Quirky Profs at LSE

Another week has flown by...I can hardly believe that it's mid-way through the semester, which means that I 'm actually a quarter through my taught Masters' courses at LSE!

This week I felt like it was really time to settle down. I had a presentation on Friday on the topic of "Hirschman`s Forwards and Backwards Linkages" (leave a message if you really want me to explain this to you) which went surprisingly well considering I only practised what I was going to say an hour before our seminar started. I've also started to think of the essays that are due in the next few weeks...luckily most of them are formative, meaning that our professors will give us written feedback in the hopes that we can integrate their advice for our final essays. 

Given our workload and the sometimes dry nature of what International Development students study, it's refreshing when we encounter teachers with memorable quirks or peculiar teaching styles. For instance two of our professors have referenced pop culture in their lectures- one guy shares the name of the Hollywood actor who voiced  Buzz Lightyear in the movie Toy Story, so naturally we were treated to a Toy Story theme one day. I think the take-home message that day was: "To infinity, and beyond!"  

Another prof of mine, Diana, came to class in a "Star Trek"-inspired dress and  recounted how she found the dress while shopping in Marks and Spencer. One key point of that day's lecture was that institutions matter for economic development and that economic growth strategies are determinant for future generations. This continuity was illustrated by showing the striking ressemblance (and thus, we assume, genetic ancestry) between Jean-Luc Picard (the character played by Patrick Stewart in Star Trek) and the Kenniwick man. 

Photo Credit: Great Archeology 

Wikipedia entry for Jean-Luc Picard

I wish every lecture was as entertaining (imagine, I could organize my notes by theme..."Hollywood references", "Pop culture", "Corny jokes"...).

I'll leave you with this quote from Picard which I should adopt as my slogan given the copious amounts of tea I consume:
"Tea. Earl Grey. Hot".

xoxo Miss Engagée