Russian than we had last year.
>
>--Bob


And in the meantime your own administration is probably pressing them to
declare a major during the first year if not first semester because this is
the source of revenue for departments. And the Freshmen advisors do the
same.

Alina