Nomad University
The College of Your Choice
Click Here to Visit the Nomad University Store
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Education should be
for discovery, not for approval.
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To learn what you
don't know, you must be willing to go into the unknown.
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Nomads are people
who know how to move with the seasons to find good grounds for their flocks:
they extend hospitalities
to others whom they meet on their way; they are able to
carry with them everything they really
need.
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Nomad University
is your class reunion
from the future.
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About Nomad University
Nomad University is an international network of outstanding teachers allied with an open global community of self-directed students. We do not offer standard academic degrees. In fact, in our school it is the students who grade the teachers. The teachers can pass or fail. Good teachers get to teach more, while the bad ones go away and stop bothering the students.
Education should be for discovery,
not for approval.
Students progress through three levels, or "Steppes" (like the steppes
of Central Asia where the nomadic tribes wander). Entering through Steppe
One a student purchases a ticket to a class without knowing what the
class will be about or who the teacher will be. We say that to
learn what you don't know, you must go into the unknown. Nomad University
provides a "high quality of unknown" by tracking down the best teachers
in any field. By learning about a subject they may have thought
"wasn't interesting" from a teacher who is "very interesting," students
broaden their interdisciplinary horizons and discover good pastures for
grazing they might never have come upon otherwise.
Steppe Two is more like a standard university curriculum. There
is a catalog of courses and teachers who have been pre-screened by the
students in Steppe One. The difference from the standard educational environment
is that the direction of a given course can change at any time according
to the interests of the class and the guidance of the teacher. If
something turns up which seems worthwhile, the content, form, and duration
of the course can be adjusted to include it. And as, before, the students
continue to evaluate the teachers, so that the quality of instruction
is continuously refined.
Steppe Three is available to those who wish to master a particular
subject or work closely with a specific teacher or group of teachers.
The student can apply to become an apprentice and teaching assistant.
Eventually, in their capacity as teaching
assistants, some of these students will become so proficient that they
will start to receive high evaluation scores from the classes they are
helping to teach.
At that point, we will offer them the opportunity to teach a Steppe One
class themselves, where the assistant will face a group of ready learners
who have no preconception of what they are about to be taught. If
the assistant passes this test and receives high scores from the students,
they will then have "graduated" from our program and may be invited to
stay on as part of the faculty.
Thus what is transmitted through the Nomad system is not a pre-determined
body of information, but rather an organic, cross-disciplinary, personal
understanding along with the real ability to be a clear, coherent, inspiring
teacher. We believe that this is more important for education than
any degree.
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While the Nomad University caravan has been on the road since 1974, its travels in Cyberspace are just beginning. Please return to our oasis frequently for updates.
Nomad University
P.O. Box 5677
Bellevue, WA 98006
Click Here to Visit the Nomad University Store
Click here to read the Bio of the Nomad University Director
To communicate with us, send email to MainTent@nomaduniversity.com