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Lost
University
It's been just
shy of a decade since I completed my undergraduate studies,
and I have yet to feel the urge to pursue a Masters. Yet
lately, I've been finding myself back in that old routine
-- pouring over recommended reading, taking notes in lectures,
and studying for exams. And all because of a TV show.
Yes,
I've recently found myself knee deep in LOST University.
What
is LOST University you ask? When concocting the final season,
which is set to not only wrap up character arcs but answer
and address some of the series' longstanding mysteries,
producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof came up with LOST
University as a way to prep audiences for the developments
to come. Plus, the producers have shied away from giving
away any details regarding the upcoming season. So, the
additional challenge lies in getting people excited for
the new season without spilling the beans on the twists
and turns of the final season.
Enter
LOST University. The University is a set of courses based
on LOST-related curriculum. This isn't a schlock trivia
concept, and the courses don't focus on island lore -- these
are bonafide studies in subjects with professors and educators
at the helm. But more on this in a minute. First, the setup.
I came
a little late to the game, for a couple of reasons. Most
blu-ray equipped LOST fanatics had the jump on me, picking
up the set when it was released and diving straight into
it head first. I'd asked Santa for the set, so I chose to
wait it out. Surprisingly, I heard very little regarding
the University feature from the usual circles. Odd.
Once
the set was mine, I found myself consumed with other priorities.
Yes, although I count myself amongst the LOST obsessed,
some things do take precedence -- like figuring out how
to put together my daughter's new kitchen play set. So when
the opportunity arose to fire up ye olde blu-ray and delve
into University I did so with earnest, only to be stopped
cold in my tracks.
I've
dragged my heels on connecting my blu-ray player to the
Internets after reading about BD-Live fails, like live director's
commentaries for one. I pre-registered months in advance
for LOST University, but never realized that the feature
would require Internet connectivity to participate. So part
of the holdup involved pulling the blu-ray out of the living
room, moving it to the bedroom, and hooking it up to my
router. Once that was set, I needed to update the player
firmware, which took a while.
Once
all of that was out of the way, I was ready to dive in.
I quickly registered for the first semester, chosing to
enroll in History 101: Ancient Writing on the Wall, Physics
101: Introductory Physics of Time Travel, and Philosophy
101: I'm LOST, Therefore I Am. In order to move onto the
second semester, attendees must earn a total of 21 credits.
Each
course comprises of two classes, some recommended reading
and homework, and a test. The workflow is simple, you head
into a class and attend a lecture. The lecture is a video
of a professor who specializes in the curriculum explaining
some of the basics, with a focus on tidbits related to the
subject as used in LOST. Understand, the lectures never
even reference the source material of the show, instead
these are bonafide lessons in the subject area of choice.
Granted, some direction is definitely at play.
For
example, in the second class of History 101, titled Deciphering
Hieroglyphics, lecturer Eric Wells focuses on the process
of interpreting Egyptian hieroglyphics. Wells is no slouch,
he's a Ph.D student of Egyptology at UCLA and his research
"focuses on religious practices among non-elite individuals."
So, when Wells explains how the placement and direction
of each hieroglyph informs the interpretation, based on
the practices of reading hieroglyphics, he is giving the
student some fundamental knowledge. This makes LOST University
more than just a simple promotional tool. However, the choice
of hieroglyphs used in the lecture are intentional, and
students of LOST mythology are being armed with more tools
to help interpret the goings on within the show.
Whether
or not enrolling in LOST University will pay off in terms
of unlockable footage, secret details regarding season 6,
or any of the other usual fare remains to be seen. For the
time being, I'm still cramming for finals. Graduation is
on February 12th, which means I'm under the gun to complete
semester 2.
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