From puppets to Potter – these degrees are no joke

Such a shame. Perhaps this is where our universities are going wrong; instead of telling us what subjects we can read from thier prospectus they should compete for our custom by offering to make a course up if, say, ten or more people want to study a particular thing. Full academic rigour would be required but who knows what the outcome would be if higher education could be truly liberalised, and what careers and opportunities would open up for people all over the world. Initially it would be a challenge to find suitable professors to develop and deliver these courses in response to unpredictable demands, but the one thing we need more than ever in these highly technologised times is more people with open minds, a capacity for intelligent responses to situations, and an eagerness to think seriously about things and communicate effectively. Far be it from me to say that a comprehensive study of the world of Harry Potter in its historical, sociological, and literary context could not be very fruitful and worthy of a degree.

John – Putting together a new degree is actually a major undertaking because subject benchmarks must be met and input is needed from other institutions that act as external assessors. Even producing a new module involves plenty of work. What is often done is to rename modules and tweak the content to add appeal. I don’t see a problem in having an appealing if inaccurate title for a module providing that there is an accurate synopsis of the content.

I would not dismiss the Harry Potter module even though I cannot relate to it. The module description certainly makes it seem more plausible.
https://www.dur.ac.uk/faculty.handbook/module_description/?year=2010&module_code=EDUC2381

I agree, Wavechange. I should have issued an irony alert. I appreciate that developing self-service on-demand degree courses might be more challenging than the academic system could possibly cope with in the immediate future or, indeed, be more intellectually sophisticated than the country requires! I was just musing that the current model of higher education straightjacket could do with a little flexibility, especially for mature students who might not be looking for career relevance but want something truly mind-stretching to avoid having to pine away their days writing pieces for Which? Conversation,enjoyable though that undoubtedly is. On reflection, perhaps the H. Potter fantasies are not the right thing though, for me at least..

Sorry John, I was on automatic pilot. I may be retired but I’m still interested in what is happening in higher education. I very much agree with what you say about the need for flexibility and to a certain extent this has been met by the introduction of modules, allowing students some freedom to customise their degrees to suit their interests, abilities and career aspirations. In the sciences, there is usually a choice of research projects. Sadly, the more interesting projects may go to the better performing students, even where a weaker student could excel in practical work on a topic that motivates them. There is probably more scope for adapting to market demand in taught masters degrees.

I was being charitable about the Harry Potter module so as not to offend anyone involved involved, whether studying it or with its delivery. On the other hand, I cannot see any problem with having one oddball module in a degree course. Computer science courses sometimes have modules on gaming, and that raised a few eyebrows at the time. Running a degree on Ethical Hacking may be novel as a degree, but that has been in computer science modules for years.

I wonder if there are any degree courses on consumer rights. Obviously law departments cover some of the relevant legal issues, but I’m not aware of any degree courses.