Professor Elam

Thursday October 18 2012

Decades ago my high school friends and I went 'away' to college.  I suppose that idea springs from the notion that eternal truth, knowledge, and the wisdom of the ages must reside somewhere else. How could it be right here under our noses? At that point in time there was, and is, a great deal more information at UT Austin than in Odessa or Andrews, TX. And it was a rich experience complete with all the trappings of movie script like creation of what one might imagine that college, far far away as Shrek might say, would be. 

But here we all are, a few minutes from home rather than many miles. While the majority of our students are juggling work and family responsibility, I think we could offer a richer University Experience. While Austin gets the limelight, San Antonio offers multiple rich museum experiences with teh Witte, McNay, and SA Museum of Art. 

While Toledo, OH was the brunt of a satirical John Denver song, it features an impressive Monet exhibit this week.  This French painter captured life in France of the 1880s in a series of portraits. Examining the works in this series, one is transformed back to that age, perhaps not really so different from our own. 

My point is that the University Experience should be more than homework and class. San Antonio is rich with art, music, and  lively theater groups. Just yesterday a student shared his well done web creation with me that features the San Antonio Ragtime Society.