Unlock the Secrets Inside 12 of the Most Unbelievably Quirky Colleges You’ve Never Heard Of
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It’s less contentious these days. Other schools, like Roanoke College, offer a BS in Cannabis Science, and graduation ceremonies are unlikely to be raided by the feds.
Hampshire College
Sometimes it feels like grades are passe in our modern world. Why be at the mercy of subjective evaluations by stuffy professors? If you don’t want to be indebted to letter grades, consider Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, which does away with conventional A to F grades. Instead, attendees receive narrative evaluations from teachers about their progress.
Hampshire isn’t the only university to experiment with this alternative system. It’s called “ungrading,” and it’s practiced in a number of places, sometimes just for incoming freshmen. It’s intended to reduce student stress by eliminating pressure to perform and on the premise that a lower grade doesn’t necessarily mean a student learned less. At Brown University in Rhode Island, you might get an A, B, or C, but no D or F.
Sometimes certain instructors will make use of ungrading rather than the school as a whole. At the University of Michigan-Dearborn, Associate Professor Emily Luxon maintains grades but gives students multiple tries to better the quality of their submitted work.
It does sound unusual, but consider—as a student, how many times have you asked a teacher what you need to do to get an A and then performed the bare minimum? That’s what ungrading is trying to avoid.
Master Tattoo Institute
There are plenty of art schools in the world, but not many that specialize in the unique art of tattooing. If you think your career path will wind up in a tat shop, you can consider the Master Tattoo Institute in Miami Beach, Florida. Attendees can take online or in-person courses ranging from the fundamentals of tattooing to advanced body piercing. While that’s not mandatory for body piercers, having some formal instruction before you put a hole in someone does sound like a good idea.
Obviously, tattoo school isn’t a prerequisite. Tattoo artists usually break into the industry by becoming apprentices under experienced artists and then getting licensed, though those requirements can vary by state. Other offbeat art lessons can be had at the University of Connecticut, which offers a BFA in Puppet Arts, and Emerson College, where funny people or not-so-funny people can learn to be amusing and earn a BFA in Comedic Arts.
Carpigiani Gelato University
Do you want to make gelato not just a hobby but a career? A Carpigiani Gelato University in Bologna, Italy, you can get a leg up in your gastronomic education. Gelato is, as you probably know, a less creamy type of artisanal ice cream perfected by Italian chefs. This isn’t a frozen dairy dessert but the real thing. Roughly 2000 people attend Carpigiani each year for its cutting-edge gelato technology and access to its esteemed gelato experts, and many more take online courses.
In 2017, Business Insider reported that attendees experienced eight-hour classroom days and a crash course in gelato production as well as the ins and outs of opening a gelato business. If you’re worried about not speaking Italian, it’s not a problem. Classes are offered in French, English, and Spanish.
Webb Institute
Sure, Harvard is cool. So is Yale. But wouldn’t you want to go to college at stately Wayne Manor? You can. Kind of. Webb Institute is a naval university located in Glen Cove, New York, and its main building is so regal that Warner Bros. has used it repeatedly for exterior shots of Bruce Wayne’s estate in several Batman projects, including Batman Forever, the Fox TV series Gotham, and the first Joker movie with Joaquin Phoenix.
But standing in for Batman’s bachelor pad is not the coolest fact about the school. Offering a dual degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering means students need some hands-on experience with naval research. The school has a 90-foot long towing tank used for model ships. And if you’re lucky enough to get into Webb, you’ll at least feel like a privileged rich kid even if you aren’t one. Tuition for all incoming American students is free.
St. John’s College
There’s required reading and then there’s required reading. At St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland, students aren’t given a stack of textbooks to review. They’re assigned dozens of examples of classic literature instead. Their undergraduate curriculum hinges on the reading and reviewing of over 200 titles, some of which date back 3000 years. Then, students participate in roundtable discussions of the works.
Freshmen, expect to explore the writings of Archimedes, Aristotle, and Virginia Woolf. Sophomores move on to the Bible, Chaucer, and Shakespeare. Juniors enjoy Austen, and seniors peruse Karl Marx, Emily Dickinson, and Supreme Court decisions. Want to graduate? You better learn to like or at least understand James Joyce.
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