Every Friday from 4 PM to 8 PM, admission to the Museum of Modern Art is free. FREE! Not $20. Free.
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Filed under: Learn, Think, Watch | Tags: College Inc., Cultivated Word, education, Kickstarter, learning, mikekarnj, philanthropy, Skillshare, social entrepreneurship, student loan crisis
My friend Mike has become increasingly dismayed by higher education’s not-so-subtle shift in focus away from learning and towards profit maximization. He is alarmed by the fast-growing, already-massive amount of student loan debt in this country, and he wants us to step back and rethink why it is that we go to school, why it is that we pursue higher education – to get back to the core of it all: learning. His blog entry entitled College, Inc. explored some of the facts and figures surrounding the student loan crisis and floated some of his ideas for educational reform.
He’s decided, now, to actually do something about it all. Mike’s co-founded an educational startup called Skillshare, which is launching next month. Their mission is to flip the traditional notion of education on its head and revolutionize learning.
He’s teamed up with the folks over at The Cultivated Word to help spread the word about the looming student loan crisis and why we need to pay attention. They want to create an animated video to shed light on the issues at hand and to get people excited about learning again, not just about going to college or getting a degree.
So pledge a few bucks to help him make this video. He’s got a goal of $2,750 to hit by December 2nd. If he doesn’t reach his goal, you won’t be charged a cent. If he does, you’ll get to be a part of something good. http://kck.st/d0MG8o
Follow Mike | Twitter @mikekarnj or @skillshare | Blog mikekarnj.com/blog
Filed under: Go, Learn | Tags: Asian American, Chinese American, free, history, Maya Lin, MOCA, museums, Thursday
The Skint is one of my fave deal sources on Twitter. Today, they retweeted Target Free Thursdays at the Museum of Chinese in the Americas, or MOCA in NYC, not to be confused with the MoCA in LA (Museum of Contemporary Art). I’m especially intrigued by the “With a Single Step: Stories in the Making of America” exhibit in the space designed by Maya Lin, the artist/architect who designed the Vietnam Veterans War Memorial.
With a Single Step: Stories in the Making of America, MOCA’s new core exhibit, will bring to life the Museum’s unique historical content and birth a compelling art work by fusing itself with the architectural heart of its new home designed by Maya Linon Centre Street. Metaphorically and literally, this “heart” will ground visitors, and be the focal point of the “new MOCA experience.” This presentation is an innovative approach to museum and exhibition design. It will facilitate a new way of interacting with content: through the evocative use of space that stirs visitors’ emotions and breaks down barriers to deeper learning and understanding.
This looks like it’ll be a great space, and an informative and interesting exhibit on Asian American history. I’ve never been, so I think I’ll check it out tonight. If you want to join and grab a bite afterwards, let me know!
Go: MOCA NYC (Chinatown) 215 Centre Street between Howard and Grand, New York, NY 10013. Free Thursday 11 am to 9 pm.
Filed under: Go, Learn, Listen, Watch | Tags: cheap, event, Harvest, Hobby, jazz, NYC, paragliding
Hobby is a gathering organized by the good folks over at Harvest where four folks are invited to talk each month about what they do when they’re not actually working. Each speaker talks about his or her hobby for 5 minutes before a 5 minute Q&A session. My friend Mike, who spoke about poker and decision-making, suggested that Harvest get in touch with me to see if I might like to talk about this here blog. Crazy though it may be, they actually decided to give it a shot and they’re giving me a microphone (gasp!) and a remote control (double gasp!!) so I can talk about cooking and eating and shopping and other stuff I like, all with the aid of a not-so-fancy Powerpoint presentation I dreamt up today.
This Tuesday, October 19 at 7 pm in Chinatown/SoHo, you can come and see people talk about jazz, paragliding, and living in New York City on the cheap. The bios for this month’s speakers:
- Leo Ferguson is a native New Yorker, a recent driving school graduate and really likes french fries. He had an afro before it was cool and wants you all to know it, and no, he’s not Malcolm Gladwell. By day he does fancy-pants digital imaging and print stuff for big horrible companies and by night he is a musician, a composer and a lover. His music has been called “adequate” by important people who know about that kind of thing, and he’ll be discussing jazz.
- James Bradley started paragliding in 2003. He progressed rapidly to have an advanced rating, a commercial tandem certification, and can tell you what “cloud suck” is, and where you can get it. When not flying, James can usually be found trying to cram two hundred pounds of gliders and gear into the closets of a Manhattan apartment.
- Melody Han (that’s me!) thinks that people care about what she eats, and amazingly enough, some people actually do. Since moving to NYC in 2007, Melody has been eating her way through the city and other parts of the world (as cheaply as possible), trying her hand at cooking in her tiny LES kitchen, and dreaming of the day when she might have enough counterspace to own a standing mixer. Her eat.shop.love.NYC. posts have been featured in NBC New York’s Around Town | Food & Drink blog and The Gothamist. She always has a camera, if only to perpetuate stereotypes.
- Abel Horwitz has come to New York City pursuing a childhood dream. So far he has cut an album with Jay-Z, dated Natalie Portman, and is delighted to find out how affordable New York City is (not one of these things is true). He will do his very best to explain that you (yes, you!) can travel the world for cheap. Abel likes exploring the city, meeting new people, eating great meals and spending time with his best friend, Jay-Z.
RSVP on the Harvest Hobby website! Tickets are free, and there are 7 left at the moment. If they run out, you should still be able to come. There will be wine (I think), a boozy Halloween punch I’m concocting, cookies in creepy shapes, and cool people to meet. You might have an awesome time.
Be there: Tuesday, October 19th @7 pm sharp – Harvest HQ (Chinatown/SoHo) 187 Lafayette Street, 6th floor, New York, NY 10013 View map
