Month: September 2024

Seeking Advice on Business Administration Education for Masha in Italy | September 12 2024, 13:02

Help! Who knows about Business Administration education in Europe, specifically in Italy? Know someone who knows? Tag your acquaintances in the comments if there are any. My Masha wants and can study in Italy. She almost has a national annual visa (passport with the visa should arrive within a couple of weeks), and she wants to get her first onsite education in a major city like Milan or Rome. She wants a business education, though there is some flexibility here. In English. Such offers exist, but it’s hard for me to evaluate them.

She is currently making calls to universities, and has already spoken to several. The price range is $3,000 to $40,000 per year. Ideally, she’d be able to jump into this semester 2024-2025 or at most the next one, and in some places, this is even possible, but these are small private institutions that sometimes give a dodgy impression. For example, there is the virtually unknown Scoula Politecnica di Design with tuition fees of 10-15K euros, and there’s the seemingly much better Swiss School of Management with tuition fees of 8.5-10K euros per year. Larger universities, like the University of Pavia or the University of Bologna (UNIBO), offer BBA/eng for a few thousand dollars per year, but there’s almost no chance to start in mid-September. Or am I mistaken? We’re figuring it out.

Business programs roughly divide into MBA and BBA. Let’s put MBA aside, and focus on BBA (Bachelor of Business Administration) — it’s a _three-year_ program in English, also referred to as a Bachelor. Perhaps it will eventually add a line to the resume, and will surely add knowledge, but as we understand, nearly 100% of students are a mix from third world countries, like Thailand and countries in Africa. Not that it’s a bad thing, but it feels like it somehow reflects the level. Many from the USA actually go to Europe for education, but apparently, nobody goes to these universities 🙂 Maybe we need to keep looking.

As an alternative — study for a year in BBA, then drop it to go to a larger university for a four-year program, and try to transfer the credits if possible. And if it doesn’t work out — so be it. Our Liz has been studying for five years norm, why shouldn’t Masha study for five years too.

If anyone is knowledgeable on this topic, please tag them in the comments. If you have dealt with a similar issue — please share what you know about BBA and about obtaining a first higher education in Italy.

Curating a Must-Follow List of Science Voices on YouTube | September 12 2024, 04:06

I recently started making a list of scientists and science journalists across various fields who are interesting to me and worth listening to on YouTube, and who generally have a good reputation. The list is at the link. Who have I forgotten? Surely a lot of others. Send them in, I’ll keep updating. Hope it’s not just useful for me.

https://beinginamerica.com/science-who-to-follow/

Exploring the Shift in Meaning of “Ambition” in Russian Culture | September 11 2024, 17:46

Currently reading “Russian with a Dictionary” by Irina Levontina.

It turns out that the modern meaning of “ambitious” when applied to a person has shifted quite significantly from its previous connotations.

The word “ambition” both in the USSR and earlier was predominantly associated with an inflated self-esteem and baseless claims. This interpretation was also reflected in dictionaries: ambition – “heightened self-love, excessive conceit.”

Interestingly, in the Russian language, nearly all words that denote a high self-regard by a person are negatively connoted: pretension, aplomb, haughtiness, arrogance, airs, self-assurance, overconfidence. The list goes on. This reflects the deep-rooted notion in Russian culture that a proud person ought to be humble. And yet, we understand that sometimes a person soberly assesses their capabilities, is ready to tackle a task, and speaks of it without any affectation, and this is good. However, it is impossible to use the word overconfidence even with a clarification that it is meant in a good sense in such a case.

A word needs to be torn apart and reassembled in a different order – confidence in oneself. Otherwise, the negative connotation remains inescapable.

When the word ambition was borrowed into the Russian language, it quickly acquired this shade. And during Soviet times, it was even harder to use the word ambition outside of a negative context.

The Big Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language, Kuznetsov’s Dictionary:

ambition

1. Heightened self-love, excessive conceit.

Example: To prove, to argue with ambition.

2. ambitions, -ций. disapproving

Claims, pretensions to something.

Example: To set aside one’s political ambitions.

By the way, “Russian with a Dictionary” is an interesting book.

Innovative Dog Training Device to Deter Pulling | September 11 2024, 13:33

I have an idea for a new product. A small box that can be attached between any leash and any collar, with two carabiners. It emits an unpleasant high-frequency sound if the dog pulls, either continuously or suddenly. The sound stops instantly as soon as the tension is released, or with a slight adjustable delay.

Lorne Malvo as Woland: Unmasking Evil in Fargo Season One | September 05 2024, 18:56

We’re revisiting the first season of Fargo. You know who Lorne Malvo (the one on the right in the photo) reminds me of? Woland.

Just look. He awakens the evil he sees in people and tempts them to act upon this evil, which is characteristic of Satan in Abrahamic religions—to tempt and entice people into sin. His collection of tapes can be seen as a symbol of “soul collecting”.

He creates chaos literally without any reason, like when he incites a kid to pee in a gas tank and then reports him, just like Satan, who perpetrates evil simply because he is evil, and to have a bit of fun. He phones Hess’s sons, lies to them and manipulates them into fighting, again, for no apparent reason. Or he scares the children living in Lester’s old house.

Somehow, he managed to escape from Lester’s basement, although there was no exit—a normal person couldn’t have done that. The character is often linked with religion: he pretends to be a priest, quotes biblical verses to manipulate a wealthy man, etc.

I barely remember the second half of the season, we are still watching it. But it seems to me that there will be even more evidence that Lorne is Woland 🙂

Exploring the Wit and Childhood Motifs in Inessa Morozova’s Art | September 05 2024, 16:03

An intriguing artist — Inessa Morozova, Moscow, Russia.

The first painting in her gallery is titled ЖОРА. ЖОРА is a male name. The humor of the artwork stems from the fact that only half of the name is displayed, and what initially springs to mind is something akin to “ass” (in Russian, ЖОПА). However, the painting is indeed named ЖОРА, and therein lies its wit.

The principal motifs are children and childhood. Its tone bears a slight resemblance to Nastasya Chudakova, yet the technique veers more towards impressionism. She boasts numerous paintings, each surpassing the previous. I have selected what I believe to be the masterpiece.

Similar posts are aggregated under the hashtag #artrauflikes, and all 103 of them can be explored on beinginamerica.com in the “Art Rauf Likes section (unlike Facebook, which overlooks (or neglects) nearly half of them).