University Professor's Program (UPROF)

University Professors Program

Over considerable faculty discussion and objection, this program was established to allow cross-fertilization of ideas between departments. It makes possible new majors, available to undergraduates and graduates alike.
  Open only to students who achieve the highest entrance examination marks, the candidate must submit an essay discussing his proposed course of study. Each student works very closely with a specific professor until graduation. Among the majors that UProf has recognized are Medieval Metaphysics (philosophy and history), Folklore (history and anthropology), Egyptology (archaeology and religion), Oriental Studies (classical languages, history, and religion), Classical Civilizations (history and architecture), Metaphysics (physics and philosophy), and even Cryptography (math and English). These are not fixed, and students are encouraged to develop their own fields of independent study. Though they wear no identity badges, UProf students are Miskatonic's elite, and often have the snobbishness to prove it. Their heavy courseloads are balanced by the fact that much of their work can be done orally. A skilled orator or fast talker in the UProf program could go an entire semester without taking an exam or writing a paper, so long as he participated thoroughly in classes and seminars. This program, because of the variety of experiences available, is recommended for investigators. Much tolerance is granted to UProf students. Many think them coddled to an unseemly degree.
 

  • G. E. Moore (1873-1958), English philosopher who approached philosophy as his nation would, using ordinary language and decrying idealism. His Principia Ethica (1903) argued chat good was indefinable and could not be investigated scientifically.
  • Edmund Husserl (1859-1938), a German philosopher who advanced the concept of phenomenology and who would greatly influence Europe's existentialists of the next few decades.

Maritime Semester

Miskatonic runs an unusual field research semester, intended primarily for Biology majors interested in marine studies and for students interested in seafaring careers. Such work upholds the traditions of the Omes and Derbys, and reflects the great heritage of Miskatonic. The semester includes class work, four weeks of study at Woods Hole, and six weeks at sea on the halyards of the Orne or the Derby, two Arkham-based sail-rigged merchantmen (with auxiliary diesel engines) that ply the eastem seaboard. Instead of tests, the students conclude the maritime semester with two weeks in Halifax, Nova Scotia, observing port and cargo procedures.

Physically demanding and mentally challenging, this program accepts five students each semester. Special seminars teach ocean studies (Biology Department), navigation and weather (Astronomy and Physics Departments) maritime history and culture (Modem History Department), and maritime law and customs procedures (School of Law). Graduates often enter the Merchant Marines and quickly brevet to officer status; this likewise provides a good background for students entering the import-export business. Basic StudiesBasic Studies is a two-year program at M.U. offered to students who do not meet the general qualifications required by the admissions board. Significantly, a high proportion of students in this program come from families of means. During the two years the students must take a fixed curriculum of English, history, Latin, and mathematics. After a successful first year, students in this department may also take one or two classes from other M.U. departments. At the conclusion of a successful second year, students in Basic Studies may transfer to any M.U. department that will accept them, to complete a regular degree. Every few years the Board of Trustees chooses a new department head from a pool of candidates which include prominent Arkham businessmen.

The latest is Jonathan Harriman, an Arkham lawyer who has saved with distinction for the past four years. There are no professors of Basic Studies. Instead, teaching staff are hired to impart: the core curriculum. This provides a good opportunity for recent graduates to gain experience and also gives them valuable contacts toward an assistant professorship within the regular university departments. Mr. Harriman is rarely on campus himself.
 
Department Staff

  • Mr. JONATHAN HARRIMAN, age 51, Attorney, Academician.  A quiet man, he enjoys observing the lives of others, while he dreams of great adventures. His work at Miskatonic is emotionally and intellectually rewarding, but not very profitable.

Class Schedules

Classes at Miskatonic are organized as either as one hour and twenty minute sessions on each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, or as two hour sessions on each Tuesday and Thursday. Both schemes result in four hours of instruction per class per week. If a student can schedule every class on Tuesdays and Thursdays, he has five unscheduled days per week, and this is thought by many Miskies (members of the University community) to be a significant benefit.
  The classes themselves are given numbers as well as names. These numbers serve as informal rankings according to difficulty and esotericism. Class size gets small as class topics become more specialized. Keepers can easily make up any courses desired. (Indeed, if the Keeper can think of it, some professor at Miskatonic probably offers it.) Students (and thus Keepers) generally refer to their classes by general number, for example, "I'm late for my English 301 class", thus sparing the listener any need to understand the meaning of the class title, or what the enrollee hopes to achieve in it.

01-99 LEVEL
These courses are remedial. There are few of these classes during the 1920's, typically only English, a Romance language, high school level mathematics, and perhaps an introduction to a science. After World War 11, such classes become more common. These classes cost tuition money, just as any other class does, but they confer no academic credit.

100-LEVEL
Typically taken by freshmen or by people interested in a topic but majoring in something else. Some examples are English Composition 101, Elementary Mathematics 103, or Biology 101. Most majors require a variety of 100-level classes in disparate topics in order to fulfill the ideal of a well rounded education. For very common classes such as basic Biology lectures, the lecture class may number a hundred   or more people, while the corresponding lab sections may be a fifth as large. The professor lectures, and his graduate assistants run the labs. When they can, most professors will approach teaching such a class like a factory assembly line, with an unvarying written lesson plan and regular tests that haven't changed in twenty years. As the semester advances, a 100 level class that falls much below twenty students is in danger of being merged with another class at a different time and perhaps on a different day.

200-LEVEL

For students interested in the topic, or required in that major, for example Russian Folklore 220, Euclidian Geometry 202, or Basic Anatomy 203. Essentially sophomore level, so that although anyone is allowed to join, the workload is higher than for a 100-level class, and the topics are somewhat less general. Because these classes are more difficult, they are smaller in size and professors can begin to spend time with individual students.

300-LEVEL

These and 400-level classes often require one or more prerequisite classes within the department, to establish the student's credentials as a scholar and to make sure that foolish freshmen do not consume valuable class space. More advanced topics might be Babylonian Literature 302, Non-Euclidian Geometry 304, or Human Dissection 359.

400-LEVEL

At this rarified level, classes are typically small, attended by some mix of juniors, seniors, and graduate students. Topics are totally dependent on what a professor decides to teach, and can be very specific, such as Cuneiform Variations in Aleut Decorative Bordas (Anthro 429), Architectural Similes in the Later Speeches of Samuel Smiles (English 404), Modern Forensic Pathology (Mea 410), and so on. Since the class size is small (usually fewer than ten students), professors may choose to evaluate each student personally before allowing him to take the class, to make sure each student has enough background to be able to contribute to the class.

500- AND 600-LEVEL

These are for graduate students, but intelligent seniors may petition to join, and are usually accepted on the basis of their G.P.A.'s in the department. Some of the 600-level classes are very small seminars, involving a specialty of the professor's, or perhaps amounting to cooperative research on a particular problem. Most 600-level classes are independent study, involving only one student and a guiding professor. Depending on the major, one or two papers may be required per semester, but reading, research, and conferences between student and teacher may be intense.

AUDITORS

By arrangement with the professor, intelligent outsiders may be able to sit in on a certain class without registering with the University. The professor may decide to require papers and class discussion from an auditor, but rarely mid-term or final exams. The University prefers that all such transactions be formalized, and officially charges half of the class's regular tuition for an audited class. Paid audited classes are shown on the scholar's transcript, but add no credit hours. Informal arrangements with a professor do not appear on the scholar's transcript. An auditor could later take the course for credit, but not from the same professor.

Core Curriculum

Every Miskatonic student must take certain classes. These are few, and talented students can opt to get one or more of them waived by passing tests offered at the beginning of each semester. The classes are English Composition, Survey of Mathematics, and American History. In addition, all students must take either History and Appreciation of Art or Introduction to Melody, Rhythm, and Orchestration, or register for private instruction by a recognized art or music instructor.
  Since these required courses must be taken by the great majority of all entering students, the respective departments are allowed many instructors and huge numbers of students without discussion. Required courses represent a departmental sinecure, and the departments involved remain powerhouses in M.U. academic politics, because they command so much manpower and resources.
  Beyond the infamous required courses, the different schools within the University have additional requirements. For example, in Language, Literature, and the Arts, all majors must take at least two years of a foreign language (Latin and ancient languages are acceptable), usually French. The School of Science requires one year of either German or French, and at least two science courses in subjects outside the major department. Law and Business, showing true New England spirit, require all students to participate for at least one season in a club sport or a varsity team (and special attention is meted out to wise students who choose hockey, the law professors' consensus favorite). Pre-med students must serve at least one semester in the night shift of the hospital as an orderly or nurse's assistant before they can graduate.

Courseload and Workload
 Students are expected to be enrolled on a full-time basis, taking four classes each semester or three classes and a music lesson or club sport. Special permission is needed to take five courses. So a student's of ficial class workload is a mere sixteen hours of lectures each week. Add in twice that for homework and study time, and even a diligent freshman or sophomore is busy less than eight hours a day and still gets Saturday and Sundays off. For upperclassmen in technical subjects the study load increasesslightly, but this is balanced by the opposite being true for LLA upperclassmen.

M.U. excerpts © 1995 by Sandy Antunes and Chaosium. Inc.
Miskatonic University original manuscript © 1994 by Sandy Antunes; all rights reserved. Additional material © 1995 by Chaosium Inc.; all rights reserved.

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