Source:
Ivory Tower. Dir. Andrew Rossi. Perf. Jamshed Barucha, Anthony Carnevale, Sebastian Thrun. Samuel Goldwyn Films, 2014. Film
Summary
This film documentary takes a critical look at the college system with rocketing tuition cost and the ever growing student loan debt, now over $1 Trillion, and asks the question: Is College worth the cost? Filmmaker, Andrew Rossi builds a compelling view of the change to a business model that promotes the expansion of facilities and other amenities over providing quality education. The issues are brought to light through a series of interviews conducted around Arizona State, Cooper Union, Harvard, San Jose State, and Wesleyan University, among several others. He explores the use of massive open online course (MOOC) provided by MIT, edX, Coursera and San Jose State’s attempt at using Udacity, a for-profit educational company offering MOOCs, to meet educational requirements. The Thiel Fellowship, that encourages young students to drop out of college and pursue creating a startup, scientific research, or work on a social movement is examined as the current college situation leads to students looking for change. His over arching theme is the system needs to change and a sustainable economic base must be created.
Quality
This film appears to be a good quality source. Andrew Rossi is an Emmy nominated Director/Producer and Ivory Tower was nominated for an Emmy award and the Grand Jury awards at both the Miami and Sundance film festivals. Some may argue that due to its documentary nature that it has a highly slanted bias to draw in an audience as a film. Providing opposing viewpoints within the documentary such as the students of Cooper Union and the differing views of Jamshed Barucha, the President of Cooper Union lends to the feeling of equality the view should feel for opposing factions.
Issues
This source presents a disturbing view of the current state of higher education in the United States. Although ideals such as the MOOC’s and programs like the Thiel Fellowship are explored no significant time is spent in the documentary on groups or individuals exploring possible solutions to the problems facing the current system. Viewers may be left with the feeling of, now I know the system is broken but how do we go about fixing it?
Key Words and Phrases:
Economics
Student Debt
MOOC
Business Model
Education
Student Loans
Alternative Education
College Tuition
Ivory Tower. Dir. Andrew Rossi. Perf. Jamshed Barucha, Anthony Carnevale, Sebastian Thrun. Samuel Goldwyn Films, 2014. Film
Summary
This film documentary takes a critical look at the college system with rocketing tuition cost and the ever growing student loan debt, now over $1 Trillion, and asks the question: Is College worth the cost? Filmmaker, Andrew Rossi builds a compelling view of the change to a business model that promotes the expansion of facilities and other amenities over providing quality education. The issues are brought to light through a series of interviews conducted around Arizona State, Cooper Union, Harvard, San Jose State, and Wesleyan University, among several others. He explores the use of massive open online course (MOOC) provided by MIT, edX, Coursera and San Jose State’s attempt at using Udacity, a for-profit educational company offering MOOCs, to meet educational requirements. The Thiel Fellowship, that encourages young students to drop out of college and pursue creating a startup, scientific research, or work on a social movement is examined as the current college situation leads to students looking for change. His over arching theme is the system needs to change and a sustainable economic base must be created.
Quality
This film appears to be a good quality source. Andrew Rossi is an Emmy nominated Director/Producer and Ivory Tower was nominated for an Emmy award and the Grand Jury awards at both the Miami and Sundance film festivals. Some may argue that due to its documentary nature that it has a highly slanted bias to draw in an audience as a film. Providing opposing viewpoints within the documentary such as the students of Cooper Union and the differing views of Jamshed Barucha, the President of Cooper Union lends to the feeling of equality the view should feel for opposing factions.
Issues
This source presents a disturbing view of the current state of higher education in the United States. Although ideals such as the MOOC’s and programs like the Thiel Fellowship are explored no significant time is spent in the documentary on groups or individuals exploring possible solutions to the problems facing the current system. Viewers may be left with the feeling of, now I know the system is broken but how do we go about fixing it?
Key Words and Phrases:
Economics
Student Debt
MOOC
Business Model
Education
Student Loans
Alternative Education
College Tuition
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