Just curious: what are some colleges where you’ll often find students talking about current events, politics, the arts, science, just anything academic or intellectual (not related to schoolwork!) and actually enjoying it?
Obviously, this happens in the ivies and stuff but I’ve heard from current students that they much prefer talking about the next big part than such conversations… so any ideas?
What instantly came to mind was the Spanish term “tertulia” which references a social gathering in which people talk about current affairs. Aside from Ivy League schools, I’d imagine such gatherings would happen within institutions of similar repertoire. Off the top of my head: Stanford, UChicago, Duke, Georgetown, A multitude of schools in Boston, etc… If you’re really looking for this as an essential part of student life, perhaps contact students you know at the schools you’re looking at and ask them to describe their social experience
UChicago
Probably lots of schools if you hang out with such a crowd.
Also, at any given school, the concentration of such students may vary by major. Or, more specifically, whether the major tends to attract those students intellectually interested in the subject, or has those students diluted in numbers by other choosing it for other reasons (pre-med, pre-law, post-graduation jobs). For example, in the early 2000s, CS probably mostly attracted students intellectually interested in the subject. Now, those students intellectually interested in CS are joined by many others who are in it for the post-graduation job prospects, which are much better now than in the early 2000s.
UChicago, Swarthmore, Harvey Mudd (particularly STEM), maybe Carleton.
Oh, I 2nd Swarthmore, Vassar, Chicago, Most competitive LACs, MIT, Oberlin, many women’s colleges, most but not all Ivy’s, Stanford, most competitive private schools but only the very competitive (admissions not climate)ones. The schools with holistic admissions that value intellectualism and that try to avoid the students who got A’s in high school as a competitive feat.
I have observed (or participated in) many, many spontaneous conversations like that at every school I’ve attended or worked at, ranging from Ivy League to state flagship to public regional to selective private to open admission to community college.
Really, a lot of this sort of thing is what you make of it, not where it happens.
UChicago, Swarthmore, Williams, Amherst, Harvey Mudd, Deep Springs, Hampshire come to mind, but really everywhere. There are nerds everywhere (thankfully!).
Reed - visited it with my daughter - attended a classroom session - it felt like it had a significantly more intense an atmosphere compared to most other colleges i took her to. Look up their reputation on ctcl.org - they are actually known as “the most intellectual college in america”
Regarding Ivy League schools, opinions vary. The author of the book Excellent Sheep, a former Yale professor, writes somewhat cuttingly about a few of them:
“My examples come from Yale [whose students the author has already charecterized as having aspects of ‘excellent sheep’], since that is where I taught. If anything, it probably deserves its reputation as being the best among elite universities (as distinct from liberal arts colleges) at nurturing creativity and intellectual independence. Notoriously preprofessional places like Penn, Duke, or Washington University, or notoriously anti-intellectual ones like Princeton or Dartmouth, are clearly far worse.”
I would question, however, “notoriously” according to whom?
(Excellent Sheep [2014], Deresiewicz, p. 15.)
Northwestern.
Deresiewicz is a chimp.
Haverford & Carleton, definitely
I don’t know where the OP gets the idea that intellectual exchanges “for fun” only take place at a few colleges…
There are dozens of colleges that I think OP might be interested in. Basically any of the very selective LACs are probably a good bet, as well as the previously menitoned colleges and universities. OP, you need to focus more on what type of vibe, people, overall experience, etc, you are looking for, becasue you won’t be able to apply to dozens of schools. Even honors programs at big state Us can have those kinds of conversations. Start honing in on some more tangible priorities, and you will find your intellectual conversations as a bonus.
At my much maligned state U (hint, it’s in NJ), all the time. But I was in the honors program, so maybe that helped.
I agree with @GMTplus7 .
I agree with @GMTplus7 and @ucbalumnus Those types of conversations can and do take place anywhere. It is more a product of the people you choose to socialize with.
D texted me her first semester so excited about sitting out on the porch of the humanities building, sipping Starbucks and discussing Homer with a group of students. She’s also participated in Model United Nations conferences at the UN headquarters in New York. Her school regularly offers trips to museums and performances in Baltimore, DC, and New York, and has a touring company from the American Shakespeare Center on campus every fall to do several performances and visit classes to talk to students about theater, Shakespeare history, and so on. Not an Ivy, just a good solid Jesuit school - Loyola Maryland. Does everyone there have the same experience? No, she’s known plenty of people who prefer watching TV or partying over going to the National Gallery. She is majoring in a Humanities discipline, is in the Honors program, takes Latin and ancient Greek, is involved in the Young Democrats, Model UN, and volunteers at a local animal shelter with a group of fellow students, so she’s found her people.
This is really dumb, but I’ve actually “peeked” at yikyak conversations at various universities. I noted that Oberlin > Michigan > Indiana, FYI. Kind of predictable I suppose.