By Bonnie James
THE exciting and infinite possibilities of distance education are being showcased in a short film that focuses on students and faculty of the Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (WCMC-Q).
Globally acclaimed psychologist, sleep researcher, author, speaker and TV personality Dr James B Maas did some extensive video filming last week at WCMC-Q, one of the premier institutions in Qatar Foundation’s Education City.
“I want to let other universities know about the possibilities of distance education,” the filmmaker, who also conducts the world’s largest single lecture class, told Gulf Times in an interview.
Dr Maas, professor and past chairman of the Department of Psychology at Cornell University, has been giving lectures for his Introductory Psychology class, to WCMC-Q students from Cornell’s Ithaca campus (over 5,800km from Doha) in the US, through high-quality video streaming since September 2003.
The highly experiences from his long-distance interactive lectures has inspired Dr Maas, who was initially apprehensive about the success of the concept, to embark on the short film project.
Interviews with WCMC-Q students and faculty members, including David Robertshaw (professor of Physiology and associate dean for Pre-medical Education) and students from Ithaca, who are pen-pals of WCMC-Q students, are part of the film.
Dr Maas, who ventured into filmmaking as a nine-year old and went on to make about 55 films and won 42 major educational film festivals, hopes to finish work on the project by the end of April and send it to WCMC-Q.
Two young women, Ali Gorski and Lauren Jacobs, whom Dr Maas describes as very good film editors, are assisting him. “My crew are students,” he quipped.
“If anyone has grown tremendously (from the programme), it is me,” Dr Maas observed while explaining how his scepticism and doubts gradually gave way to the development of a wonderful rapport with students at WCMC-Q.
“When I came here, I was like a rock star or movie star. It was really heart-warming,” recalled Dr Maas about the welcome he received on his first visit to WCMC-Q after starting the video lecture.
Dr Maas, who has been trained by Eastman Kodak, BBC, PBS and National Geographic, is one of North America’s most sought after speakers for association, government and corporate audiences concerned about wellness and productivity in the workplace.
He has lectured on Introductory Psychology to 1,700 students in Ithaca for about 35 years, handling the world’s largest single lecture class in the process.
As the concert hall where he has been teaching is in renovation for three years, Dr Maas is currently occupying the next largest hall, in the Ithaca campus, which accommodates only 700. “Once the hall is ready, it will have 1,348 seats, still the largest single lecture class in the world,” he added.
Dr Maas, who conducts research on the psychophysiology of sleep, is the recipient of the American Psychological Association’s Distinguished Teaching Award.
He has presented highly acclaimed programmes to groups such as YPO, Eastman Kodak, IBM, Apple Computers, Pepsi Cola, Marriott Corp, Starwood, and MCI/Universal Studios.
Dr Maas’s book Power Sleep is a New York Times business best-seller. Dr. James Maas has appeared on NBC Nightly News, Today, Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, The View, ABC’s 20/20 and Oprah. Cornell University, founded in the 1860s, has built up a reputation as one of the leading universities in the US.
It is a member of the prestigious Ivy League, an elite group of universities renowned worldwide for their academic excellence.
It was in 2001 that Cornell signed an agreement with the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development to set up WCMC-Q, thereby becoming the first American university ever to offer its MD degree overseas.
The only branch of Cornell University established outside the US, WCMC-Q offers a complete medical education comprising the two-year Pre-medical Programme followed by the four-year Medical Programme.
The first pre-medical classes opened in September 2002 in temporary facilities within Education City and within a year, WCMC-Q moved to a new building designed by world-famous architect Arata Isozaki.
The Medical Programme opened in September 2004, with the admission of sixteen students. Of the Class of 2008, fourteen successfully completed the Pre-medical Programme at WCMC-Q, and two are graduates of universities in the US. |
