How does a seven-week course in gaming centered around Lord of the Rings Online grab you? Online Games: Literature, New Media, and Narrative is being taught by Vanderbilt’s Jay Clayton, according to the syllabus published on Coursera.
The class begins on April 27th and lasts seven weeks. Students are required to read The Fellowship of the Ring as well as view the Peter Jackson film adaptation, after which they’ll participate in seminars, lectures by Clayton, and “interactive assignments and written assignments” inside LotRO.
[Source: Coursera; thanks Grok!]
I might sit in on the class since I live in Nashville!
Rumm On average people who attend college make $1.3M more than their counterparts in their lifetime earnings.  $1M return on my investment sounds okay to me.  Also, this isn’t $50k to go to the University of South Miami Beach College, Rhode Island campus – it’s one of the finest intellectual institutions in the world.  Literally, objectively, one of the world’s best places to get an education.
inb4 someone asks for a source:Â http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/moneymatters/a/edandearnings.htm
melissamcdon paragonlostinspace  If you’re really attempting to divide the entirety of the college experience into a dollar-per-course ratio, you’ve missed the point of going to college. Â
Additionally, had you bothered do do even the slightest bit of research, you’d be aware that despite the fact that Vanderbilt is consistently ranked in the top 20 universities in America, a vast majority of students do not pay full tuition, and in fact the university employs a No-Loans Policy:  If you receive admission and a need-based aid package, your award will include no student loans. It will be 97 percent gift aid (grant money that does not require repayment) and a 3 percent work expectation.
Feel free to educate yourselves:Â http://www.vanderbilt.edu/financialaid/
Karl_Hungus There is nothing lackluster or mediocre about LOTRO. Â It’s in the top 3 or 4 MMOs ever.
Karl_Hungus Also incredibly faithful to the source material.
paragonlostinspace Rumm melissamcdon Funny I graduated with my masters 2 years ago, and paid for 100% of my college education by myself.  And lawrence tech runs about 40k a year after books etc.  Yes it’s expensive, but parents shouldn’t feel obligated to pay for their kids schooling.
They pay for it themselves, they will appreciate it a lot more.
Lesson 1: How to take one of the greatest intellectual properties in the history of western civilization and turn it into a lackluster mediocre MMO.
Hey, the tip thing works! :D
pff awesome sign me up!
Nothing, because it’s a Coursera course. It’s free, and for fun – not credit.